Our Sweet Journey
Drakensberg Chocolate founders Edi & Tammy Ernst
2009
15 years ago, we set out to make the best chocolate that was humanly possible… But we also wanted it to “shout” Drakensberg Mountains from where it was born! We made it by hand, on-site, with the finest ingredients… so you could take it home as a sweet memory of your time in the mountains.
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2014
Five years later and nearly bursting out of our little shop it was time to move again – we needed an on-site factory and more space for our growing restaurant. We took over an aeroplane hangar on an airfield at The Berg Air Lifestyle Centre and converted it into a factory, shop and restaurant. Our customers could watch chocolate being made through a viewing window and we introduced chocolate workshops and expanded our restaurant menu and our chocolate products….
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2020
But you can’t stop learning and growing, it was time to upskill ourselves again and launch…The Coffee Roastery – the perfect companion to chocolate! We felt our little mountain town - known mostly for its berg cottages and spectacular hiking– needed a place that could offer a really good cup of coffee... We started serving up correctly dosed espresso-based coffees with perfectly steamed milk and at the correct temperature. We added a few quirky coffees to the mix too, like our famous syphon-brews, frozen iced mochas and real chocolate chococcino’s. Soon it was not just the chocolate that was bringing tourists to visit us…
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2025 and Beyond...
We now receive advanced training in Italy on the latest chocolate techniques and on the latest machinery. We love adding new machines to our factory so we can create new products and we are always saving up for something new from our wish list. We have recently added a new panning machine that we use to make a chocolate-coated range of nuts, ginger, turkish delight, orange jellies and coffee beans. And our very latest machine is our praline filler creating even more deliciousness in our store.
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Visit us Today
If you happen to be visiting us on one of our coffee roasting days, my husband Edi will happily explain the process while he roasts the coffee. Or if you are part of a tour, conference or school group and can spend a longer time with us, one of our informative workshops is a must for a more in-depth appreciation of chocolate.
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