The Most Unique Experience in Tobago - Making Chocolate with Tonči

You do not expect a chocolate-making workshop to leave you thinking about family, heritage, science and the people behind the food on your plate. At Tonči Chocolates & Coffee, however, the story matters just as much as the finished bar.

Hidden away in Plymouth, this small, family-run business offers one of the most personal experiences we found in Tobago. There are no factory conveyor belts or polished demonstrations watched from behind glass. Instead, visitors are welcomed into the Taylor family’s home and invited to take part in the process themselves, roasting cocoa and coffee beans over a traditional coal pot before sitting down to taste the results.

It is warm, hands-on and unmistakably Tobagonian.

Meeting the Family Behind Tonči

Tonči Chocolates & Coffee was created by husband-and-wife team Carlina Jules-Taylor and Randy Taylor. The couple produces an artisan range of tree-to-bar chocolates alongside heritage-style, coal-pot-roasted coffee, using ingredients sourced as locally as possible.

The name Tonči carries a deeply personal meaning. The business was created in memory of Carlina and Randy’s young son Tonjay, whose love of cocoa tea became closely connected with the family’s memories of him. What began as a way of honouring his life gradually developed into a chocolate business centred on family, connection and sharing Tobago’s food traditions with visitors.

It is a moving story, but the experience itself is full of warmth. Guests are not made to feel as though they are attending a formal presentation. The setting is intimate and relaxed, with conversation flowing naturally as Carlina and Randy explain how their chocolate is produced and why cocoa remains such an important part of Caribbean life.

Roasting Cocoa the Traditional Way

The Tonči Experience lasts around two hours and introduces visitors to both cocoa and coffee roasting. The most memorable part is the traditional coal pot, where the beans are roasted by hand rather than being placed into a modern electric machine.

Standing over the coal pot gives you a real appreciation for the patience involved. The beans need attention as they roast, and the smell slowly changes from earthy and slightly bitter to something much warmer and more recognisable.

This is the point where cocoa begins to smell like chocolate.

Guests are encouraged to take part rather than simply watch. The hands-on approach makes the experience feel closer to being welcomed into a family kitchen than joining an organised tourist attraction.

The same traditional method is used to roast the coffee beans. Tonči describes its coffee as heritage-style coal-pot roasted, drawing on methods that would have been familiar in Caribbean homes long before automatic coffee machines became commonplace.

Learning What Goes Into a Bar of Chocolate

Chocolate is something most of us eat without giving much thought to how it reaches its finished form. At Tonči, you begin to understand just how much work sits behind even a small bar.

The Taylor family sources cocoa from local growers and carries out the chocolate-making process at home. Tonči’s products are described as tree-to-bar, meaning the business oversees the transformation of the cocoa beans into finished chocolate rather than simply melting and reshaping imported chocolate.

The process involves sourcing, fermenting, drying, roasting, peeling and grinding the cocoa before it can become the smooth chocolate we recognise. Even the packaging is completed by hand, reinforcing how small-scale and personal the entire operation remains.

Carlina’s background in chemistry adds another interesting layer to the experience. Chocolate making depends on careful control of temperature, texture and crystallisation, so there is far more science involved than visitors may initially realise. Her knowledge sits alongside techniques and flavours passed down through her Dominican family, where cocoa tea and roasted coffee were part of everyday life.

Tasting Tobago Through Chocolate

Naturally, one of the best parts comes at the end: tasting the chocolate.

Tonči produces several distinctive varieties, including 65% dark chocolate, 50% coconut milk chocolate and a 70% cocoa bar with guava. The coconut milk option offers a plant-based take on milk chocolate, while the guava bar brings a bright Caribbean fruit flavour to the deeper cocoa.

The tasting feels more meaningful after learning about the process. You have seen the raw ingredients, smelled the beans roasting and heard how much work goes into each batch. By the time the chocolate reaches the table, it no longer feels like a simple souvenir.

It feels like a small piece of Tobago.

Light refreshments are also included in the scheduled experience. Earlier versions of the tour have incorporated traditional flavours such as cassava bread, saltfish salad and cocoa tea, connecting the workshop with the wider food culture of the island.

More Than a Chocolate Workshop

What makes Tonči stand out is not only the chance to roast cocoa. It is the feeling of being invited into somebody’s story.

Many food tours explain where ingredients come from or demonstrate how a product is made. Tonči goes further by showing how food can carry memories between generations and connect people who may arrive from completely different parts of the world.

Carlina has spoken about guests arriving at the family home as strangers and leaving after sharing stories and embraces. That sense of openness is central to the experience and helps explain why it feels so different from a conventional visitor attraction.

Supporting Tonči also means supporting a family-owned Tobago business that buys cocoa from local farmers and promotes traditional skills. The Taylors have helped create a space where agriculture, tourism and cultural heritage come together in a way that feels genuine rather than staged.

How to Book the Tonči Experience

The Tonči chocolate and coffee roasting experience takes place in Plymouth and must be booked in advance. It lasts approximately two hours and is currently listed at TT$250 per person. Bookings should be made at least three days before the preferred date so the family can prepare and accommodate any dietary needs.

As details and prices can change, it is worth confirming everything directly with Tonči before travelling.

Visitors can also purchase Tonči chocolate and coffee at selected shops around Tobago, including outlets in Scarborough, Mount Pleasant and ANR Robinson International Airport. (For more information and to book, visit Toncichocolates&coffee.