York Cocoa House

Best thing in York, no contest. We make sure to stop by every time we visit. The hot chocolates are outstanding. I normally prefer dark chocolate, but here even the white chocolate is mind-blowingly delicious. The specialty drinks like the chocolate shot are also worth a try. We did a chocolate bar making workshop as well where we learned about how chocolate is made and melted and moulded our own bars, definitely a highlight of our visit to York. They're great about allergens too with lots of vegan and gluten free options.

I attended the Easter egg making workshop and like the previous workshops I’ve done here it was a lot of fun. This time though it was late starting due to the family that was also in the workshop arriving late. While I waited I was allowed to join the tour the shop also does at no extra charge which I appreciated. The woman running the workshop was friendly, very informative and offered advice when needed/asked for. My egg came out better than eggspected. The family that were also there were asked to leave for valid reasons. It’s reassuring the store takes health and safety seriously. While she dealt with the family another worker took over the workshop, as I was on my own that meant 1-1 session. He too had great advice particularly with piping and decorating the egg. Definitely worth doing the workshops. It’s the third one I’ve done with them and will definitely be doing more in the future.

Very friendly staff and excellent hot chocolate! Don’t make the mistake i did and order a 70% hot chocolate unless you like bitter hot chocolate! I should have asked staff about it before i ordered! Reordered something more suitable for me and it was amazing! Very cozy setting with comfortable seating, blankets and some books to read.

This experience (chocolate manufacturing and tasting journey) was absolutely fantastic. My tour was run by Jacob (I think that was his name) and he was very knowledgeable and explained all aspects of cocoa manufacturing and production in great detail but in ways that made it very easy to understand. The tasting experience was an absolute delight, the locations and types of cocoa bean were explained thoroughly and how to taste the chocolate using your palate and all your senses truly was fascinating. The downside was that the shop had no items that were advertised and most of the group left without making a purchase. It is what it is, because our guide really was brilliant. He made the experience worth it and I'd be delighted to return when I'm next in York.

As a cafe this place is amazing with the plethora of CHOCOLATE options it gives. The cookie and brownies were amazing simply because of the chocolate and not in the nature of the dessert itself. The chocolate being freshly made there has its added perks to the amazing time a chocolate lover could have here. Coming to the chocolate manufacturing and tasting (in May 2023 - the time I visited it) it costs nearly £10 per person. On the whole the experience was nice - not great - but worth the knowledge for people interested. However the cost to experience and tasting ratio is something I would question, but credit the idea put forth by the staff and workers of the Cocoa works. I would recommend to try it, surely for chocolate lovers, but also for people who are interested in the chemical gastronomy of chocolate or even would like to simply learn about it. I would not recommend it for children as the chocolate is not the sweet type we generally give kids (though it is served as a piece in the platter) it has more of the darker and intense flavours that kids may not like. Personally I loved the experience.

Is the experience worth the money? I would say No. It's quite nice to see them taking you around their tiny mini factory setup. Pretty cute. Our guide was really passionate about chocolate and it was nice to see someone who enjoy doing these. Wish they had given more products to taste for what we pay. They do these tours in groups and let you taste different grades of chocolate depending on their level of cocoa, sugar and milk contents. There is a little cafe inside the place as well. They give u 10% discount when u get the tour. In my opinion atleast one chocolate bar could have been given as a complimentary gift 😂 overall it's a cute experience. Would have recommended for kids but they would not enjoy the bitter dark chocolate.