A Chocolate Tours experience by Honokaa Chocolate Co.. Back to all Big Island tours.
Tour Summary: One of the few places on the Big Island where you can taste fresh cacao from the tree and follow it through to finished single-origin chocolate. $95, 2 hours, groups of 12 max.
Large photoThe orchard sits on the farm property where tours begin, about five minutes from the retail store in Honokaa town.
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The tasting covers nine bars in sequence, with instruction on evaluating aroma, texture, and finish.
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The farm sits in the hills above Honokaa on Old Mamalahoa Highway, in one of the Big Island's wetter growing regions.
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A Cacao farm tour at the Honoka'a Chocolate Co. Next to a tour of the cacao prchard you also get to taste a variety of their own chocolate and other local products. Image credit: Sarah Anderson Photography.
Tour Highlights:
- Walk a working cacao orchard and see pods growing on the trees
- Taste fresh cacao fruit directly from the tree (seasonal availability)
- Guided tasting of nine award-winning single-origin chocolates
- Chocolate tea tasting in the barrel room
- Learn the science of fermentation, flavor development, and theobromine
Important: Families with children under 10 are welcome but the farm environment may not suit very young children
Tour Information:
| Price: | Adult |
|---|---|
| (excluding taxes & fees) | $95 |
Tour Provider: Honokaa Chocolate Co.
Activity: Chocolate Tours
Tour start time: 2:00 PM
Duration: 2 hours
Departure from: Hamakua Coast
Pick-up available? No
Cancellations: Customers will receive a full refund or credit with 48 hours notice of cancellation. Less than 48 hours cancellation notice will receive a 50% refund. No-shows will not receive a refund. Contact us by phone or email to cancel or inquire about a cancellation. No-shows will be charged the full price.
Read more: about chocolate tours in our Big Island chocolate tours guide.
The tour starts at the farm, not the retail store in town. You meet at the cacao orchard on Old Mamalahoa Highway, about five minutes outside Honokaʻa, where Mike Pollard walks you through how cacao grows from flower to pod. He covers cultivation, harvesting, fermentation, and drying in sequence. If pods are ready, you’ll taste fresh cacao fruit pulled directly from the tree.
The orchard sits on the farm property where tours begin, about five minutes from the retail store in Honokaʻa town.
The second half is a structured tasting in the barrel room. Nine award-winning single-origin chocolates, worked through in order, with instruction on how to evaluate each one by aroma, texture, and finish. The chocolate tea caught us off guard: warm and earthy, nothing like the sweet hot cocoa you’d expect. The format runs closer to a wine education seminar than a candy shop sample. Mike covers the chemistry behind flavonoids and theobromine, and connects specific flavor profiles back to conditions on the farm.
The tour wraps with a visit to the production facility and retail shop in Honokaʻa town, where you can see the processing equipment and pick up chocolate to take home. Groups are capped at 12, which keeps the whole experience personal.
The tasting covers nine bars in sequence, with instruction on evaluating aroma, texture, and finish.
At $95 per person for two hours, this is one of the more substantive food experiences on the Big Island. We came away with a real understanding of why Hawaiian single-origin chocolate commands the price it does.
What do other people say?
Mike’s depth of knowledge comes through in the first few minutes, and the tour’s 4.8-star rating reflects it. The quality of the product is the other reason this is worth your time: award-winning chocolate made fifty feet from where the trees grow.
The one practical note: the tour runs Monday through Friday at 2:00 PM only, so it requires some flexibility in your schedule.
Honokaʻa Chocolate Co. is one of a small number of true bean-to-bar producers in Hawaii, and Mike Pollard leads the tours himself. At $95, the two-hour experience goes well beyond a typical tasting: you leave with real knowledge of how flavor develops from tree to bar. Best suited for food-curious travelers who want context with their chocolate, not just samples. The small group cap of 12 keeps it from feeling like a mass tourist activity.
We are affiliate partners with Honokaa Chocolate Co. and any booking on this page you make is made directly with Honokaa Chocolate Co.. We receive a percentage from the activity provider for each successful booking made through our website but this happens without any additional charge to you. (read more on the use of those links on our website here).
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