Really cool to l to see the background of how chocolate comes to fruition, lots of tasting.

Do you wanna know why River-Sea Chocolate Factory has so many Five Star reviews? Because this place is awesome...it is an awesome oasis for chocolate lovers nestled in the 'burbs of Western Fairfax County. River-Sea mostly definitely seems out of place in the nondescript office park where it is located, but don't let the sterile environment fool you. It's worth plugging the address into Google Maps and navigating to this small shop, which is also close to the Chantilly Expo center. Upon arriving into the parking lot and following the directional signs to their entrance, the smell of scrumptious chocolate welcomes you. I attended their Valentine's Day tasting event in Feb. 2020 with some family members and was super impressed with the passion that founders Mariano and Krissee bring to River-Sea (https://www.riverseachocolates.com/about-us). Mariano explained that River-Sea works diligently to partner with the actual farms in cacao producing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia (https://www.riverseachocolates.com/the-cacao-farms). Instead of working with large commodity brokers, dealing directly with the farmers ensures higher quality products as well as supports sustainable agriculture in those countries. All the chocolate products are small batch produced on premises, and the quality goes beyond the usual "artisanal" label. I would characterize the products here as "high-end bespoke". Where else can you find flavors such as Lapsang and Licorce? Or Organic Dominican Republic 72% dark chocolate? Or one of my personal favorites, the Hawaiian Salt Dark (70% cacao). While I'm not going out much these days in this era of COVID-19 lock downs, one of my treats is taking a trip to River-Sea every month as part of their "Exotic Chocolate Lover's Club" (https://www.riverseachocolates.com/plans-pricing). This is one of the BEST DEALS going if you are chocolate aficionado. Every month, the chocolatiers create FOUR full size chocolate bars for only $20 (in-store pickup...it's $30 if you want them to mail to you). And at $5/bar for hand crafted chocolaty goodness, that price beats any other so-called "high-end" chocolate you will find at Target. Honestly, for super high-end hand crafted chocolates, the prices at River-Sea are VERY reasonable. I've been a member of the choco club since April, and this is one of the few things which has helped to maintain my sanity. Also super bonus that when you show-up to pick up your monthly chocolates, that you are also eligible for a free specialty hot chocolate beverage. I recommend the Fire Hot chocolate; it's not too sweet with some spicy chili notes which hit back of your throat. River-Sea is great hidden gem and worth supporting to ensure chocolate lovers in the DMV can get their fix for many years to come. read more

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It's nice to stumble upon a hole in the wall shop. It's even better when that shop is phenomenal. This small chocolate shop offers a welcoming atmosphere with a delicious variety of chocolate. We were able to sample different chocolates but the sea salt caramel was easily my favorite. All the chocolate is made on-site. I ordered the salted caramel hot chocolate and it was divine. I highly recommend getting the whipped creme when given the option. With seemingly endless options, I will be back to try more. read more

River Sea Chocolates - Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

We reserved a chocolate tour and tasting at River-sea where they make all of their chocolate from bean to bar. The tour was fun and informative and Eli really knows his stuff having worked in every part of the chocolate production. We got to sample raw cocoa beans and freshly roasted unprocessed cocoa beans as well as all of their top selling bars. These chocolates are fabulous and highly eco conscious. Needless to say we ended up taking a lot of delicious chocolate home with us. From individual varietal bars to sampler boxes and individual chocolates everything is incredibly delicious. They also offer a variety of hot chocolate for sipping on site or take away. Stop by for a taste and a tour you will not be disappointed! read more

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Went on a whim for a chocolate tasting with a friend and it changed how I thought about and tasted chocolate. Great mission and very tasty product. A great local business who is passionate about their product. I ended up getting a sampler with 12 minichocolate bars and hope to get some more soon. The single bars are a little pricey but I think I'll get some as gifts this year. read more

We attended their event and got to try some of their classic chocolate selection. It was very good! Organic and quality what more can you ask for. Love supporting local businesses. There's always more to local artisan ls compared to commercial brands. Keep it up! read more

River Sea Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

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Our curious group kept Natasha busy with questions and comments. She was knowledgeable, patient and very gracious. You don't have to be a chocaholic to love this tour. It is informative, fun and tasty. Recommend highly! read more

How can you go wrong with a place that has "chocolate factory" in its name?!?! Well, ok, anything can technically go wrong, but not here. At least all of my many visits have gone deliciously right. The owners and staff have been absolutely wonderful -- they are incredibly nice, genuine, generous, and kind people. River-Sea is a little bite of heaven in Chantilly. Tucked away in an unassuming business park with plenty of parking. If you dig wine with your chocolate, they've recently begun wine and chocolate pairings. I recommend! While I'd hate to see one of my favorite hidden gems overrun by a ton of people, I also want to see their business flourish and maintain the divine quality of their chocolate products. It has been wonderful to watch their business grow and literally expand their space. They've put love and a lot of swear equity into their products. Refined chocolate-loving palates will certainly enjoy the wide selection of chocolate bars. Please don't expect watered down massively-produced chocolate :(thank goodness!), and yes, this translates to not inexpensive chocolate. However, their small business immerses their patrons in their love for what they do and produce. Unique, rich-tasting flavors of chocolate bathe your tastebuds in a most pleasant chocolatey experience. And, the hot chocolate? OMG...some of the best I've ever had. Do visit and buy at least a few bars. read more

River Sea Chocolates - Hot choco & espresso, and choco booty - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

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We brought our girlscout troop for a tour, 12 giggly girls. Great customer service, cute little shop. We were given the history of the of the Cacao Bean, how the chocolate is made. It was a hands on tour with wrapping your own chocolate mini bar and plenty of samples. 10/10 recommend. Thanks for the amazing hospitality. read more

River Sea Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

what a great, hidden gem of a place! we opted to do a make your own hot chocolate bomb experience ($40 per person). it was a lot of fun! for 30 minutes, we got to fill our premade hot chocolate bombs with hot cocoa made from Brazilian cocoa beans, marshmallows, and whatever other goodies we desired. there was salt, ground cayenne pepper, salted caramel, rainbow marshmallows, Oreo (gluten free) pieces, crushed candy cane, freeze dried strawberries, and freeze dried bananas. I opted to put in extra hot chocolate mix, extra marshmallows and a ton of salted caramel in mine. my daughter went a little crazy making raspberry mint hot chocolate and adding in whatever delighted her. after we were done filling our bombs up, our instructor closed them up for us. I chose to do the dark chocolate spheres with one vanilla chocolate sphere. you can mix and match! you get to decorate with melted chocolate on top & sprinkles. after decorating, we stuck our bombs into the fridge and waited for them to harden. once completed, we got to package them up and take them home! I took my time rummaging through the small store as they packed our hot chocolate bombs. I ended buying some truffles, chocolate bars and hot chocolate mix. they have great stuff all made in the factory on site! you can watch them make it in the room across from the store. when we got home, we immediately tested the hot chocolate bombs. they were incredibly chocolatey & we diluted them with extra milk. it was enough for all 3 of us & some. highly recommend checking this place out! I'll return for the make your own bar next time!! read more

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This place offers such a unique and warm experience. I brought my son because their website mentioned a hot chocolate bar. Such a cute setup and they have a sloth theme which is extra cute . We had outdoor seating and ordered a kids hot chocolate and one adult hot chocolate. My son absolutely loved his drink and hot chocolate bar. We also purchased some chocolate to bring home and how could we not purchase two of the sloth stuffed animals ? Customer service was on point and just very genuine and caring :) read more

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We first became familiar with River Sea Chocolates when we did an online chocolate tasting for a corporate event.  It was a lot of fun and the chocolate given was plentiful and delicious.  We were so impressed by the company's dedication to sustainability, even using wind power - in the form of a beautiful sail driven schooner to transport their raw materials!  It wasn't into one of the waves of COVID had passed until we were able to visit their actual location.  Once there, we found it to be a very light and whimsical space filled with natural materials and different adorable incarnations of their mascot - the sloth.  There is even a sloth sitting room where you can go and enjoy a snack or a wonderful hot chocolate.  River Sea offers a pretty wide range of hot chocolates to savor.  We tried the salted caramel, rum caramel and fire hot chocolates and thought each one was super.   River Sea offers tastings and you can look through the window of the showroom to see how the chocolate is made.  There are also lots of free chocolate samples - yah!!  We loved both our online and bricks and mortar experiences with River Sea and look forward to many more visits in the future! read more

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We got some Easter goodies as a lovely gift from my parents! Inside the gift box, there was a white chocolate lamb, a dark chocolate lamb, and a dark chocolate egg. They were delicious! The gift was thoughtfully packaged and the delicate chocolate arrived intact--not melted or broken. We even got a handwritten note and a free sample! I know where River-Sea is (by Firehook coffee and Mustang Sally Brewing) but I'd never had a chance to stop in before. Looking forward to checking it out soon! read more

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The tour was an amazing and cute experience. Definitely recommend if you love chocolate. Fun family activity or date. Tour guide was knowledgeable and caring of the experience read more

River Sea Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

Amazing tour! We learned a lot and enjoyed the tasting. The staff was incredibly kind and generous. Eli was exceptional. Highly recommend this tour and visiting this place read more

I saw this shop on instagram , wanted to give a chance. I am sorry but I really didn't like it. It is extremely expensive when you compare with the similar coffee shops around Chantilly and doesn't worth it. On the other hand, I was thinking to see something related with "river-to-the sea", but unfortunately nothing about it. If you make your advertisement based on ethnicity of the owner, may be you should show same content in your place. Anyway. read more

Took 4 kids and 4 adults to the chocolate tour. What a wonderful experience! Hats off to Eli for being entertaining, knowledgeable and excellent with kids (ranging from 6-12). The tour is short and it's in a small class where you learn about beans and then get a view into the making of the chocolate. It was a delightful add on to our Washington DC visits and the chocolate was amazing! Only regret is that we didn't get the hot chocolate! Strong recommend on the dark chocolate. read more

River Sea Chocolates - Cacao husking activity - smells delish - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

Just did a Valentine's Day private chocolate tasting with my wife and daughter here. Mariano was awesome and the chocolate was amazing. Understanding that the story behind the chocolate has a purpose and meaning made it pretty special for our family. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. Chocolate is out of this world and the experience is just as awesome. read more

River Sea Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

Went here on a 2nd date, and since it was a very heavy rainy evening, it was just us and another couple. The event felt very intimate and nice. The way the chocolates were paired with wines, was indeed very well done. By themselves their chocolates are really good, and how they did the pairing of wines brought out more flavors in both the wine and chocolate. I am not a wine taster in any way, but this was a nice surprise for me to be able to taste such difference. The wines were all locally sourced wines which were delicious themselves, and the dessert wine was a white wine like nothing I've ever tasted. Overall a very successful evening. The host Ryan was great, he clearly knew what he was talking about, and very friendly. The tour of the factory was also really nice, as I was not aware of the entire process and how long it takes from beans to chocolate. read more

Just an amazing place all around. My family and I found this place a few months ago. We frequent often for the amazing chocolate. My daughter is vegan, with a major sweet tooth, they have have vegan options for her to pick from. Everyone is so friendly and helpful when we visit the shop. I love the chocolate so much, i decided to set up one of their virtual chocolate tastings for our senior management team. Krissie and Mariano are just amazing. They made the process so easy, we provided a spreadsheet of addresses to Krissie and tasting kits were mailed to each person. Local packages were even hand delivered. What a personal touch! Our managers were so impressed by fair trade practice and shipping with sailing vessel with zero carbon footprint. Thank you so much for an amazing virtual night. So many comments on the unique experience, delicious chocolate, and our delightful host Mariano. Please support this beautiful family and local owned business, you will not be disappointed! read more

River Sea Chocolates - Tasting Kit - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

Dave, who runs the tours for the chocolate factory, was entertaining, and incredibly knowledgeable! This was a great use of an hour and well worthwhile the $25 per person cost! Lots of fun and much knowledge passed and delicious chocolate to be sampled! I highly recommend it! read more

My wife and I had a wine and chocolate tasting and had an amazing time. They were super chill but also really knowledgeable about showing us how chocolate is made. read more

Owner of the business ran out chocolate bar making class. Was absolutely delightful host & teacher. Chocolate we tasted was amazing and the class was great fun. Not to mention we ended up with 4 wonderfully tasting Mille and dark chocolate made by your truly!! Highly recommend this place for chocolate and family fun!!! read more

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i had fun earlier with chocolate tasting and the small tour, i love the new flavors and their chocolate not too sweet ..and i learned how to eat and taste the chocolate!! Thanks DAVE for the tour and experienced... read more

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We took the tour with Dave and had a great time! He was very informative about all the various types we tasted and was able to help us taste the flavors not included on the tour. 10/10 would come back for the wine pairing tour as well! read more

We had a wonderful time tasting and learning about chocolate. Dave was fun and informative. Recommend you go!

First visit, cordially welcomed. Shop display was intriguing. Global awareness is apparent all around. Perfect environment for the true chocolate appreciator. Tasted a broad scope of their offerings, and everything was clearly expert. This is the place to find gourmet chocolate in northern Virginia! read more

I'm a member of the "Exotic Club". They send us specialty flavors once a month. This month we received Strawberry Shortcake White Chocolate and German Chocolate Cake! The flavors are unbelievable! Rum Caramel is still my favorite. read more

My teenage sons, mother, and I did the tasting and tour...and everyone absolutely LOVED it! Our guide (Eli) was knowledgeable and passionate, the samples were delectable, and the look inside the production facilities was very interesting. The store had a good variety of reasonably priced options. I enthusiastically recommend this local gem!!!! read more

This chocolate factory is so much fun to visit! They are constantly coming up with creative new flavors, and the single origin bars are outstanding! Give it a try sometime read more

So, so good!!! I got a salted caramel iced (hot) chocolate, and it was fantastic, but there are many more hot and iced chocolate options! They have lots of cool chocolate bar options, including many vegan ones, and they resource their ingredients ethically. Their tastings are great! I enjoyed the delicious chocolate and the little cup I got it in. They've also got many little chocolate truffle options. Finally, I got a slothicorn chocolate bomb, and it tasted SO GREAT. read more

River Sea Chocolates - Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate (iced) - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

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If you love chocolate your going to love this shop. I saw this whole in the shop while exploring the area. This shop was all about chocolate. I got the kid size hot chocolate with oat milk and it was so good i bought some of their organic hot chocolate mix to take home. I also got two mini chocolate pieces to try. This is a great place to pick up some souvenirs to give to friends and family. read more

River Sea Chocolates - Classic Hot Chocolate - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

Love this incredible business so much. The chocolate is incredible (my very favorite are the orange masala truffles, which are even vegan!) and the team is so wonderful and welcoming. We don't live especially close by and it is absolutely worth the trip, though they also have an online option if you need! Thank you River-Sea, you brighten my day every time! read more

Incredible service during our tour! Loved the samples that they offered as well, a must visit !

I was excited at trying this place out. We got 3 different hot chocolates, each was just ok. Not decadent enough for me. The regular hot chocolate for the kids, the thick hot chocolate for myself and my husband had the caramel hot chocolate. My thick hot chocolate was served in a clay cup and the other two were served in disposable cups. There was no where to sit and enjoy the drinks. At $8 a cup of hot chocolate I would expect them to have a designated place for people to sit and enjoy their drinks. They had tasting sessions going on, and they didn't want us to sit on their long tables. They eventually put a small table and chairs out at the front, but it was cold and anytime someone came in through the door a cold gusty wind came through. Service was also incredibly slow and not particularly friendly, with only one person serving and several people waiting to order around 4pm on a Saturday. They ran out of full cream topping on the hot cocoa and substituted this with coconut foam topping without even checking if it was ok with the customer, unfortunately this changes the taste of the hot chocolate. They didn't offer any samples like other gourmet chocolate places either. Not fully convinced on this place. Looks like they are looking to cash in on tasting sessions and tours without any real concern for the regular customers. read more

River Sea Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Chantilly, Virginia

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Cute little place within a commercial complex worth the visit. Excellent service, attention to detail and the best hot chocolate with several recipes to choose from. The artisan chocolates are amazing as a special treat or gift giving. read more

I haven't not visited yet, but I've called twice about scheduling chocolate bar making for my family. The woman handling phone calls is very nice but could not answer questions or do the scheduling without checking with others. Also, when I was put "on hold" I could hear the entire conversation about me, which was very uncomfortable. I would say I'm much less excited about visiting now. read more

BEST field trip ever!! 100% recommend! I would definitely go here again. The staff is so nice and the chocolate is delicious!!

Fun kids' tour! Just enough info to keep them engaged not bored. good chocolate too.

Great Small business. Hand crafted chocolate is incredible!! Owners are very knowledgeable and kind! Take the tour, you will learn about the process snd enjoy samples read more