Besides laying on a beach with a margarita how else would you like to spend a leisure afternoon? Well, I say visiting an artisan chocolate factory doesn’t sound too bad! I usually don’t have the time to leisurely walk through a chocolate factory. However, on my trip this summer to visit my family in Nashville, I was able to do some indulgent exploring. My mom mentioned the southern artisan chocolate company, Olive & Sinclair, and said they have tours we could attend. I said, “Sign me up!”
Olive & Sinclair is in East Nashville housed in an old building with vintage appeal. We made our rezzy ahead of time and with the purchase of $5 for the tour we received a fabulous keepsake… a hairnet! Our tour was very interesting. We were surprised to learn that the factory had only 7 employees, including the owners. They use a slow roasting method and have 2 massive 100-year-old stone mills to produce the sweets. It truly is a small batch production, the time and care used is evident. Everything is very fresh and hand selected. I can always stand behind a company that places value in their customers and quality in every step of their artisan chocolate process.
The best part was the taste testing! I think this chocolate tour ruined me forever! They have caramels to die for called Duck fat caramels that are so buttery and smooth. Doesn’t that just make your mouth water? They also make a Salt and Pepper Chocolate Bar. I wasn’t too keen on tasting it but it ended up being my favorite! Delish! They also have a newer line of Seersucker Candy and the name was inspired by the traditional southern seersucker suit. They have three types of bourbon balls, The Muzzle Loader, Cherry Bombs and The Original Seersucker. I enjoyed the Muzzle Loader the best, a caramel filled with liquid salted bourbon. It was hard to eat just one!
After this quaint visit to Olive & Sinclair’s Artisan Chocolate Factory I would highly recommend making a stop. The tour took only 35 minutes and most importantly, it was delicious! I had told my family that I would bring back some artisan chocolate. The sad truth of it is, I ate almost all of it while I stayed the remainder of the week at my parents! shhh…. don’t tell them. Luckily, you can shop online for more of the artisan chocolates.
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