Community invited to March 14 celebration at Orillia studio and factory ORILLIA, ON — DWN Craft Chocolatier is celebrating five years of handcrafted chocolate with a special anniversary open house on March 14 at its studio and factory at 21 Peter Street South, Orillia. Chocolate lovers are invited to drop in between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to shop, taste, and celebrate with Simcoe County’s local bean-to-bar chocolate maker. To mark the milestone, DWN is offering double loyalty points on all in-store purchases of house-made products on March 14, along with $10 flat-rate shipping from March 1–14 for customers celebrating from afar. Anyone who makes a purchase online or in person during that time will also be automatically entered into...
Running a small craft chocolate company means navigating change thoughtfully, so starting soon, there will be an increase in the cost of our chocolate bars. The small bars will be $8.50 (up from $7.75) and our large bars will be $12 (up from $11.50). These are the products many of you reach for again and again, and we’ve done our best to keep them at the same price for as long as we could. Over the past year, the cost of cacao, primary ingredents, packaging, and freight has continued to climb. Instead of altering the recipes or cutting corners on the ingredients we use, we’re choosing to keep making chocolate the way we believe it should be — small-batch, with...
Like many of you, I’ve spent the past month rewatching the slow-burn romance between two fictional hockey players. To cope with my feelings, I did what I do best — I made chocolate.
Single-origin cocoa nibs from Peru (Piura White) were infused with Canadian vodka for a full week, then gently dried before being stone-ground with freeze-dried ginger. The result is a smooth dark milk chocolate finished with the fizzy spark of popping candy.
Vodka + Ginger Ale = sweet Hollanov combination
And in true DWN fashion, the label captures one very specific feeling: the electric anticipation of episode six.
whether it’s a new rink-side romance or your long-term sweetheart, DWN has you covered for Valentine’s Day Celebrate the sweet-tart beauty of fruit in chocolate form with our selection of pink-hued chocolate bars made with Canadian-grown ingredients. From juicy raspberry paired with buttery toffee crunch, to gentle tangy rhubarb softened with vanilla, the classic romance of strawberry and rhubarb, or a celebratory splash of strawberry apéritif.For those who want to bring some heat, the spiced kiss bar blends warm spices with creamy milk chocolate, while the chili milk chocolate bar delivers a gentle, lingering heat that builds with every bite or the salted peppercorn bar that is an aromatic spark of spice.You can always say it sweetly with these charming little bites: conversation hearts and fluffy heart-shaped marshmallows. This year’s bonbon collection features four unique flavours:...
Many people in the chocolate-making world—especially in North America—are familiar with John Nanci of Chocolate Alchemy. In one of his 2025 newsletters, he shared two ideas that deeply resonated with me.The first is a quotation from Constantin Brancusi:“Simplicity is complexity resolved.” The second reframes that idea more plainly:“Simplicity isn’t a shortcut—it’s a strategy.” John was writing in the context of roasting coffee, explaining that a simple approach respects the natural complexity of the coffee bean and preserves control over the process, rather than obscuring it with unnecessary variables. It’s a philosophy that applies just as clearly to chocolate making. At the end of 2023 and heading into 2024, we saw the cost of cacao skyrocket. So when The Toronto Star reported in 2024 that...
