A chocolate faucet sounds like something out of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” but for 19 California Baptist University students it was a reality. Chocolate and coffee enthusiasts piled into a bus Feb. 23 outside the Office of Community Life to experience ChocXO Coffee & Cacao in Irvine.
ChocXO is a startup that combines two common American favorites: chocolate and coffee. It is the first of its kind in North America. Ryan Foley, who has been involved in the chocolate industry for 30 years, started the company with the intention of bringing quality beans to his customers.
The Irvine location is where the beans are converted into chocolate. Retail store lead Sasha Shennikov gave CBU students a tour through the factory and explained how the process works. They were able to try Ethiopian and Panamanian chocolate in their liquid forms.
After experiencing one type of bean, the tour moved to the coffee portion. Students sipped coffee and exchanged opinions about the flavors found in both the chocolate and the coffee.
Viviana Diaz, sophomore applied theology and Spanish double major, coordinated Brew California. She said she was pleased with the outcome of the event.
Diaz said she charts the success by the bus ride. The trip to Irvine was quiet; everyone sat with people they knew and chatted among themselves. However, on the way back to CBU, the whole group was participating in a game of Heads Up.
“To know that it happened over an afternoon of hanging out at a coffee roaster is a really cool thing,” Diaz said.
