Award-winning chocolate
handcrafted by one guy in Woodbridge, VA

Visit our new retail shop at 206 Union St, Occoquan, VA!

Potomac Chocolate is a small American craft chocolate maker in Woodbridge, Virginia.

In my absurdly small workshop, I transform ethically sourced raw cacao into award-winning craft chocolate. My process has one goal: to create delicious bean-to-bar chocolate that highlights the unique flavors of each cacao origin. Learn more about Potomac Chocolate or my chocolate making process.

-Ben Rasmussen
Chocolate Maker & Owner, Potomac Chocolate

Featured Products

More products are available in the Shop!

Recently, on Instagram:

Chocolate covered candied almonds and hazelnuts ar

Chocolate covered candied almonds and hazelnuts are now available at my Occoquan shop!

The nuts are roasted and candied by hand, and then coated three times in chocolate* also by hand. The result is some of the most snackable things I've ever made. 🍫🌰🤤

Currently, these are only available in my Occoquan shop. This is mostly due to the effort required to make them by hand. If someone wants to give me a panner**, I'd be happy to make a lot more. 😀

* The chocolate for these is a 70% dark chocolate blend made from Dominican and Peruvian cacaos.

** A panner is a big rotating bowl used to coat stuff in chocolate and other stuff.

#potomacchocolate #craftchocolate #beantobar #handcrafted #darkchocolate #occoquan #occoquanva #ocq #chocolatecoverednuts #almonds #hazelnuts

Sadly, video of my universal refiner/conche in act

Sadly, video of my universal refiner/conche in action isn't as nice to look at as when I used a stone grinder. On the plus side, though, I think my chocolate is better than ever. 😀

This is a full batch of my couverture blend, made with cacao from Peru and the Dominican Republic.

#potomacchocolate #craftchocolate #beantobar #handcrafted #darkchocolate #woodbridge #virginia #woodbridgeva #madeinvirginia #occoquan #occoquanva #ocq #universal #grinder #refiner #conche #chocolatefactory

Potomac Chocolate in New Zealand! A couple of my b

Potomac Chocolate in New Zealand! A couple of my bars will be part of the August @thechocolatebar.nz chocolate subscription boxes! Subscribe now to get some of my Semuliki Forest, Uganda 75% and/or Toasted Milk bars!

#potomacchocolate #craftchocolate #beantobar #handcrafted #darkchocolate #madeinvirginia #occoquan #occoquanva

#Repost @thechocolatebar.nz
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Also coming up in our August subscription boxes... @potomacchocolate! This incredible chocolate is made by Ben Rasmussen in Woodbridge, Virginia. We've got Ben's Toasted Milk bar for dark & milk boxes and his Uganda 75% bar for the all-dark boxes. Yum! 🐟
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#subscriptionbox #subscribe #subscription #chocolatesubscription #chocolatelovers #chocolate #beantobar #craftchocolate #finechocolate #artisanchocolate #singleorigin #smallbatch #cacao #newzealand #delicious #ethicalchocolate #ethicallymade #productdesign #productphotography #nzsubscription #giftideas #gifts #nzgifts

Bonbons all stocked up at the shop! I'll be open u

Bonbons all stocked up at the shop! I'll be open until 4 today!

#potomacchocolate #craftchocolate #beantobar #beantobonbon #handcrafted #bonbons #truffles #occoquan #occoquanva #ocq

My cacao tree out front of the shop getting some s

My cacao tree out front of the shop getting some sun.☀️🌳

We're open in Occoquan today until 5! It's hot, so I provide complimentary insulated bags and an ice pack to make sure your chocolate makes it home safely. 🍫❄️🌡️

#potomacchocolate #craftchocolate #beantobar #handcrafted #occoquan #occoquanva #ocq #I❤️OCQ

After 10 long months filled with many, many delays

After 10 long months filled with many, many delays, my shop in Occoquan, VA has finally been inspected for production!

(I passed, of course. 😀 )

I am now able to finally start making chocolate here! Since the inspection, I've already started moving over some of my equipment and tools. So far, I've moved over the tempering and molding equipment, so can start molding bars and making bonbons here. In fact, I'm molding my first batch of bars here today!

My plan is to work backwards through the process until everything is here. Some of the equipment--the grinder in particular, but also the roaster--is big and heavy and will take some doing to move here. I'm hoping to have everything here by the end of the summer, though. In the meantime, I'll continue to sort, roast, winnow, grind, and conche in my home-based factory.

I'm super excited to finally be doing this. It's a little weird though, as I've only ever really made my chocolate in one place. It's strange to be doing it somewhere new. 😀

Now that I'm able to produce here, the plan is to have the shop open more frequently. I'll be figuring out exactly what that means as I go. I'll definitely be open this Saturday, so stop by and see the new set up!

#potomacchocolate #beantobar #handcrafted #craftchocolate #chocolatefactory #occoquanva #occoquan #ocq

Here's some video of chocolate and hazelnut butter

Here's some video of chocolate and hazelnut butter (roasted and ground in house) being mixed for a recent batch of Gianduja bars.

This has become a go-to bar for me. 😀🌰🍫

Currently available in my online shop and in my Occoquan VA retail shop (open tomorrow at noon)!

#potomachocolate #craftchocolate #beantobar #handcrafted #gianduja

Happy World Chocolate Day! For WCD, please enjoy

Happy World Chocolate Day!

For WCD, please enjoy this video of about 55 lbs of my Duarte, Dominican Republic 70% dark chocolate being stirred in my tempering machine. 😀🍫

#potomachocolate #craftchocolate #beantobar #handcrafted #darkchocolate #worldchocolateday #worldchocolateday2020

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