Chocolate Shops We Love: Maps Coffee and Chocolate
Maps Lead to Chocolate & Coffee
Vincent Rodriguez began making chocolate in 2016, with the help of his grandmother’s molcajete. He launched his chocolate making business the following year, after plenty of practice and acquiring basic equipment. Over the years his business has evolved, and the current incarnation is Maps Coffee & Chocolate.
A longtime map lover and avid cyclist, Rodriguez says the company name reflects the beginning of what was once a bike shop in Lenexa, outside Kansas City, Missouri.
He starts each chocolate bar starts with cacao, cocoa butter, and turbinado sugar. But there are no additives, preservatives, or soy lecithins in this chocolate. The website also lists Dairy Free/Vegan, Gluten Free, Nut Free, and/or Paleo/Keto bars, by category.
Until recently all Maps chocolate was hand-tempered and hand-poured, “but you can only pour so many bars in a particular timeframe and we really had to work on chocolate’s timetable,” Rodriguez says. “Chocolate is very finicky, and you have to get it right.”
A new tempering machine arrived in January. “What used to take a week [to make], this machine can do in a matter of hours,” Rodriguez says. He looks forward to creating a greater variety of chocolate products, with the new equipment.
The Shop
Rodriguez initially designed this space to function as a bike shop that also sold packaged coffee. “When the bike shop left in 2018, it gave me enough space to [create a café], with seating for 19. I am very much a do-it-yourself person so most every furnishing in the shop had a different life elsewhere.”
Today his small batch chocolate production enhances the coffee roasting operation, which emphasizes eco-friendly, fresh, signature roast profiles. Comfy, retro furnishings dot the cozy café that shares space with production and storage areas. A small retail space displays packaged coffees and chocolate bars. A nearby order counter welcomes guests with hot or cold beverages, from Cappuccino to Mexican Mocha. It’s also where customers can sample free coffee and chocolate.
Markers on a large, wall-mounted world map designate areas from which Rodriguez purchases coffee and chocolate. “We can do a little bit of storytelling about special varietals from specific countries.
“Our customers get the café experience without us adding more complexity to our operations. We’ve partnered with Pantry KC for our pastries, for about a year-and-a-half, and she has been a really good partner. She provides frozen items that we can bake in the morning. I want the cafe to be comfy but we’re not a typical café-we’re more retail. Our bread and butter really is coffee and chocolate.”
Top Selling Chocolates
A customer favorite, the milk chocolate London Fog bar features Earl Grey tea flavor that builds as the bar dissolves.
The chili bar offers plenty of spice that gradually grows. Rodriguez says it incorporates different chili peppers for smoke, heat, and bite.
Ginger Orange Spice bar
This seasonal bar infuses almond milk chocolate with unique heat from ginger.
Maps is working on a honey lavender dark chocolate bar that will feature a honey crystal on top and Goat Cheese Chocolate with Pine Nuts and Figs. The Candied Cherry Cognac Bar made a comeback, in February (2023) and Cherry Almond Rose will soon return too.
Also Look For
Rodriguez and his crew found another way to use cocoa butter, in their Original Coffee Bloc, which also features micro-ground coffee and turbinado sugar. Edible on its own, Bloc can become a key ingredient in baked goods, or melted to create a dessert sauce.
Maps Coffee & Chocolate also offers an in-depth two-hour class that features education about, and activity related to, both coffee and chocolate. The bonus? Every student leaves class with some freshly roasted coffee, and a handcrafted 65% chocolate bar.
Watch for flavorful chocolate collaborations too, with local food and beverage purveyors. The company has already created Maps Chocolate Feta Bars with sheep’s milk producer, Green Dirt Farm. “We reached out to them and asked if they wanted to collaborate,” Rodriguez says. “We came up with a prototype and got their approval.”
A line of boozy Maps chocolates includes Rum Pineapple, made with house rum from neighboring Jude’s Rum Cake-which provides Maps with pecans, too. There’s also a prototype in the works that incorporates bourbon from locally owned J. Rieger & Co. “I think we’re just getting started with our chocolate company,” Rodriguez says.