Alysha Mein is an artisanal chocolatier and community builder. Alysha is the owner of Genesis Chocolate Factory, a welcoming space with beautiful displays of artisan chocolates, currently all dressed up for Valentine's Day. Alysha graduated from the Niagara College Baking and Pastry program and fell in love with the art of creating delicious chocolate treats through various employment opportunities and skills development. She completed the professional chocolatier program at Vancouver's Ecole Chocolat, graduating with honours. This led her to open Genesis Chocolate Company in downtown Dundas, now celebrating one year in business.
Alysha, along with her sister Ashley who works part-time with her, provided an overview of the business process they use for creating chocolate treats, including detailed information on the conching procedure used to mix and develop chocolate to create a smooth, flavourful texture.
During their presentation, Alysha and Ashley answered various questions from the club members about the tempering process - which interestingly is quite similar to the process for tempering steel. They also discussed whether chocolate should be refrigerated, explaining that it should not be as it’s very porous and will absorb the flavours of other items in the fridge. Additionally, they touched on the differences between milk and dark chocolate and elaborated on the relationship Genesis Chocolate has with the other chocolate shop in town (very positive).