Learn the heart & craft of making small batch bean to bar chocolate
The Next Batch is a bean to bar maker-founded chocolate school, where students of all experience levels learn everything they need to know to successfully craft chocolate from scratch.
Next Batch founder, Mackenie Rivers: driven by curiosity, with a love for small batch bean to bar
Why would a busy bean to bar maker share her recipes and tried-and-true techniques?
I began teaching stuents in 2016, and in 2020 created the Next Batch School because small batch chocolate was being left out of the craft chocolate conversation. When I was starting my chocolate journey, the craft community liked to reminisce about how the early makers started in their garage or shed or on a kitchen counter, but then the discussion would quickly turn to buying bigger equipment, growing bigger, selling more: the focus was bigger, bigger, bigger, as if that’s the only choice. How to grow, how many metric tonnes of beans they were ordering.
That wasn’t my dream! I wanted my business to stay small and thrive, and do what I loved.
I began to realize this dream was shared by small batch makers around the world, and new makers trying to find their footing on the chocolate path. Makers who worked in small spaces, crafted from home, bribed our families and friends to help sort beans or wrap bars (definitely polishing moulds! :). People who found joy in knowing our customers by name.
There’s a big difference in falling in love with making something from scratch with our own two hands and a 75,000 square foot chocolate factory with dozens of employees, and conveyor belts. One isn’t better than the other, they just have different intentions. And very different needs, techniques, costs, and approaches.
The beautiful thing is, the world’s most beloved craft chocolate makers are, and have always been, small batch.
Making chocolate at home or in small kitchens. Winning awards, crafting as a hobby, creating livelihoods, keeping their families, friends, and communities happy with the surprise of handcrafted chocolate.
These successful, award-winning, happy makers are why I started my school.
~~Mackenzie Rivers, chocolate maker & owner of Map Chocolate Co,
founder of The Next Batch Chocolate School~~
The online Bean to Bar ChocolateCraft Workshop provides what my first-hand experience as a chocolate maker taught me makers need most: real-life insights, the how-to techniques only a maker can know, and honest advice.
Bean to bar skills
Students learn how to transform cacao beans into chocolate, with lessons that cover
Choosing equipment, and setting up a workspace
Understanding origin and cocoa bean selection
Roasting and winnowing
Batchcrafting and refining for every type of chocolate
Tempering and molding chocolate
Inclusioncraft and creative additions
Packaging
The guidance and lessons are tailored to small-batch makers, meaning you can follow along in your home kitchen, a commercial space, or workshop, no matter what the size
Designed for all skill levels
The workshop was created by a working chocolate maker (not a scientist, not an equipment salesperson :) with
Clear, step-by-step instructions
Techniques broken down into manageable parts
Tips and troubleshooting for common challenges (because yes, these exist and I’ve experienced them)
A supportive pace and explanations that don’t just assume prior experience
Whether you’re completely new to chocolate making or bringing some skills already, the Workshop meets you where you are and helps you grow.
Online, Interactive, and Supportive
I created my Workshop online so you can:
Join from anywhere
Learn on your own schedule
Watch and converse in livestreams with Mackenzie, recorded to watch at any time
Ask questions and get feedback
Have the extra help of a private 90-minute mentoring session
Build confidence one batch at a time
Our goal is to help you reach your goals, whether that means mastering your first bar, starting a small business, or deepening your creative connection with chocolate.
bean to bar livelihood
sourcing cacao
crafting in a small kitchen
easy tempering
every step of bean to bar
setting up to craft
roasting cacao
PDFs for download
plant-based recipes
inclusioncraft
crafting single origin cacao
batchcrafting
sustainable, beautiful packaging
Swirls of white, dark, and milk chocolate marbling on chocolate coffee latte bars
drinking chocolate
flavor pairing
the B(usiness) side of chocolate
the pretty and not so pretty
how to bring your chocolate goals to life
equipment needs
spreads
production planning
unique-to-you products
choosing equipment to fit your space and production needs
Teaching bean to bar chocolate and sharing real-life insights through the lens of a small batch chocolate maker’s path to success
we’re on Instagram @thenextbatchschool
