In the whirlwind of modernity, an entity like Bahen & Co is a sanctuary—a place where chocolate isn't just produced; it’s crafted. Here, nestled among the rolling greens and the salted air of Margaret River, Western Australia, lies a world that moves at a different pace. The chocolate here is born not from urgency but from reverence, and each bar speaks in a slow, rich language—one that whispers of time and patience, heritage and heart.
A Love Letter from Bean to Bar
Once you get to taste one of my Bahen & Co's creations, one cannot help by come to the conclusion that they are not merely making chocolate; they pen love letters, one bean at a time. This isn’t chocolate made in the name of speed; it’s a story unfolding, an old-fashioned courtship with cacao.
Jacqui and Josh Bahen, former vignerons turned alchemists, have re-imagined the chocolate-making process to respect every nuance of flavor, every whisper of the distant lands where these beans grow. They’ve learned the hardest truth of all: that true simplicity, in chocolate as in life, is hard-won. It takes a deliberate kind of care—a patient touch that weaves nature’s complexity into each bar.
The machines in Bahen & Co’s factory are essentiallu relics of a different time. Rescued from the shadowy corners of old-world factories, these steel behemoths—led by the graceful 1930s Barth Sirocco Ball Roaster and the wise 1910 Guitard Melangeur—work slowly and precisely, as if savoring the process.
These machines don’t scream or hurry; they hum like elders who know secrets. Like a symphony in slow motion, each step—roasting, grinding, conching—draws out the cacao’s personality, honoring the land that grew it. This is chocolate made to remember.
An Odyssey to the Ends of the Earth
Every bar from Bahen & Co is more than a taste; it’s an odyssey that begins in the far corners of the world. The Bahens’ quest for fine-flavored cacao takes them to jungles, mountains, and valleys, places untouched by the tick-tock of a clock.
Here, farmers cultivate heirloom cacao varieties, beans that carry the bloodlines of ancient lands. No middlemen or brokers touch these transactions; these are partnerships rooted in trust, built with the unspoken language of the earth. Like the precious gemstones of the cacao world, these beans are sourced with reverence, paid for at prices that honor the toil of their farmers, far exceeding Fair Trade.
The Factory: A Cathedral of Cacao
On their Margaret River farm, Bahen & Co's chocolate factory stands like a cathedral to cacao. Sunlight streams in, illuminating the sacks of cacao beans—weathered jute bags bearing the faded names of distant plantations, almost like artefacts of a pilgrimage. Here, the art of chocolate-making isn’t rushed; it’s revered.
Each step is a chapter in the chocolate’s story: the sorting, a meticulous selection of only the finest beans; the roasting, slow and gentle, coaxing out deep, rich notes without stealing the bean’s unique character.
When the beans meet the century-old stone melangeur, they are ground and transformed, surrendering their bitterness to meld with organic raw sugar. The stones turn, slow and rhythmic, polishing the cacao paste like a jeweler polishing a rare gem. And in the conche—a chocolate maker’s tuning fork—the cacao is tuned, its flavors deepened and refined, like a fine wine taking its final form.
Flavors that Paint Worlds
Wrapped in vibrant prints inspired by journeys to chocolate lands, each bar is a small passport, an invitation to adventure. You taste not just chocolate but a mosaic of cultures, of growers, of land. These bars are steeped in stories from cacao fields with rare varietals that would have been lost to time if not for Bahen & Co’s relentless pursuit.
When you break a bar of Bahen & Co chocolate, you're not just indulging in sweetness; you’re tasting an anthology of distant worlds. Chocolate made with Papua New Guinea beans shimmers with a palette of strawberry cream, red fruit, and vanilla—a fruity symphony that sings of tropical rains and sunlit valleys.
Bars from Madagascar, on the other hand, evoke the kiss of citrus, the blush of red berries, and the earthy weight of ripe raisins, carrying the fertile energy of the Sambirano Valley in every bite.
Brazilian cacao, steeped in the deep greens of the Mata Atlantica, brings a bold story to the table—notes of mulled wine and fruitcake that weave into the rich, brooding heart of chocolate. Each bar is a map, each taste a journey.
Bahen & Co invites you not just to consume but to experience. When you savor a square of Bahen & Co chocolate, close your eyes and let the flavors take you—first to a sun-soaked field in Papua New Guinea, then to the valleys of Madagascar, and finally to the green heart of Brazil. Because at Bahen & Co, chocolate is more than taste; it’s the poetry of places, people, and time, captured in the language of cacao.
---
Words by AW.
Photos courtesy of Bahen & Co.