Super nice and friendly people. Lots of samples. Very educational. Bought chocolate bars…read moreshipped home , Very convenient.

I highly recommend this as one of the best chocolate tours!…read moreWe took the two hour tour with our family - it was a nice small group of six in total. Mike was not only an expert in all things chocolate, but he is easy to understand, he takes time to teach you and answer any questions and he has a great personality! It was pouring down rain the day we went, yet the tour was still a great success. We started out at the farm and then concluded down at the shop. You get to taste fresh cacao, nibs, cacao tea and kakao brew - of course at the shop are the full chocolate bars. Mike clearly loves what he does and enjoys sharing that love with his customers. The only down side is that after listening to Mike you will be ruined forever on eating any other general retail chocolate. So long Hershey and friends!

Good job and very well shared information. This is a fun event to do for all including kids.read more

We loved this tour! I mostly wanted to take a tour to try a raw cacao fruit after having seen…read moreYouTuber Chef Nick DiGiovanni taste the fruit on a show my son was watching. But, our tour guide was so personal and knowledgeable, it really added to the whole experience. We loved seeing the drying beds for the cocoa nibs, and of course the chance to taste the chocolate was a highlight. Definitely a recommended experience!

Very friendly, video they showed us was so informative explaining the entire growth harvest and…read morefinal delicious products Staff greeting us couldn't have been sweeter, just like their chocolates

I'd give their *chocolate* a solid 5/5 - they're quite pricey, but all high quality craft chocolate…read moreis (indeed, we learned just how much work it is, on the tour we took). They have samples of everything out in their gift shop, and they're doing some pretty fun stuff - we absolutely bought a couple bars (as usual, I liked the darkest and my wife liked the lightest chocolate the most, but they were all quite good.) I'd give the *tour*, which they only do a couple times a week, so we had to adjust our schedule a bit to make it to one, a 4/5. It was interesting, but you don't actually get to see any chocolate being made, a lot of it was just discussion (albeit: discussion while standing in a production cacao orchard - I'd never actually *seen cacao trees in person, they are pretty cool! Cool, but also full of spider webs.) They also cut open a fresh, ripe, not-processed-yet cacao bean at the end of the tour, and we got to try a little bit (it's delicious - sweet and fruity, nothing like chocolate. I wish we'd gotten to eat a bit more of it, honestly.) It was an interesting tour, not sure it was worth the extra planning it took to be there for it though - other than the fresh cacao fruit, you don't get anything you can't also try in the gift shop any time of day.

Interesting chocolate bars and chocolate cocktails. Some chocolate bars were already sold out when…read morewe visited on a weekday afternoon, but we were able to snag a couple that interested us and after having a bite, was worth the purchase! Husband loved the Horchata, I loved the Coffee Cocoa Nibs. $10 for a big bar and $6 for a square mini bar. We also wanted to check out their bar to enjoy some chocolate cocktails. Forgot to check the name of our bartender but she did great managing everyones orders. I ordered The Turtle and my husband ordered the Kona Old Fashion (optional to have it smoked or not). The Turtle was filled with chocolate delight, dangerously hiding the alcohol. Kona Old Fashion had good tangy and smokey taste. Overall, great shop to stop by, hang out, and enjoy some delicious chocolate with alcohol or without!

Place was great coffee and drinks! What an amazing combo! Happy to have made it over!…read more Staff was amazing and friendly! The place is clean and well kept! Prices are in line with others locally. Remember people your in Hawaii things cost money! I honestly felt they are lower but the wife says it is about the same. I would say the quality of the chocolate was amazing and worth it!

I'm really glad I checked, the day I had planned to visit the shop downtown, what time they closed,…read moreand I'm glad I checked at 2:45, since the answer is: 3. I'm also glad I happened to be a couple blocks away at that time, cause it would've stunk if I'd missed out! They have a whole range of great chocolates, from 55-90 percent that were all great, a fantastic matcha chocolate, great dried fruit chocolates, and one very good, *very* spicy dark chocolate (I loved it enough to buy a bar, but much more so than most pepper chocolates I've had, it does *not* play around.) Definitely also loved that they had samples of basically everything they sell. Also loved, we learned, it was actually the chocolatier himself running the shop when we were there, so all our questions were being answered directly from the source. It also worked out in that they didn't actually *have* any bars of the spicy chocolate out, as he'd just made a new batch and hadn't packaged them yet, so when he learned we were leaving the next day, he pressed one for me right then and there! How's that for great service?

So glad we stumbled upon this little gem during our travels! The owners were so friendly and all…read morethe samples were delicious. Since it was hot and we were traveling by car, we opted for the cacao nibs and THEY ARE INCREDIBLE. We had them on ice cream paired with molten lava cake and I'm still thinking (drooling) about it. Lots of options for gifts and the staff will make great recommendations.

My husband and I have visited the big island many times and I was looking for things we haven't…read morealready done. When I found this, it looked interesting. It turned out to be fantastic. The food was incredible. It was interesting to hear how they use vanilla. I almost never order a grilled chicken sandwich because they're usually dry and boring, but this one was not. It was one of the best meals I've had this year. The tour portion was incredibly interesting. I learned so much about vanilla. All in all, I highly recommend this!

This is my second time doing this tour that includes a lovely meal. The last time it was about 8…read moreyears ago when it was family run and a smaller operation. Now that the family's owner's kids have grown up and moved away. They have lucked out by hiring an incredible do- everything- tour guy named Zach, who is just so filled with knowledge about the history of vanilla and the botany and post harvest detail details of the vanilla. He gives a fabulous tour that is very engaging for everybody. Zach is also incredibly jazzed up about cooking with vanilla and he and his family live on the property and he has been on board with the Hawaiian Vanilla Company since 2023. The have just become so immersed in the vanilla. He shares his recipes and findings with you via email after the tour if you're interested. He also serves up the luncheon which for us included either a vanilla black tea, unsweetened, or a vanilla lemonade or an on Palmer of the two and a starter of a vanilla, gee infused popcorn, followed by a Kristine with vanilla Gar masala and some other vanilla spices with the shrimp and then the main courseteriyaki chicken thigh, marinated in a vanilla a brioche bond made with vanilla and a holy, made with vanilla a salad topped with a balsamic vanilla dressing and a bunch of candied vanilla pecans. After you do the vanilla tour return to the main building and enjoy coffee with vanilla and Kareem and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I had been using the other sauce of the vanilla starter kit that I purchased the last time I talked about 10 years ago and I was very happy to get more beans and some tips on starting a new batch. They have a huge variety of extract made with different types of alcohol that you can smell and they also sell of course they are double strength extract, which is the bomb, but I prefer to make my own cause then I gotta tell everybody I made my own from their beans. It did rain when we were there but they provide umbrellas and if you don't feel like walking about 3rd mile on the hill too the vanilla growing area you can't get a ride in that six seater gator back-and-forth. I highly I recommend this tour!!!

Don't make the mistake we ALMOST made!…read more We arrived at the little shop, got our little free sample, looked through the window at the chocolate making machine, and were about to make our purchases and depart. Then something caught our eye about tastings upstairs. So up we went. Fabulous breezy little open air bar with plenty of seating and a view! A full menu of drinks and nibbles, and a gazillion ways to pair chocolate and alcohol. Our server Carrie was fun and friendly and knowledgable, and took great care of us. Mr. M and I each had a glass of red with our chocolate pairings, and our companions tried the port and liquor pairings. So much fun and so delicious. What a lovely way to spend some time.

Im leaving 3 stars just based on the customer service from upstairs. We didn't partake in the tour…read moreas we had littles with us under 3 and figured we could at least do the "build your own brownie" for the crew. Well, it would've been fine had our entire table received their order. The brownie was not good. The build your own brownie "experience" was lacking. Only brownie and ice cream was included. At least give a topping included, then up-charge for more. On top of that, the $1.50 for sprinkles was a disgrace when the kid didn't get even $.10 worth. There was a tad confusion around the alcohol as well. Understand there's permit restrictions but it would've been nice to know when placing the order instead of when the drink was delivered. Signage isn't clear either. The "only 21 and over past this point" should have a blurb about no alcohol in the main seating. Oh well, we worked with it. Oh, and the sweat that dripped into the ladies plate who was doing the tasting experience was gross - even she said something and got attitude back from the upstairs hosts. Again, three stars awarded as we didn't really partake in anything outside of the cafe top level. Giving the benefit of the doubt the rest of the experience would've probably been good.

Puna Chocolate Company is one of my favorite local chocolate artisan shops, conveniently located in…read moreDowntown Hilo. Since my time away, they have beautifully renovated the interior to have a sit-down booth area. I love the abundance of nene decor honoring our state bird, along with high quality chocolates made in Hawaii. The store clerk was very knowledgeable and described how each cultivars of chocolate differ in their taste profiles. We had the horchata 50% milk chocolate bar, and I don't have a picture because we devoured it in one sitting! Overall, Puna Chocolate Co. is an elegant, delightful, and elevated experience that rivals big names like Big Island Candies and Dandelion Chocolates in San Francisco. Highly recommend in stopping by!

I stopped by Puna Chocolate Company for an afternoon coffee and ordered an espresso. It wasn't…read moreterribly busy in the store so my drink was prepared in minutes. The espresso was strong, not overwhelmingly bitter, and had a good consistency to it. While sitting at the bar, I noticed that they had a Day Drink menu with a bunch of coffee and chocolate cocktails, including an espresso martini and a cacao old fashioned. For $14 and $13 respectively, these seemed like very reasonable prices. Definitely something I'll check out on my next visit. On the right side of the store is a gift shop, while the left side has a bunch of seating for patrons. I noticed there were a few people here with their laptops out, so I can only assume it's also a good place to work as well. The store seemed pretty quiet, street parking outside was easy, and the staff I interacted with here was friendly. Puna Chocolate Company is a good rest spot to stop by to escape from the busyness of Downtown Hilo.

Make sure to check this place out if you're in the area! We stopped by around 8:30 AM and honestly…read moreweren't even sure it was open at first--the building looks pretty dark from the outside because of the tint. But as soon as we walked in, we were warmly greeted by the wonderful staff, and the whole vibe completely changed. Inside, the space is bright, inviting, and thoughtfully set up. We were offered samples of their Kona coffee along with a couple of treats of the day, which was such a nice touch. As you walk around, you can actually watch them making their delicious goodies, which makes the experience even more fun and tempting. The shop was beautifully decorated for the upcoming Easter holiday, and they also had some really lovely gift boxes--perfect if you're looking to bring something home for family or friends. There's also a small area where you can grab drinks (and possibly ice cream too). I ordered a green tea latte, and it was absolutely wonderful. Overall, such a cozy, welcoming spot with great treats and friendly service. Definitely worth stopping by--whether you're craving something sweet or looking to pick up a thoughtful gift!

I was quite impressed with the operation they have going at Big Island Candies…read more This place is incredible! They offer a large variety of candies that are made right there in the store. You can watch the hard workers diligently making fresh and delicious candies! The store is full of different types of candies wrapped nicely that make the perfect gift.