One of the most popular local chocolate brands in Hawaii, Manoa Chocolate has a retail shop and tasting room in Kailua! Come for a wide selection of local chocolates plus free tasting sessions. Here's everything to know before you go.
Location
First things first: Manoa Chocolate is in Kailua (not Manoa)!
It's one of the most recognizable Hawaii chocolate brands. I briefly lived in San Francisco and even the local butcher there sold chocolate bars from Manoa Chocolate! They were mini chocolate bars and placed right next to the register.
You can find their chocolate everywhere in Hawaii, but I love visiting their retail shop and tasting room in Kailua. It's fun, tasty, and oh-so chocolate-y.
There is a pretty big parking lot right in front of the store. It's metered parking, $.75 per hour the last time I checked (credit cards accepted). Funny thing is that even though it's a large and open lot, it's often packed even though there are not that many retail shops and restaurants in the immediate area. I'm guessing there must be many offices / businesses in the building? So it make take a few extra minutes of searching, but you should still be able to get good parking!
Chocolate Bars
Manoa Chocolate is most popular for chocolate bars! I've tried nearly all the flavors over the past several years and it's pretty hard to pick a favorite haha. It really just depends on my mood!
I love dark chocolate and high quality chocolates, but I'm also not a purist and I find that the right blends and toppings can be very delicious. I often enjoy the Breakfast Bar which is a dark milk chocolate bar infused with coffee (from Hawaii, of course) and lots of cacao nibs on top.
Many other bars featured other speciality Hawaii ingredients like Lavender Bar which uses lavender from Aliʻi Kula Lavender Farm on Maui.
The Single Origin bars are beautiful. They highlight specific neighborhoods and areas in Hawaii...many of which I never knew grew cacao. The Mililani bar is one of my favorites, followed by the Kealakekua bar.
They make several vegan chocolates bars that are very good and come in flavors like mango, banana, coconut, and sea salt (my favorite!). They use coconut milk! All the Hawaii Single Origin bars are also vegan.
And don't forget about the artwork and packaging! All so beautiful.
Cacao Tea and Brew
I'm really interested in their drinking products. They have two types: Cacao Tea and Cacao Brew (which is called brewing chocolate in the picture above, it looks like they changed the packaging since I purchased that bag).
Cacao Brew = the entire cacao bean (including the nib), crushed.
Cacao Tea = just the shell of the cacao bean, crushed.
I got both because I was curious about the taste difference and brewed it at home like you'd brew a pot of tea.
You can see the difference between the raw product in the photo below:
...the top spoon holds the Cacao Brew. The bottom spoon holds the Cacao Tea.
The Cacao Brew is definitely more intense, and deep, and rich. The Cacao Tea is delicate and more subtle.
They say you can also use the Cacao Brew to brew beer! Both the Cacao Brew and Cacao Tea work well as herbal blends.
FYI, Cacao Brew has a little caffeine because it uses the whole cacao bean.
Free Tastings
They also have free tastings, yes! You see that long bar pictured at the top of this post? That's where it's hosted.
I happened to walk into the shop right as they were started the tasting. They offered me an empty seat, lucky timing! The tasting only takes 15 minutes and was a neat look into the brand and their products. We got taste about 6-8 different types of chocolate. I like being able to learn something new just by walking to a store...how cool is that ^_^
They also served us cups of the cacao brew (pictured above), so nice to be able to taste the drink when someone else makes it.
They also offer factory tours and farm tours that you can book online.
Insider Tips
Availability At Markets
You can find Manoa Chocolate products at many supermarkets and shops around the island. Pictured above is a small selection of their chocolate bars at Whole Foods Hawaii. And sometimes they go on sale! Pretty good deals.
Baked Goods and Ice Cream
One neat thing is that you'll see their chocolate being use many products and dishes from other companies. The Local General Store in Kaimuki makes a wonderful chocolate croissant with their chocolate! Please Come Again makes ice cream with the chocolate!
Great For Omiyage
I always pack a bunch of their mini chocolate bars in my suitcase when traveling. These are 20 gram bars versus 60 grams for the full size bars. They always come in handy for small tasty gifts ^_^
Manoa Chocolate: Info
- Address: 333 Uluniu Street #103, Kailua, Hawaii 96734
- Hours: Monday-Wednesday: 10am-5pm. Thursday: 10am-7pm. Friday-Saturday: 9am-7pm. Sunday: 9am-5pm.
- Website: manoachocolate.com
- Instagram:@manoachocolate
- Phone: (808) 263-6292
Mahalo for Reading!