“My job is to make people happy”

TARPON SPRINGS, Florida – Have you ever tasted real chocolate? A San Francisco Bay Area chocolatier might just make you question your taste buds.

“You have to put it on your tongue, let it melt on your tongue and close your eyes to really experience it. It will take you somewhere else.”

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Sara Ratza is a bean-to-bar artisan chocolatier.

Ratza says that artisanal chocolate making is difficult because it is expensive and a very long process, from the bean to the creation of the chocolate, through the bar or other confection.

She compares artisanal chocolate to craft beer.

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“You get a better quality product because you work in smaller batches,” Ratza says.

Ratza has owned Ratza Chocolates for five years, but has been making bean-to-bar chocolate since 2015.

Ratza Chocolates won a gold medal for its “Just Dark” chocolate, which is the base for all of the chocolate it makes. Ratza also won gold for its pina colada-flavored chocolate.

Ratza explains that the bean-to-bar process begins with roasting the beans.

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After letting the beans cool for 24 hours, it’s time to split them open and shell the bean from the seed, which is the bean itself.

“The chocolate chips are what we use to create the chocolate,” Ratza explains. “The machine grinds the chocolate for 24 to 48 hours depending on the desired flavor and texture. After those 24 to 48 hours, we can pour the chocolate into the mold or creation we want to create.”

Ratza is a clinical herbalist, which means she has been trained to work with herbs as medicine.

“I take great pride in knowing that I’m creating plant-based chocolate,” Ratza said. “That’s really where my niche has led me.”

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During the summer, Ratza tries to keep some chocolate mango on hand, and in the fall, she’ll make some caramel apple peel.

Ratza also makes drinking chocolate from a pure bean ground with herbs.

“I think what makes me happiest about my job is seeing people taste real chocolate for the first time,” Ratza said. “A lot of people have never really tasted real chocolate because chocolate is usually not just pure chocolate. It usually has other ingredients. I always say that my job is to make people happy.”

Click here for more information about Ratza Chocolate.

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