ScharffenBerger Chocolate Factory in Berkeley.
Before they made chocolate, they made bombs here during WWII. The walls, as well as the 30 foot ceilings, are made completely of brick, so if the bombs exploded they wouldn't catch the place on fire. Then Heinz moved in, doing some picklin'. Then it became chocolate heaven!
These are Cacao fruit on the tree. They grow to the size of a football, then you get the seeds out of the inside of the fruit. If they aren't germinated, no chocolate.
The beans get roasted, shelled, ground, and then made into chocolate. ScharffenBerger have all kinds of crazy antique chocolate making machines. Pipes run everywhere, carrying the magic along!
They fed us copious amounts of chocolate during this free tour! I highly recommend it when people come to town. Just make reservations, as everyone wants in on the action. And if you're out in the world and see SharffenBerger, try the Nibby bar: Chocolate with little roasted cacao nib pieces mixed in. Yum!!
