Bean

Like a lot of people, Eric and Rachel Wojta took some time during the COVID-19 lockdown to reevaluate their careers.

Eric had been working as a regional fire equipment safety inspector. Rachel was a full-time physical therapist. But unlike most, the Stoughton couple emerged from the pandemic with a niche chocolate business that they’re passionate about — one that has been growing steadily over the past three years.

Black Sheep Chocolate, a handcrafted bean-to-bar chocolate company, began as a retirement activity for Eric's uncle, Tom Seeley, in Bend, Oregon. After a career in the food industry, Seeley began experimenting with a sweet project; making his own dark chocolate bars in his kitchen at home.

Starting with cocoa beans from South America, Seeley learned how to sort, roast and grind the beans, temper the chocolate and pour it into molds. When the resulting chocolate was ready to share, he gave samples to friends.

Eric Wojta describes the tempering process at Black Sheep Chocolate.

Positive feedback from tasters encouraged Seeley to refine the process further, trying out cacao beans from different countries, adjusting roasting times and temperatures, and playing with grinding settings to improve the texture. What began as a hobby turned into a very small business after he found a few coffee roasters, wineries and specialty shops in the Pacific Northwest that were interested in carrying the 1-ounce bars.

But while Seeley reveled in developing the decadent chocolate, he was less interested in ramping up the business to increase production, which is very time- and labor-intensive. So in mid-2020, Seeley passed his new-found cacao knowledge and technical expertise on to his nephew Eric, who had grown weary of his job, which required extensive travel.

A stone grinder is used to crush cacao nibs into fine granules before being made into chocolate bars at Black Sheep Chocolate.

While the pandemic slowed down the development of a lot of new businesses, it was a perfect time for the Wojtas to learn the ropes of a delicious new venture. After walking through the art and science of producing single-origin dark chocolate onsite in Oregon, Eric and Rachel worked directly with retailers in that state, in addition to several stores in Idaho and Montana, to learn every part of the business.

In 2021 they set up a commercial kitchen in a Stoughton business park. They made sure all the appropriate licenses were in place and began production in earnest. Today the pair distributes 10 varieties of Black Sheep Chocolate ($5 per 1-ounce bar) and their recently developed Cacao Tea ($15 for 4 ounces) to dozens of retail locations, partnering with more stores each month.

Rachel Wojta splits a bar of single origin chocolate for a tasting at Black Sheep Chocolate.

The Wojtas are meticulous about the purity of their products. Black Sheep's organic, vegan, dairy-free chocolate bars contain only three ingredients: cacao that they process in-house, cane sugar and cocoa butter. (In the future, they are hoping to purchase a press that will allow them to produce cocoa butter in their own facility as well.)

"We don't add salt, carmel, fruit or any other ingredients," Rachel said. "That allows the true flavors of the cacao beans to shine through."

Black Sheep Chocolate's cacao beans are classified as "transparent trade," a step past fair trade that means they support the South American farmers and workers who grow and harvest the beans. The plastic sheaths that keep the chocolate fresh are home compostable, and the cardboard packaging on each bar is biodegradable.

"We hold ourselves to a higher standard than is required in almost every way," Eric said. "It all translates into a higher quality product."

Bags of raw cacao beans are lined up on a pallet at Black Sheep Chocolate.

Black Sheep Chocolate makes chocolate bars sourced from five different countries — Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Columbia, Belize and Ecuador — processed with two different percentages of cacao. 72-73% cacao bars contain more sugar and less cacao, and 80% cacao bars contain more cacao and less sugar.

With the precision of scientists and the zeal of gourmands, Eric and Rachel led a progressive tasting of their richer, darker chocolates at their processing facility. All of the samples were 80-81% cacao, made from beans grown in Guatamala, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Columbia. (Another flight of chocolates, made using the same beans, are a bit sweeter, containing 70% cacao.)

By roasting the the cacao beans at a lower temperature than large, commercial chocolate producers and taking more time to grind the cacao down to the molecular level in the melanger, the bars avoid the bitterness often associated with dark chocolate. The warm flavors have a smooth and creamy mouthfeel, with no unpleasant aftertaste.

Like wine grapes, these cacao beans have distinct flavor notes shaped by the particular soil and weather conditions where they were grown. One chocolate tasted of almond butter and nutmeg, while others had fruity elements that ranged from berry to citrus. One had an air of cinnamon and another a raisin-like finish.

My personal favorite was the 80% cacao bar with beans from the Dominican Republic, which had a sweet cherry accent. According to the Wojtas, these delicate, complex flavors pair very well with wine, port and coffee, as well as stronger spirits like whiskey. They are also a wonderful complement to charcuterie boards.

Eric now devotes himself to the new endeavor full-time, while Rachel pitches in on her days off. They began by creating a website and designing the packaging. Now they are busy introducing their product to new geographical areas and interacting with customers through social media, farmers markets and tasting events. The pair also personally delivers cases of chocolate directly to retailers.

"We want to expand of course," Eric said, "but we have to do it incrementally. We don't have the capacity to provide chocolate to a big grocery store chain right now, but we’d like to develop relationships with more and more boutique retailers and eventually hire more staff."

Eric and Rachel Wojta co-own Black Sheep Chocolate, located in a commercial park in Stoughton since 2021.

Seeley, the project's founder, checks in on the fledgling business periodically and offers advice. He has also underwritten some of the specialized machines that Black Sheep Chocolate needed to get off the ground.

"My uncle is definitely still involved," said Eric. "Knowing the food industry the way he does, he's been a great mentor."

The Wojtas would like continue adding to their chocolate offerings. "We currently supply bulk chocolate to a gelato shop, and we’d like to partner with a distillery to create liqueurs and stouts that use our products," Rachel said.

The shells or husks of roasted cacao beans are sold by Black Sheep Chocolate in Stoughton for use in cacao tea. The tea has a very delicate chocolate flavor.

The latest line expansion that the Black Sheep Chocolate team has been testing is cacao tea, made from the husks that are separated from the nibs during the chocolate-making process. Steeped in hot water for a few minutes, it's a distant cousin of traditional hot chocolate, with a strong aroma and a subtle, nutty flavor.

Later this year the Wojtas plan to add a sales page to their website, but for now, Black Sheep Chocolate is wholesale only. In Madison, Black Sheep Chocolate can be purchased at Babcock Dairy Store, Finca Coffee, Madison Chocolate Company, Main Depot, Northwoods Cheese Company and Twisted Grounds.

Additional locations in Verona, Cambridge and Stoughton are listed on the company's website. For information about additional products, new vendors and chocolate tastings, visit Black Sheep Chocolate's Facebook page and follow them on Instagram (@blacksheepchocolate).

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