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

Our tour guide was Cortney. She's very knowledgeable (even through she says she's not) and funny…read more The tour takes you through their grove and she shows the various types of pods and trees. You go back to the house and learn about the process to make chocolate. It's part presentation and part video. Courtney will open a pod and you can taste the beans: the while squishy part tastes like apple jolly ranchers. The purple bean is bitter, so you have to swallow it fast. Then you get to sample different types of chocolates. Yum! The tour is about an hour. I think it's a good balance between information and keeping things going. I definite recommend for adults and our 6 year-old son enjoyed it.

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.

This is a fun shop! They have delicious treats, touristy merch, and random finds that could be fun…read moreif you're looking for "something different" when it comes souvenirs. The Mauna Kea(??) chocolate, it's marshmallows, chocolate and macadamia nuts are BOMB. I buy one to eat while I'm there enjoying one of their chocolate or more savory cocktails, and then I buy a second to take home and have the next day. Their cokctails are great and they have a super cute seating area in their loft, AS WELL AS fun events. I went to an Improv night that was GREAT. Just a fun funky place all around. They also started selling more substantial food items, which has been nice when you want a snack with your drinks so you're not drinking on an empty stomach. 10/10 and highly recommend for tourists AND locals.

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!!!

Out of the classic Italian cream. It's like going to a coffee shop that's out of coffee creamer:…read moreThe service wasn't great, instructions unclear if there is a host for a table or if they fend for themselves. The chocolate flight where you choose 9 different chocolates was self guided so not sure what that says about it being a tour. The one barista lady that was working had to ask their manager every time we asked for something if they had it. Wouldn't recommend. It's a great view though if you like that?

While in Maui on our babymoon, my husband and I decided to take a chocolate tour of the Maui Kuia…read moreEstate. We made our reservation online and took the tour the following day. There was ample parking at the store where the tour left from. We took an air-conditioned sprinter van slightly up the hill to get to the land where the cocoa beans are actually grown. Our tour guide was Gabriel and he was extremely knowledgeable. After learning all about the process of growing, harvesting, and drying the cocoa beans, we got to partake in a delicious sampling in what can only be described as an adult "treehouse". With 360 panoramic views, and a wonderful breeze, we listened as Gabriel explained the various chocolates we were sampling and I thoroughly enjoyed each and everyone. Once back at the shop, we had the opportunity to purchase chocolate and also try a variety of items from their café menu if we wanted (for additional charge). All in all, the tour was a wonderful and educational experience and definitely opened my eyes to the deliciousness of the Maui Kuia Estate Chocolate.

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.