Meet Abby Mandel of Cocoa Tree Chocolates in Carbondale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Abby Mandel.

Abby, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Cocoa Tree Chocolates launched in the Fall of 2019 to bring delicious and beautiful chocolate truffles to fellow chocolate lovers. Food, especially sweets, has been a huge part of my life since I was a small child. I grew up baking, playing with sugar and marzipan, and reading cookbooks (a normal pastime in my house). After studying Neuroscience in undergrad and realizing that it was not my calling, I considered pastry school. My father, a professor, steered me towards graduate school (thanks, Dad!) and I then realized that I could combine my two passions of food and science by pursuing a PhD in Taste Perception Science through Nutritional Sciences at Cornell.

 About three years ago, I started playing around with chocolate, ganaches, and other fillings. I was working at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School at the time, and my co-workers were more than happy to sample different flavor combinations and give feedback. I quickly realized just how much I love working with chocolate and how perfectly truffle-making combines my candy-making skills with my knowledge of taste and flavor. After researching other chocolate businesses in the area, we realized that there really wasn’t anywhere in the area to find high-quality, hand-made truffles and Cocoa Trees grew from there!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Starting a new business always comes with challenges and we’ve definitely had quite a few of our own. Since I don’t have formal training as a chocolatier, I have had to learn as I go. I have spent a lot of time reading cookbooks, watching videos, and just experimenting (with oh so many failures). While figuring it all out is immensely satisfying, it can definitely make things take a lot longer!

Another struggle was finding kitchen space. I started out selling truffles under the Colorado Cottage Law, which is a great way to be able to sell foods made in the home. However, I quickly realized the limitations of the law and realized that I needed to get in a commercial kitchen as quickly as possible. For a couple of months, I used a commercial kitchen in Grand Junction (two hours away), but with three young children, that wasn’t really a long term solution. Fortunately, we had a separate basement apartment in our house, with a separate kitchen, and we were able to convert that space into a commercial kitchen last winter. That conversion has made the whole business possible.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Cocoa Tree Chocolates – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Cocoa Tree Chocolates specializes in hand-crafted artisan chocolate truffles, made using only the highest quality ingredients. Our chocolates stand out both in terms of flavor and quality. The chocolates are made fresh, without preservatives, so they need to be consumed within two or three weeks. These are definitely not chocolates that can sit on a shelf for months… why would anyone want to eat those anyway? We use only high quality French and Belgian chocolates, as well as fresh produce and herbs. Some of the herbs are even picked from our own garden! Everything, from the marzipans to the jams, is hand-made and hand-painted.

We spend a LOT of time brainstorming about flavor combinations and developing recipes. I focus a lot on the overall “experience” of eating each truffle… what flavor reached the palate first, how the different textures hit at different times, how the final bitterness of the dark shell plays into it. I make sure that each combination is totally balanced in terms of sweetness, texture, etc. As a result, our flavors tend to be very bold and not overly sweet.

Since we don’t have a storefront, we mostly sell our truffles online at CocoaTreeChocolates.com. However, we really strive to interact with and please the customer as much as possible whether it’s a phone call to help with choosing specific flavors for a perfect box or including hand-written cards for birthdays and special events. We’re also always happy to work with customers on larger custom orders, including platters of chocolates for a special event or even hundreds of boxes for clients.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Longterm, I would love to open up a little storefront selling truffles, other chocolate goodies, and ice cream. Since our children are still young and I’m not quite ready to be away from them that much yet, that’s probably not going to happen for a while. So, for now, we are focusing on growing our presence in Colorado, as well as nationally. We are also looking to expand our wholesale business and find retailers outside of our area who would like to carry our chocolates.

Pricing:

• 5-piece truffle box $15
• 9-piece truffle box $25
• 18-piece truffle box $50

Contact Info:

• Address: 1327 Westridge Ct
  Carbondale, CO 81623
• Website: CocoaTreeChocolates.com
• Phone: 607-351-4062 (this is my cell, I only share upon request)
• Email: hello@cocoatreechocolates.com
• Instagram: @cocoatreechocolates
• Facebook: @cocoatreechocolate

Image Credit:
C2 Photography

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