Colorado’s Top 10 Local Chocolate Shops

We support our local chocolatiers, and so should you!

Our owner, Samantha, is not coy about her daily consumption of chocolate. She will confess it without shame or reservation. If only it could constitute a well-balanced diet along with a little cheese and wine. Though she would like to declare chocolate its own food group, a dedicated blog post will have to suffice!

We’ve created this list of some of Colorado’s top chocolatiers. We won’t stop you from indulging in this sweet delicacy year-round, but a hint to all you lovebirds out there that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!

This list of our favorite Colorado-based chocolate shops starts in our home turf of Colorado Springs then expands from there.

Here’s your chance to indulge. We know we will!

1. Cacao Chemistry

109 North Tejon, Colorado Springs

Cacao Chemistry hit the ground running in 2014 with their debut at the annual Holiday Chocolate Festival. The brainchild of a dreamy chef and a calculated engineer, this refined chocolate shop in the heart of downtown Colorado Springs produces jewel-like truffles. We’re partial to their Firework Bark, which is dark chocolate, a dash of chili, and a sprinkle of Pop Rocks. But when it comes to truffles, their Cabernet Caramel is both a visual marvel and a succulent bite. Made with Cabernet Sauvignon from the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey in Canon City, this dark chocolate truffle encases a gooey caramel center.

2. Radiantly Raw Chocolate [permanently closed]

3312 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs | 116 Canon Avenue, Manitou Springs

Radiantly Raw Chocolate is making our dreams come true by creating chocolate so healthy that we could take it as our daily vitamin, according to owner, Jacquie. What is raw chocolate? It’s the same chocolate we love but without any added sugar, milk, or vegetable fat. In fact, all of their chocolate is organic, fair trade, non-GMO, dairy free, soy free, and contains no refined sugars. With lots of decadent truffles to choose from, our favorite might be the Colorado Coconut Cherry – made with raw honey, this white chocolate truffle is rolled in coconut and has a Colorado cherry in the center. We feel better already!

3. The Chocolate Lab

2504 East Colfax Avenue, Denver

Of the 200 unique flavors at The Chocolate Lab, you might find only a few which sound familiar. No humdrum chocolate flavors here! Creativity is the limit for this Denver-based chocolatier that values science as much as artistry. Just to whet your appetite, here are a few of our favorite flavors: salted watermelon, blood orange pink peppercorn, and lemon thyme. But what’s interesting about The Chocolate Lab is they play with savory flavors, too! They offer two truffles that are filled with goat cheese, one with figs and another with Vidalia onions. Reward comes to those willing to try something new!

4. Fortuna Chocolate

4920 Pearl Street, Boulder (Mobile Boutique)

Not having a brick-and-mortar location to call home, Fortuna Chocolate has partnered with some of our favorite Boulder and Denver based restaurants and retailers. Some of these places include Fruition Restaurant, Denver Botanic Gardens, and the Mercantile Dining and Provision located within Denver’s Union Station. Their products range from truffles to chocolate syrup to chocolate “slabs.” But our favorite thing is their Premium Drinking Chocolate, which comes in a champagne-like bottle – pure joy in liquid form! It is made from solid chocolate mixed with spring water, is dairy-free, and can be purchased at Blackbelly’s Butcher Shop in Boulder.

5. Roberta’s Chocolates

4840 West 29^th Avenue, Denver

With many newbies hitting the chocolate scene, it’s good to know we still have veterans like Roberta’s Chocolates, which was founded in 1995. This local confectionery and chocolate boutique has a truffle case second to none in the state of Colorado. They offer many novelty items like popcorn pizzas, Denver football suckers, and chocolate patties. But our favorite item, which also happens to be the number one best seller, is the Colorado Gold Bar. This milk chocolate bar is mixed with rice puff cereal, pretzels, Oreos, and nuts. Pikes Peak or bust!

6. Nuance Chocolate

214 Pine Street, Fort Collins

Old Town Fort Collins is brimming with all sorts of mouthwatering munchies to include this premium chocolate café. Nestled in an old brick building, Nuance Chocolate owners Toby and Alix manage the whole process from roasting and grinding the cacao beans (coming from ethical sources around the globe), to forming the bars, truffles, and even syrups. Nary a sweeter taste can be found than that of their hot sipping chocolate. Can’t decide what you’d like to try? Go for the chocolate flight, which features five different types of single-origin chocolate.

7. Cultura Craft Chocolate

1460 Leyeon Street, Denver

Two independent chocolatiers combined forces to form Cultura Craft Chocolate in 2016. Having Mexican ‘Dia de los Muertos’ inspired packaging, this edgy sweet shop is located in the culinary co-op space, Art Gym. To satisfy quick cravings, they offer “mini bars” from origins such as Belize, Haiti, and Guatemala. Our favorites have to be their “inclusion bars,” which fuse chocolate with other blissful flavors like Mexican spice, espresso, sea salt, and peppermint. Next time you’re there, pick up a Whiskey + Nibs Mini Bar, which is dark chocolate infused with Deerhammer single malt whiskey and garnished with whiskey soaked cacao nibs.

8. Robin Chocolates

600 South Airport Road Building B Suite D, Longmont

When the owner boasts the title of being one of the “Top 10 Chocolatiers in North America” in 2013, you know it’s going to be good! Robin Autorino, Navy veteran, developed her passion for chocolate after several years of study and experimentation. Each chocolate she creates is a mini work of art. Some remark that they are too beautiful to eat. But not for the true chocolate lovers, who understand that we eat with our eyes first! We recommend the Blackberry Sage truffle – milk chocolate ganache infused with organic sage, blended with blackberry, and covered in dark chocolate.

9. Piece, Love & Chocolate

805 Pearl Street, Boulder

Launched by professional chocolatier and pastry chef, Sarah Amorese, in 2011, Piece, Love & Chocolate seeks to rock the world of sweets in Boulder. Chocolate isn’t just a consumable; it’s an art form that tests the limits of science. On any given day, you’ll find their creativity hard at work with an average of 50 different flavors available. Their claim to fame? Truffaloes. Made with 42% dark chocolate, these buffalo-like chocolates are filled with ganache and adorned with butterscotch horns and a milk chocolate tale. Go CU Buffs!

10. The Chocolate Therapist

2560 West Main Street, Littleton

Feed your chocolate addiction and your mind as you learn from owner Julie Pech, author of the book, The Chocolate Therapist, A User’s Guide to the Extraordinary Health Benefits of Chocolate. Julie has created a learning environment in which chocolate connoisseurs can learn how chocolate is made from bean to bar, how to taste it properly, and even how to pair it with wine. In fact, one of our favorite things The Chocolate Therapist offers is a 16-piece Dark Chocolate Wine Pairing Box. These hand-crafted chocolates are designed to enhance and compliment your favorite red wines with organic flavors such as black cherry, peanut butter, orange, chai, and sangria.

Yet again, we find ourselves utterly delighted with the local offerings found here in our beautiful state. We are proud of these chocolate visionaries and vow to do our personal part to make them successful, even at the expense of our waistline.

Cheers to chocolate, our favorite food, and cheers to you, too!

Your Rocky Mountain Food Tours Team

(So, what’s a food tour, anyway…?)

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