Watch and listen to the next virtual chocolaty tour as The Chocolate Chamber Academy will be hosting another round of their Beyond Chocolate Virtual Tour in partnership with Southwind Travel & Tours on September 26 (Saturday) at 11am via Zoom. This time, it will be held at The Chocolate Chamber Boutique in Shangri-la Mactan Resort and Spa Cebu. The participants will have the chance to see the Cacao Garden of Shangri-la Mactan which The Chocolate Chamber planted the cacao trees four years ago.
The Chocolate Chamber Boutique in Shangri-la Mactan Resort and Spa Cebu
Cacao garden in Shangri-la Mactan Resort and Spa
The Beyond Chocolate Virtual Tour is one of the programs of The Chocolate Chamber Academy wherein Virtual Tourists take a peek at Casa de Cacao, the “Chocolate Queen’s” realm, where chocolate is the medium that allows Raquel to exploit her creativity, to look back at the past, and to share her love for tablea with the world.
The Chocolate Queen Raquel Choa
It’s truly beyond chocolate as Virtual Tourists listen to narratives of collaboration initiated by the ‘Chocolate Queen’ as she continues to bridge the gap among the cacao stakeholders, empower farmers and bring cacao and other fruit trees and vegetables to their place in urban gardens.
More than the virtual visit is the ‘Spilling of the Beans’ by the ‘Chocolate Princess’, Hannah Mae T. Choa, as she shares a well-kept secret of The Chocolate Chamber through the evolution of the cacao beans. Hannah is the fifth child of the ‘Chocolate Queen’, Raquel Toquero-Choa. She got exposed to the ins and outs of their family business, The Chocolate Chamber, a cafe-cum-boutique which showcases the sweet and savory sides of chocolates. She travels frequently outside the country with her mother in promoting Philippine cacao. Presently, she is a Philippine Chocolate Sommelier apprentice, one of the programs offered by The Chocolate Chamber Academy. Now at 20, Hannah is a Nutrition and Dietetics student and will perform her role as Spiller of the B-E-A-N-S in sharing the wonders of cacaos and chocolates.
The Chocolate Princess
The tour will bring guests on a chocolate discovery on how cacao beans are harvested, dried, roasted, and pounded into fine cacao powder before being molded into pure chocolate goodness. Hannah will talk about the Wonders of Tablea and will also demonstrate a featured recipe using premium ingredients made from Philippine cacao beans. Guests will get the chance to watch a short video on the Legend of Maria Cacao.
Hannah Choa grafting the cacao seedling
Joining the “Chocolate Princess” is Cacao Educator, Edu Pantino, Region 7 Vice-Chair of Philippine Cacao who presents cacao – a crop which made its way to the Philippines through the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade and how it has become a part of the chocolate-drinking tradition among Filipinos.
The special part of the Beyond Chocolate Virtual Tour is the virtual audience with the ‘Chocolate Queen’ as she communicates life’s surprises during this different time entertaining questions from guests especially those who have cherished and loved chocolate through The Chocolate Chamber and to those who are yet to partake in the experience.
A minimal fee of Php 550 will be charged per participant to join the 60-minute virtual tour. Surprise treats await to all participants! Virtual tourists will receive The Chocolate Chamber Natural Fertilizer, cacao seedling, and a featured product of TCC which is the Tablea. For virtual tourists outside the country, they can give it to TCC’s recipient and the Tablea will be shared to the frontliners who are sacrificing to fight against Covid-19. Meanwhile the Philippines First Consolidated Cooperative Along Tañon Seaboards (FCCT) which is the coop partner of TCC will take care of the cacao seedlings and the fertilizer where it will be named after the giver.
The Chocolate Chamber Natural Fertilizer
To know the details on how to join the tour, please visit the Chocolate Chamber Facebook page and send them a message.
