From Mexico to Denver: Cultura

by Rene Zimbelman

When you first unwrap a Cultura Chocolate bar, take a moment to savor the hearty aroma wafting upwards from the thick block of chocolate before you. Within that aroma you’ll find the essence of the Cultura brand – pure deliciousness, straight from the heart of Mexican culture.

“For me,” says owner Damaris Ronkanen, “chocolate-making is a love letter to my heritage, a way of connecting my hometown of Denver with my family traditions in Mexico.”

Naturally, Damaris started her business in Denver, and outside of a 6-year stint in Boston for college, she’s spent all her life in the mile high city – a true Denver native.

Damaris Ronkanen – Cultura Chocolate

A Taste of Home…

Her grandmother would spend all day cooking, with everything completely fresh from the market each morning. As a child, Damaris watched her grandmother in awe as grandma whipped up different dishes from scratch.

“I still remember the taste of her champurrado,” Damaris recalls. “It’s a rich thick chocolate atole, and I would drink it every morning when I was there. And my mother made soup called guaxmole, the best thing ever!”

With so much of her time in Mexico revolving around food, Damaris naturally developed a desire herself to cook as well —

“Mostly sweets… while growing up, chocolate was always one of my favorite things. I would go backpacking with my dad, and he would save a Special Extra Dark Hershey’s bar for when we were 3-4 days into our trip. (Like many, I used to think this was the good stuff.) It was definitely the most delicious thing to eat after being in the wilderness for a few days.”

Nothing beats a warm cup of Champurrado on a cold day…

Astrophysics vs. Cooking!

Later, she spent a lot of her free time testing out recipes and putting together elaborate dinners. Yet, cooking served as a hobby and nothing more. In fact, after high school, Damaris followed a very different path than the one she walks now.

“I went to Tufts University where I majored in Astrophysics and Cognitive & Brain Science. But during college, I found myself continuously engrossed in cookbooks rather than focusing on my degree.”

Try as she may to follow her science side, Damaris’ passion for cooking still held sway. She finally decided her senior year of college to abandon a career in her science major, opting instead to learn more about professional cooking. Indeed, after graduation, Damaris’ intention was to apply to the Culinary Institute of America in pursuit of more formal training.

She needed to put in at least a six-month stint at a restaurant, however, as a prerequisite for the Culinary Institute application, so Damaris landed a job at Rocca, a now defunct local fine dining restaurant in Boston, where she worked the garde manger station and eventually moved to pastry and baking. With the Culinary Institute on the horizon, enter education detour number two…

“I spent about a year and half there [at Rocca], during which time I realized that going to culinary school would be really expensive and that I could get the education I wanted through working.”

After working at Rocca and deciding against the Culinary Institute, Damaris realized she missed her family too much, and moved back to Denver.

Upon her return home, she worked at Fruition for 6 months, a local farm-to-table restaurant, and then spent a year as Pastry Chef at Apres Dessert Bar.

During those two gigs, Damaris realized the “restaurant life” wasn’t what she wanted. “Low wages, long hours, low respect, and very little control” over what she cooked brought the final realization – if she wanted a career in food, she needed to start her own business.

While still working at Apres Dessert Bar, she received word that it would soon close its doors, and Damaris took that as a sign – the perfect opportunity to venture out on her own.

She teamed up with her brother’s girlfriend (now wife), Katelyn Fox, who worked part-time for a chocolatier, and her journey into making chocolate from scratch began, starting with the raw bean.

“Since I’d previously worked as a pastry chef, I was curious about learning the process behind making certain products.”

She followed a cooking blog called “Cooking Issues,” and remembers an article on “ketchup chocolate.” Essentially, they were trying to replicate the texture of chocolate with other ingredients and flavors. Through that blog Damaris found Chocolate Alchemy, a site devoted to teaching people how to make bean-to-bar chocolate at home.

“I figured, why not give it a shot?”

But like many young people, she was naïve about what it would take to start her own business, and with little money, she needed a full-time job to support herself. Damaris always knew she didn’t want a typical 9 to 5 career, but to keep her afloat in the meantime, she worked in an immigration office.

“I was always passionate about helping the immigration community since my mom was an immigrant, and many family friends were immigrants as well.”

Dead Dog Is Born
(Wait… What?!)

So she took yet another passion, combined it with her administrative experience from college, and became an office manager. Meanwhile, she worked together with Katelyn for three years part-time while maintaining day jobs, during which time they launched Dead Dog Chocolate.

Dead Dog Chocolate Bar

Damaris admits that holding a full-time job made it difficult to focus on getting the business going, but in managing another small business, she gained valuable knowledge and insight that now helps her run her own business.

Toward the end of 2015, Katelyn received a full-time job offer job that made it almost impossible to devote herself to Dead Dog Chocolate. So, after 3 years of investing countless hours with very little return, she decided to leave the business.

During the same time, Matt Armstrong, co-founder of Mutari Chocolate, was moving to Colorado and looking for a job in craft chocolate.

“After talking with Matt, I decided it would be a good opportunity and next step for my business to take him on as a new partner and head chocolate maker.”

While their approaches to chocolate were different, Damaris felt it would be a great opportunity to learn from each other. Together, they could grow the business further.

Dead Dog Becomes Cultura

Midway through 2016, while in the process of re-branding from Dead Dog to Cultura, Damaris decided she either needed to quit or go all in. A year later, going “all in” looks like the wise choice!

But why the rebrand?

“Dead Dog Chocolate, as a name, had become distracting with its controversy, but I wanted to preserve the Mexican inspiration of the company, so we re-branded to Cultura Craft Chocolate in the fall of 2016.”

The packaging is eye-catching, for sure. The bright colors and sugar skulls speak to Mexico, exactly what Damaris wants.

Unique, bright colors and sugar skulls found only on Cultura Craft Chocolate

“I’m able to tell my story through just the packaging.”

It’s important to Damaris to have fun with the branding, and she doesn’t want it to look like everyone else’s. I’d say mission accomplished.

“I want our packaging to invoke curiosity – draw people in to learn more about what we’re doing and what we’re about.”

That’s fitting, given Damaris’ motto – “Be curious about everything.” She loves experimenting in the kitchen and learning modern cooking techniques. She also loves hiking, running, biking and seeing new places.

“There is so much interesting stuff happening in the world. I only wish there was time to explore everything.”

After working with Matt for a year and a half, their contract expired and both decided it was time to go their separate ways. He was eager to move back to California to be closer to family and focus on the more technical aspects of chocolate making.

Damaris, on the other hand, wanted to shift focus more directly toward the Mexican history and culture surrounding chocolate.

“Working with Matt was an amazing learning experience for me and definitely crucial to taking my business to the next step. I’m excited for my next chapter and to see where Matt goes next in his chocolate journey as well.”

Speaking of journeys, one thing has remained constant for Damaris for every step of her own: her chocolate must be sourced sustainably. “Sourcing cacao ethically has always been very important to me,” she says, “and over the years I’ve learned a ton about the supply chain, certifications, and quality.”

In Belize, Cultura met Alfonso Chen, proud farmer and parcel owner of this ancient Mayan site

Cultura works with the broker Uncommon Cacao to source all their cacao beans. Through Uncommon Cacao’s transparency reports and Cultura’s farm visits, Damaris feels very confident in both the ethics and the quality of their cacao. For example, their Guatemala farmers are paid 27% more, and their Belize farmers are paid 135% nore than West Africa farmgate price.

But with all her emphasis on Mexico, you may wonder why Mexico isn’t the first location Damaris used to source her beans? Turns out, all this transparency is why it’s been difficult for Damaris to get cacao from Mexico, despite Cultura being a Mexican-inspired chocolate making company.

But she’s excited to report, “I’m in the process of developing a relationship with a producer in Mexico and hope to have Mexican cacao before the end of the year!”

We certainly wish her the best in those efforts!

A Cultura cacao sourcing trip included a day spent hiking in Milot, Haiti

High Quality Beans, High Quality Bars

It may take a little extra time, however, simply because Cultura holds its cacao up to high standards.

“All the beans we currently work with are certified organic, and thus non-GMO. Most products we make are gluten-free and many are vegan as well.”

Any favorites?

“The 70% Whiskey + Nib bar is divine. It’s a local collaboration with Deerhammer Distillery. We take their single malt whiskey and soak cacao nibs in it for 3 days before we grind it into chocolate. Each 40-pound batch of chocolate has 2 bottles of whiskey.”

Cultura and Deerhammer Distillery Unite

Damaris promises that the whiskey doesn’t overwhelm the chocolate; instead, it enhances the sweetness and malt notes already present. It really does sound like a delicious bar, and it’s next on my list to track down and sample.

But Cultura’s bestseller is the 60% Espresso + Sea Salt Bar. It is a dark milk chocolate bar, and she says people love the creaminess, plus the sweet and salty contrast.

Cultura 60 Espresso + Sea Salt Bar offers a creamy sweet and salty contrast

Cultura Mexican one-of-a-kind drinking chocolate

“This year I also started making Cafe de Olla,” Damaris says. “It’s a Mexican spice coffee with cacao.”

She uses residual ground cacao from the chocolate-making process, and blends it with a local roaster’s dark roast coffee, ceylon cinnamon and piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar).

“It’s a very traditional beverage in Mexico and the addition of cacao in it is great!”

Cacao Teas

And for those of you more inclined to drink tea over coffee, Cultura also makes cacao teas. They only offer a limited supply, sold at special events or locally, but Damaris hopes to offer the teas online for the holiday season (so put them on your list as possible stocking stuffers), hopefully starting sometime in September.

Check out the current cacao tea varieties:

• Hibiscus Lemongrass
• Mint Mate
• Orange Honeybush
• Chamomile Ginger
• Chipotle Chai

Wait, where’s the chocolate? Rest assured, Damaris blends each and every tea with roasted cacao shells.

One Word: Truffles

Yes, the cherry lavender truffle scores high marks as another Cultura favorite, one Damaris personally adores –

“I never thought I would like white chocolate or lavender, but this combination is surprisingly delicious.”

She only makes these truffles seasonally, but they should pop up at CulturaChocolate.com starting in October, once the weather cools down and people start thinking about the holidays.

Damaris also hopes to soon unveil another truffle line currently in the works – a Whiskey Caramel line with Leopold Bros fruit whiskeys. Wow…

If all this talk of warm drinks and winter holidays makes you want to stockpile your cupboards with Cultura’s chocolatey goodness, you’re not alone! But we’re still in the throes of late summer, which means Damaris is currently focused on her authentic mole poblano sauce.

“It’s based off my grandmother’s recipe, and I make it during the summer months.”

Cultura sells it frozen at summertime farmers’ markets and special events. Unfortunately, because it’s sold frozen, you won’t find it on the website as Cultura doesn’t ship it.

Damaris hopes to one day jar it, however, so she can sell it as a shelf-stable product.

Cultura’s Chocolate Bars

Okay, let’s get down to the Cultura core – chocolate bars!

You’ll find Cultura’s four large bar varieties at their online store, including two award winners: The 70% Haiti Bar (a 2017 Good Food Winner) and the 70% Guatemala Bar (a 2017 Academy of Chocolate Bronze Winner).

A 75% Belize Bar and 85% Haiti Bar round out the core lineup.

Cultura also creates eight varieties of mini-bars too, including the amazing the 70% Mexican Spice and the 70% Peppermint + Nibs bar.

Damaris enjoys pairing chocolate with wine, whiskey or coffee and thinks cacao in some form can pair with almost anything.

Cultura’s Mini Bars

“Colorado has such a supportive community with a growing number of female business owners, specifically industries that are typically male-oriented. I feel honored to be among them.”

As for discrimination –

“In the past, I often encountered many husband-wife duos where the husband received most of the recognition, and it always bothered me. Even in my own business, despite being the majority owner, when I took on a male partner, I had countless interactions where people assumed he was the owner. Of course, I didn’t fault him for that, but it brought to light an issue in our society which assumes leadership roles belong in the hands of men.”

Damaris thinks it imperative that more and more women entrepreneurs make headlines in their industry and break old stereotypes about what a woman’s role is in the workplace. We couldn’t agree more.

What’s her advice to other entrepreneurs just starting out?

“To not overthink or over plan everything. I do think it’s important to develop a clear vision and business plan. But when I first started out, I felt I needed to think about every single detail before making decisions, since I didn’t want to make any mistakes. I was too scared of failure. Now, I understand failure or more specifically making mistakes is an important part of learning and continuing to grow your business.”

In the Dominican Republic with Cultura’s brokers from Uncommon Cacao. Left to right: Stasi Baranoff, Matt Armstrong, Damaris Ronkanen, and Maya Granit

Damaris loves the freedom that comes along with having her own business. She wakes up every day her own boss. She says it’s that pressure of being accountable to herself that keeps her going. She’s also had help along the way.

“I’ve met and worked with so many people, I know I couldn’t have done all that I’ve done with my business without them. I’m grateful every day for my supportive community of family, friends and customers. Specifically, my mom has been here since day 1 – helping with packaging, filling in at events or washing molds (so many molds), and my husband has helped with deliveries and packaging. He’s the driving force that helps keep me going when I question why I’m working in an industry with such low margins and high risk of failure.”

The Road Ahead

Today, as Damaris tells it, Cultura is thriving –

“Since rebranding I’ve increased production by 3x through shifting my focus to wholesale rather than direct to consumer events.”

This shift obviously paid off. Just visit culturachocolate.com and you’ll find over sixty locations currently selling Cultura Craft Chocolate.

Cultura also continues to participate in many local events, such as artisan fairs and farmers’ markets, and nationally they participated in last year’s Northwest Chocolate Festival, Southwest Chocolate & Coffee Festival, and the Good Food Mercantile in San Francisco as well.

“I also hope to continue to collaborate more locally with other makers,” Damaris adds.

But her overall focus with the business right now is to dive further into the Mexican influence behind it. She’s spending 3 weeks in Mexico this Fall, visiting cacao farms and new states where she hopes to learn more about cacao, their traditions and their food culture in general.

“Specifically, I am working with a new edible insect micro ranch and exploring ways to incorporate chocolate and insects together, as eating insects is a traditional part of Mexican cuisine.”

Now that’s interesting.. perhaps a mite too interesting for me (yes, pun intended)! For now, I’ll stick to the whiskey-infused nibs, but for those more daring or familiar with insects as part of their cuisine, consider this your heads up for the new addition to Cultura’s product line.

Regardless of what Cultura decides to cover in chocolate, we look forward to what comes next from the entrepreneurial spirit of Damaris Ronkanen and company, and we hope you do too.

Stay in touch with Cultural Craft Chocolate at the links below:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/culturacraftchocolate/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/culturachoc

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/culturacraftchocolate/

Email: 

in**@cu**************.com

Store Address:

Maker’s Kitchen – Art Gym Denver
1460 Leyden St
​Denver, CO 80220