How One of New York's Best Chocolate Factories Makes 5000 Award-Winning Bars a Day - Dan Does

On this episode of ‘Dan Does,’ host Dan Geneen visits Raaka Chocolate in NYC to understand and participate in their intense chocolate-making process that uses high quality, single origin cacao that retains a flavor profile shaped by the soil and climate it grows in.
Credits:
Producer/Host: Daniel Geneen
Director: Murilo Ferreira
Camera: Murilo Ferreira, Michael Latchman
Editor: Daniel Geneen
Executive Producer: Stephen Pelletteri
Development Producer: McGraw Wolfman
Supervising Producer: Stefania Orrù
Associate Director of Audience: Terri Ciccone
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For more episodes of 'Dan Does,' click here: trib.al/tf4uXsv
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[@miguelzamora122]

13:30 factory boss’ millionth fake laugh followed by nervously rubbing arms at all the failures and wastage

[@johnmichaelharo3809]

You can actually eat the white stuff that coats the seeds it has like a jelly texture and has kind of sweet and sour flavor which i loved as a kid, cacao trees grow everywhere in our area when I was a kid and you can just grab any ripe fruit and split it in half and eat it

[@wasimmo4692]

Were did u grow up

[@johnmichaelharo3809]

@@wasimmo4692 im from south east asia

[@monto39]

That's really interesting. Now I want to try it

[@sempakbolong7846]

when i was a kid , i always steeling cacao after school and eat the white stuff without knowing that fruit will be end as a coklat hahahhaaa

[@TheCheat_1337]

It's funny that Dan is finally working at a place that's his kind of people, New York artisanal handcrafted product hipsters. This video is really interesting, but most of the previous videos were totally fish out of water situations.

[@turbokid99]

Its amazing how un-coordinated these liberal hipsters are.... totally clueless. Stick to liberal arts and trolling ppl online :)

[@1totheright]

They went on a date afterwards I would suppose? 🤔

[@evolutiontheory1219]

Yeah i absolutely hated this guy until this vid. This ones alright

[@chestermcgillicuddy4368]

Dan was clearly Danielle and has transitioned.

[@DessertGeek]

I knew it'd be Raaka from the label! They use such unique colors! And it's always good to see bean to bar chocolate highlighted, these brands on the whole are trying so hard to support farmers and cooperatives with higher wages and transparency. And you get super tasty chocolate!

[@softairsan]

I don't know why but it genuinely surprises me every time how good the Dan Does Series is. Maybe it's because Dan looks like an everyday regular guy and the concept of the show is old and overused. But man, he is slaying it. Love it and especially love Dan as the host. keep it up !

[@whisky3k294]

Is that you, Dan?

[@Dangeneen]

@@whisky3k294 a reasonable theory but no!

[@georgiegan]

The CEO looks like such a hipster.

[@daveklein2826]

So

[@juliaseixas8138]

njkoopjoog

[@Stefan-fv7yj]

It's not just a product, it's a work of love from all over the world, put into a delicious chocolate bar. Who wouldn't love that♡

[@DreamPhreak]

6:48 this reminds me of the demolitions guy from the Atlantis movie

[@shanerankin3995]

HE'S A GOD DAMN HIPSTER WILLY WONKA!!!

[@csedan7916]

Willy Wanker, more like. I grew up in Brooklyn in the 60s/70s and all of this Brooklyn hipster shit gives me douche chills.

[@JimDean002]

"this is a full meal" during the depression Hershey's chocolate mostly owes in survival to the sales of one candy bar. Mr Goodbar. Their marketing people came up with the idea that since it had peanuts which are protein in it they could Market it as a solid 5 cent lunch. People bought into that since there wasn't a lot else available that they can afford and that candy bar kept the company afloat. Obviously it's a far cry from what these folks are turning out just an interesting little side note in the world of chocolate. I can tell you that years ago back in the '80s in construction a lot of guys actually would have a Mr goodbar as an afternoon snack because the sugar and the protein in the peanuts combine to give a decent little kick of energy when you needed it.

[@baassman]

09:06 "A little messy, but..." "I haven't done anything wrong yet" 😂😂😂

[@JH-gk7dv]

I can’t wait for them to reopen their factory tour!

[@ce1834]

I love Dan - truly my spirit animal

[@thetimeisnow1210]

The dude has never had a regular job ever and it really shows! Might have been the most work he’s ever done! 😂

[@I_NeedCoffee]

Oh how I love chocolate. I loved it at work and now I love it at home. I wish I could make my own.

[@fiallos1]

So visually satisfying

[@christopherbicknell8849]

Amazing video. Can we get this chocolate in the UK? Host was wonderful too. More from him please.

[@JJLiberman]

great stuff, want more of it!!

[@MikeySkywalker]

0:46 That is insane. Talk about being confident.

[@Blxglt]

I wonder where they got the name from. "Raaka" is a Finnish word that means "raw", which would kind of make sense here.

[@justrelaxing1501]

Thanks for explaining the chocolate making process. I'm going to look for this brand next time in NYC

[@JimDean002]

My man referenced 2 kilos of flake with a straight face...

[@A_New_View]

I loved this episode!😂

[@didxogns1]

I normally don't like to have just a Chocolate bar and didn't know artisanal chocolate even existed but I now really want to try this

[@kendrabobes2295]

You have to try it, it’s so different from the mass produced chocolate bars

[@yesjustordinary]

Amazing !

[@ADHD55]

I hope those Coco farmers are being compensated for their hard work

[@daily6633]

Who knows. Prolly not??

[@sagan666]

That wrapping scene reminds me of wrapping bread rolls in 1997. Good to see things haven't really changed.

[@elixirforlife4771]

Wonderful

[@UnclePhil1112]

So basically what they’re saying is, fruit is chocolate. Got it! 👍🏼😃

[@Verlopil]

I can see why boutique chocolate costs more money.

[@bobbycratchet3958]

Near the end you will see a recreation of the I Love Lucy Show when she and Ethel tried to make and package chocolate. Hilarious episode! At least I think she was with Ethel.

[@Lousasshol]

Great content

[@gaylejackson6828]

Love this chocolate

[@missdaisysunshine8633]

Just ordered some

[@Breitman123]

I truly LOVE the Dan Does series!

[@mossbergthebulldog6921]

Good stuff 🤟

[@Tonyhouse1168]

Haha, “welcome to Dan does okay”

[@davidglaum2538]

How much chocolate is an employee allowed to eat at work?

[@captainforrix956]

Every single dude working at that place looks like they listen to Neutral Milk Hotel. Not a bad thing, but they all really give off the extreme hipster vibe

[@elreguerrero4021]

WOW.... good video

[@eveyluvvs]

I'm from Brooklyn and I've never heard of Raaka... He must be transplant Brooklyn lol

[@HoshiArt]

yum

[@ismaelhall3990]

Really life willy wonka!!!

[@adrianflores581]

Quickly reading it thought it read "into raw caca" 😆

[@chrisblack7210]

Love how they don't over edit the video and leave in some of those moments that highlight Dan's goofy self

[@Ruin-kf4wl]

Never been so early for a video before

[@syd2248]

I kinda love this Geneen guy

[@jwkayk360]

this dude's voice is just.. abrasive.

[@daveklein2826]

So is your comment

[@membershining138]

I herd that anything under 20 micron chocolate wasn’t noticeable so would the big roller press just be over kill?

[@polishedmeat6399]

what music is playing in thsi video i love it

[@missdaisysunshine8633]

What? No link to buy Raaka?

[@daveklein2826]

Google it

[@Charlie-nc3cp]

"Yum, dark chocolate" said nobody below the age of 70

[@robertwhitten265]

4:50 Just pour the F'in butter!

[@la1163]

Mmmmm chocolate.

[@pluckey0826]

reaching over those massive rollers with the spatulas seems so risky. any loose fabric would pull you right in

[@pointman1921]

Was thinking the same thing. He was using the scrapers right over them as they were running. Just an accident waiting to happen.

[@MartyD]

chocolate 🤤

[@Vic-lu6dk]

1:12 Roast the crap out of the beans? Is crap used in formal terms? Sorry for posing this silly question, I am no native and was curious about that

[@delphipascal]

this isn't a formal video - it's got some edgy/hipster vibe hence the use of crap. Crap isn't formal.

[@nicholasterry6523]

Dan's understating how unusual it is to not roast the beans, as Raaka chooses to eschew that step in the conventional chocolate-making process. Roasting does not, as claimed in the video, serve exclusively as a cudgel to destroy variance, but rather as a process to develop additional flavor components while shifting the flavor in one of a particular set of possible directions (the chemistry here is far too complicated for a comment...) There are hundreds of other small chocolate makers who do roast their beans and nevertheless display impressive and immediately obvious variety in their selection even between different origins at the same percentage, but far fewer offer a bar in Raaka's style.

[@heeheehayftw3905]

Crap is used to mean "a lot", like a crap ton, or roast the crap out of it (roast it a lot). It's not formal, more slang.

[@Vic-lu6dk]

@@heeheehayftw3905 Thank you for the response :)

[@Dangeneen]

@@nicholasterry6523 well said. What I meant was that the mega corp chocolate companies roast "the crap" out of the beans. There are lots of wonderful chocolate companies that bring out new exciting flavors with roasting and I should have mentioned that! Thanks for watching and caring.

[@carlosmante]

Chocolate, a long trip from Ancient Native American Olmecs to Brooklyn.

[@joshrzepka4139]

How much for a bar of it

[@dcallan812]

❤❤❤

[@needmoreramsay]

Yeah Eater definitely paid for a case of chocolate bars on this one.

[@northerners2828]

I like sweets 🍫🍫🍫

[@1minutecomicswalahollywood648]

Nice Channel.

[@vkleisner]

how many bars do they produce daily? such a handcrafted process!!

[@mcfear1991]

Says 5000 in the video title…

[@daveklein2826]

It's stated in the title

[@user-ri3vu4os7j]

so 25 bars per minute, means that in a factory with 8 hours shift, it can make 12,000 bars per day. 60,000 per week and 240,000 bars per month.

[@EvanWeeks]

6:49 Is that Vincenzo from Atlantis? Did he go from a flower shop to making chocolate? Better watch that guy, he might have something that goes "boom"!

[@Dulcimertunes]

Shades of Lucy and Ethel

[@JS-wc4xs]

Chokola in taos NM is the best chocolate producer I've ever had. I will try Raaka, but it's definitely more industrialized than Chokola is.

[@MajorWolf72]

So, they are bringing in the beans unroasted, but no roasting process was shown

[@Tonyhouse1168]

On their website, they say that the never roast the chocolate bc they want it to be more fruity and less “classic” chocolate taste

[@jameshill2635]

Buy a conche Raaka. You know it’s the right thing to do ;)

[@justaguy4788]

artisanal fair trade

[@alexhanson6327]

Someone needs to explain to Dan that the key to humor is playing into "machines are silly" and such.

[@BruinsPastaSauce]

i dont care for chocolate that much at all but this one i must try just out of the respect of him and eveyone involved putting the work in.. guess that's why i dont care for chocolates is he explained it pretty much it all tastes the same and doesn't help its pretty much monopolized for the most part.

[@Gasparvjs]

Hipster chocolate

[@themarkfunction]

Dan! Dude, lift with your knees not your back. I almost threw my own hernia watching you heft that bag of beans at 2:15 , lol

[@0133Baron]

@10:22 wears sanitary gloves, scratches hair*..

[@sheilaflory2541]

Noticed this too. Would have expected them to pull him away from the machinery and glove up again

[@heberthybr]

This exactly what a Nestle industry close to my place here in Brazil does, and I can say with strong property since a good friend of mine work there for several years. So this mom and pa store sustainable fairytale is just bullshit. Also, most of Cacau farms in Brazil depends on multinationals companies demands... so the poor families who relies on it say "obrigado".

[@vitasbutkoon]

🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹

[@jonathanjones6657]

A British man changed his name to Tim Pppppppppprice to make it harder for telemarketers to pronounce.

[@Burkerules]

Other than the roasting of the beans it's the same exact process in a large chocolate operation. By saying that large operations "roast the beans" as though it's bad a thing is misleading. This place uses the raw bean but they are also at the mercy of any malodors in the liquor. Let's be clear when we present content.

[@dakotareid1566]

This place doesn’t roast it

[@carterweinstein29]

Is this going to be like $10 per bar 😂

[@timon20061995]

The hipster level is over the chart

[@Charlie-nc3cp]

Does every bar win an award?

[@matthewreyes2401]

I’d love to see their sanitation programs and where they keep the chemicals, gear etc

[@aryaprincess2479]

So Nate Hodge, the founder, is cute and he makes chocolate... is he single?

[@writereducator]

Don't you love this anti-capitalism capitalism?

[@gacoan_noodle8657]

If capitalism used with good procedure without finance management instead surely will be goes to carefully ..

[@SpiderslidePics]

They must have roasted them too. They skipped that step?

[@Tonyhouse1168]

It’s not roasted. They like the fruity flavor of unroasted dark chocolate

[@Boxer1250RT]

Like having the Highest quality Steak at Applebees - Nice try :)

[@daveklein2826]

Ignorant comment

[@lex_is_law5654]

The owner sounds like Seth Rogen

[@KennethL12321]

So u don’t need a waterfall to mix the chocolate…?

[@bigfitts]

The owner looks like his dad bought him the business so would stop doing coke all the time😂😂

[@daveklein2826]

You would know

[@dathaniel9403]

Such a weirdly specific and utterly wrong take. The dude looks totally normal. And you don't have the kind of work ethic it takes to run a bean-to-bar chocolate business if you're a trust fund kid. He said he wrapped all his bars by hand for years before they were big enough to afford a machine that does it. Does that sound like a rich cokehead? Idiot.

[@Astrohhh]

Machines are so silly

[@rodwinprieto2099]

looks like making oil paint

[@SCRT]

Liter‍ally to the 1% ‍who's‍ reading this, God bles‍s you, an‍‍d ‍may your dreams co‍‍me true,‍‍ ‍st‍a‍‍‍y safe and have a wonde‍‍rful‍ day. 💕‍‍

[@joshuarodriguez8922]

Dan sucks at working lol

[@austinabrams9456]

Was looking for someone who noticed that lol. You can tell he has literally never worked a hands on job in his life

[@pablocespedes9585]

Good video! But sorry, the best Cacao is coming from Central America, North of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. This zones are also known for having top coffees as well, specially Costa Rica and Honduras. The type cacao planted in this region is called CRIOLLO. Criollo is the least bitter of cacaos. The prime matter for making chocolate are NIBS, the Nibs must not have any shell pieces (actually mucilage is the proper name) Mucilage is bitter and also affects texture, so is good to pass the roasted cacao through the winnower machine two or three times. The best Dark chocolate is the least bitter... Extra bitter flavor is a deffect on gourmet chocolate.

[@stewartstewartstewart]

Weird music choice and a Fraggle doing the VO

[@marcosjaramillo1314]

Am I experiencing a Mandela- thingy? Is that a different Dan?

[@tegridyweed7863]

Fun fact - There's 8 bug legs in every bar of chocolate.

[@berlinSunRise]

first kilos, then using farenheit. FFS