Chasing a sugar rush on tour? You’ll find sweet sensations all over the country at these top chocolate touring spots. Check it out them out!
Melba’s Chocolates and Confectionary
It’s somewhat mesmerizing watching molten chocolate enrobe confection at the Melba’s Chocolate and Confectionery at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills.
Here, within six production rooms behind large circular glass windows, confectioners and chocolatiers craft toffee, Turkish delight–not to mention Melba’s iconic inch liquorice block.
“You can see the chocolates and confection being made,” explains Tom Fortisal, Managing Director Melba’s.
The magic happens 40 minutes from Adelaide in the former South Australian Farmers Cooperative Union cheese factory built in 1919.
Tom’s father Graeme, a chef, transformed its interior back in 1981, retaining the cork lined walls and heavy doors that predated commercial refrigeration.
Stop in at the chocolate shop for hundreds of products including ice-cream.
Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory, Junee NSW
Tickle the nostrils at the Junee Liquorice and Chocolate shop and sink your teeth into a giant freckle or pizza-like chocolate plate.
There are many treats to choose from, and they’re organic, leaving you one less reason to feel guilty!
“Licorice is 30 percent wheat; it is actually a health food. We’re the first organic licorice [maker] in the country,” Neil Druce, Junee Liquorice and Chocolate Factory explains.
The carefully-restored former Junee Flour Mill provides a magnificent setting for confection manufacture, restaurant and cafe dining–a fabulous wood-fired oven.
There’s even whisky makers in the family! The factory is set-up for tours but enquire first in current conditions.
House of Anvers
Consider yourself a chocolate connoisseur? Why not swing by Igor Van Gerwen’s patch on Latrobe, the House of Anvers.
Igor is a professionally-trained Belgian chocolatier who sources the finest ingredients from all over the world and blends it with Tasmania’s rich locally-produced creams.
According to Igor, chocolate is like fine wine that needs to be teamed with a meal.
“The different varieties of cocoa, different recipes but also the cocoa grown in different regions gives you different flavours,” Igor explains.
Once your tastebuds sated, it’s well worth checking out the on-site museum display charting the history and innovations in chocolate making.
