Inside The Cacao Mill By Subko, Mumbai's First Chocolate Factory

The good folks at Subko have created something rare. Mumbai’s first ever chocolate factory, inconspicuously situated amidst the bustling by-lanes of Colaba. Since it’s opening, coffee and chocolate enthusiasts alike have been drawn by the promise of an edible pod-to-bar experience, staying for the specialty coffee-maker’s signature roasts and bakes in a sun-drenched setting that’s as rustic as it is welcoming. Here’s everything you need to know about The Cacao Mill by Subko.

cacao mill by subko — Photo Credits: Subko

Tell Us More About The Space

The Cacao Mill is housed in what was once an old textile mill and later an art gallery. High ceilings and a capacious sense of space run in parallel with Subko’s minimalist design philosophy.

The ground floor is were you can discover Subko’s collection of craft chocolate in The Cellar, a temperature-controlled experiential room; or explore the pod-to-bar process, starting with the raw cacao fruit (that you scoop and enjoy much as you would a custard apple) through to crunching on cacao beans.

Meanwhile, the mezzanine level has seating with plenty to whet your appetite by way of Subko’s craft bakes and their signature specialty coffees. The beverages are as intriguing as you’d expect, with with on-tap offerings including a tea tonic crafted from the cacao shell.

But Really, What’s So Special About The Chocolate?

The supply chain for single-origin cacao in India has been notoriously fraught with challenges. Subko Cacao is striving to simplify things by working directly with Indian farmers right from looking over the process of fermentation and their drying practices, to processing and transferring knowledge. Their terroir collections are committed to showcasing single estates from across the country.

The chocolate bars are set apart by the process of carbonic maceration, the technique traditionally used to soften tannins in red wines to amplify their fruitiness. By applying this process to cacao, Subko have intensified the richness of chocolate, imparting a sultry velvety mouthfeel to wacky flavour compilations borne from their experiments. Think Podi Almond Bar (chocolate with a desi kick) to the likes of a Kashmiri Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar and The Kulfi Bar.

How Is The Subko Cacao Mill Integrated With The Craftery & Bakehouse

Everything you see and sample at the Cacao Mill is reflective of Subko’s signature design philosophy. And yes, there are baked goods aplenty constellating on Subko’s new lines of chocolate, while certain coffees and other beverages also make use of cacao.