we don’t just share our chocolate, we share our best chocolate how-to’s and recipes.
Let me guess.
You’ve ordered beans, set up your melanger, and started to make chocolate, only to question every step you think your supposed to take. It feels overwhelming (ask me how I know :)
Or, you got it all going, made some bars your family + friends loved, but your list of “what next” for your business is long and exhausting. And confusing.
You google “how to make chocolate,” or join a Facebook group where lots of people ask questions and many, many more people answer those questions. The answers don’t make sense, and the folks answering don’t always agree about what’s right and what’s wrong. There’s lots of talk about machines. Lots of people with something they want to sell.
You email a chocolate expert but their answers leave you feeling worse, not better.
You scroll Instagram hoping to see how actual makers do it: how cocoa beans are transformed into those beautiful, shiny bars. What you see are lots of beautiful shiny bars and awards stickers. These are inspiring! But you still have no clue how they did it.
Maybe you sign up for a class you saw advertised. You even tried to follow the lessons but once the course ended you had even more questions, but not access to the materials or instructors.
You wonder if this bean to bar dream you have is a mistake.
our online class has helped makers from around the globe, of every skill level, from “never have I ever” to award-winning pros, bring their chocolate dreams to life.
Your dream is our dream too.
Here’s where the marketing experts tell me I’m supposed to give you a long list of whys: why you need me, and why what only what I can offer you is what you want. Why you will be hopelessly lost, etc etc etc.
I will be the first to tell you that you can figure it out on your own. There’s a lot of free info online, and some of it might even be useful to you.
What you get at the Next Batch is a guide. What I learned, the IRL mistakes and a-ha moments, how I stood out as a solopreneur maker amongst giant craft makers, the recipes I created, how my bars gained fans in places I’ve never even visisted. How to take your dream and make it soar.
About me: I’m a longtime bean to bar chocolate maker who helped pioneer many of the directions craft chocolate has grown, who has helped guide some of the world’s most creative, award-winning chocolate makers on their unique paths.
“You can either try to learn to make chocolate from random strangers here and there, OR you can learn how to make chocolate at the Next Batch with Mackenzie. She will be with you every step of the way.”
Sophia Rea, chocolate historian, Gastro Obscura instructor, and founder Projet Chocolat
Follow your chocolate dreams: learn the heart and craft of bean to bar, deepen your skills, create a chocolate livelihood.
How it works
Sign up, and you’ll have instant access to all of the Workshop materials: each chapter follows the natural path of bean to bar. Each student can start where it works best for your needs.
The Livestream Calendar has links to the upcoming livestreams; join us “live,” or watch the recordings when you choose.
Schedule your one-on-one Ask Me Anything Zoom meeting with Mackenzie; sign up details are in the Getting Started chapter.
Make use of the insight lessons, how-to’s, video demonstrations, recipes, and the livestream libraries as often as you like, 24/7 and whenever it works best for you.
As you follow your path, the materials are available for the lifetime of the course, and Mackenzie is an email away for questions.
Inside the Workshop
“Mackenzie has given me the confidence and knowledge to go, react to the bean, and make chocolate.”
Emily Luchetti, chocolate & jam maker, cookbook author, James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef
“From the moment I started my chocolate journey I’ve been obsessed with wanting to taste the legendary Map Chocolate bars by Mackenzie Rivers…I am smitten. Wow. Just wow. Totally understand now why her students make the best inclusion bars!
Maisonchoyi, on Instagram
“I have to say that I have learned so much more in her one class than what I’d learned over a year. Loved every minute of it .”
Rajani Konkipudi, Dwaar Chocolate
“Your seed method is pure magic. In less than two minutes everything set up beautifully and I was able to process more chocolate than I have ever done in a very short time.”
“I am on record as saying that just one of the reasons I like her work is her fearless approach to flavor. Her work is just plain fun to eat~~and always meticulously crafted.
Clay Gordon, The Chocolate Life
“"Thanks SO MUCH for your time and investment in us. It was so helpful to hear your breadth of experience – and the way you explain it to us non-scientists!! Lots of observations that you made that will help me to be more attuned. So many light bulbs went off today. THANK YOU!!”
Kim Wilson, owner/founder Good King Snacking Cacao, Seattle WA
“What an incredible class. They say anyone can teach but not everyone is a teacher, and you explained everything in such an easy to process way, such an incredible experience.”
A. Sanchez, chef
"There isn’t another resource out there like you for small batch makers.”
Jared Bachelder, pastry chef, Bad Bache Chocolate
"The best teacher I have found in my chocolate journey.”
Neyla Urdaneta, Choco Gladys
“You are the reason I make chocolate.”
Karen Mosebrook, Cocoamanna
