Cleveland chocolate shop Sweet Bean marks 5-year anniversary with move

Unusual pink chocolate -- no food coloring added -- is perfect for Valentine's Day.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Sweet Bean Chocolate Studio in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood marks its fifth anniversary this month. To celebrate, the shop is offering a sample of its “delicious chocolate-y drink” through Saturday, Feb. 7. The beverage pairs well with a birthday cake bonbon. Of course.

Heart-shaped bonbons for Valentine's Day.

Sweet Bean has been open in the 819 East 185th storefront for five years, but the chocolate studio has deeper roots. It began slowly, as a side hustle for owner/founder Kristin Barnes.

“I had a full-time job in executive search as a vice president of marketing. Chocolate was something I did for fun. Something creative. Something that felt like play,” she said.

In 2013, she joined the very first incubator class at the Cleveland Culinary Launch Kitchen. There she learned more about building a culinary business.

Kylie Bates works with chocolate machine.

Around the same time, she started selling her signature, painted bonbons at Cleveland Flea, Cleveland Bazaar, farmers markets, artisan craft shows and such.

Bonbon flavors are both traditional and unusually creative. Flavors range from hazelnut, dark chocolate almond and rosemary to EVOO, limoncello and blackberry lavender.

Founder/owner/artist Kristin Barnes started painting her bonbons to help differentiate the flavors.

“From the start, the heart of Sweet Bean was bonbons and marshmallows. I began with small bonbons—half the size of what we sell in the shop today,” she recalled. “I painted them so people could tell the flavors apart.”

Founder/owner Kristin Barnes paints molds for Mexican Hot Chocolate bonbons.

The artistic touch goes much deeper.

“When I was little, I used to paint rocks and go door to door trying to sell them to my neighbors. I’m kind of doing the same thing now. They’re just edible,” she laughed. Barnes also studied art in college.

Early in her business, Barnes took an online class from ecole Chocolat to polish her fledgling skills.

“Before COVID, chocolate making felt like a magician’s code. Techniques were guarded and information was scarce,” she said. “After COVID, the curtain opened. European chefs began teaching online, and suddenly knowledge was accessible.

“I took courses with chefs from around the world, including a Russian chef who helped me break through techniques I’d been struggling with. That’s when the work really shifted, and when the chocolates started becoming what they are today.”

In 2019, she quit her job and moved chocolate production to an outside kitchen. Then the COVID pandemic pushed her back home.

“We leaned into online sales, porch deliveries, Candygram drop-offs, and virtual tastings,” she said. “I shipped chocolates and hosted Zoom tastings from afar.”

Sweet Bean Chocolate Studio bonbons can be purchased as singles or in customized collections.

Sweet Bean officially opened in February 2021 in the current shop. The shop was arranged as a stage, so people could see creativity in motion.

Sweet Bean Chocolate Studio sells creative artisan bonbons.

In 2022, Amanda Francisco, a trained pastry chef, joined the business.

As the business expanded, Sweet Bean added clusters, malt balls, chocolate-covered nuts and fruits, bars with inclusions, toffee, pretzels and more.

The Valentine's Day collection at Sweet Bean Chocolate Studio.

“If it fits on the enrober, we’ll try it,” Barnes laughed.

Still bonbons are her signature and her best seller. And salted caramel is the best-selling bonbon.

Now, Sweet Bean is preparing for its next chapter and more than tripling its space from 960 square feet to nearly 3,000. The new shop will be at 701 E 185th Street, across from City Desk.

The new shop has room for more equipment including a much longer enrobing line that will dramatically speed production. And, it has enough space to reintroduce recreational chocolate classes.

Sweet Bean Chocolate Studio bonbons are beautiful and delicious.

“Our hope is to be producing in the new space before Valentine’s Day, though we’ll likely operate in both locations for a while,” said Barnes.

Today, Sweet Bean Chocolates is still rooted in what it has always been: candy and art, joy and craft.

“I spend my time painting bonbons, making sure they’re beautiful and glossy, while the team carries the process forward,” said Barnes. “People come to celebrate, to feel better, to mark moments. No one is unhappy in a chocolate shop. Being part of that is a good vibe.”

Sweet Bean is known for its painted chocolate bonbons.

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