Pensacola’s Chocolatier Day Camp

By Brittany Misencik, Pensacola News Journal, July 11, 2022

Though summer day camps are often a clever way to keep the kids out of trouble while on summer vacation, Pensacola’s Peterbrooke Chocolatier has adults filling up spots for its “day camp” as well.

“Pretty much we have full groups of adults that have been doing camp, too,” Peterbrooke manager Jordan Cartledge said last week. “Today, I have a whole family that’s going to be doing it, I believe.”

Campers will have the opportunity to temper, trickle and taste chocolate straight from the shop, allowing adults to feel like kids again.

Though the camp has been previously marketed toward children, Cartledge said there is actually no maximum age limit to take part in the fun. There is an age minimum though, and this year, participants need to be at least 8 years old unless a parent is present for the class.

“Every participant gets to dip their own caramel apple, pretzel rod, potato chip, Oreo, Nutter Butter, graham cracker, marshmallow pop, chocolate covered popcorn, gummy worms, gummy bears. … Pretty much all of our in-house dipped items — (they) get to make their own (version) of,” he said.

The $65, three-hour “camp” session is offered from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday through August.

There are some differentiations of the class based on the age of participants, Cartledge said. Mature visitors get a little extra lesson in chocolate history, while younger guests are too busy making their own fun, like painting a chocolate beard on themselves.

“We like to let the kids get messy,” Cartledge said with a giggle. “Every kid gets to have their own hands-on experience where they get to spread the chocolate out on the marble and kind of feel it actually tempering.”

The course is divided into sections, where participants first learn about the history of the shop and of chocolate, hand-temper their chocolate behind the counter on the Peterbrooke marble countertop, take a break for a slice of Graffiti pizza, hand-dip their treats and then end on a sweet note with a scoop of gelato. Participants and parents also get 10% off anything in the store following the class, in case there is something the newly trained chocolatiers decide they cannot live without.