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The scent of chocolate and coffee is going to fill the air as a festival showcasing the dynamic duo arrives at Expo New Mexico.

“It is really a sensory delight,” Dean Strober, event co-founder, said. 

The Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest takes place Saturday, April 11, and Sunday, April 12, with over 200 vendors featuring chocolatiers, coffee companies, bakers, candymakers and gourmet food purveyors.

The vendors range from local New Mexico operations to international businesses from Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico.

“These are people who are growing their own chocolate and growing their own coffee and creating these great products (and) they’re bringing it here to Albuquerque,” Strober said.

The Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest will also feature live music, food trucks and tastings. Eventgoers can watch culinary stage presentations on the history of coffee, how to taste flavor notes in fine chocolate, and a truffle-making demonstration.

“People can really expect, hopefully, to discover new chocolate and new coffees,” Strober said.

Strober said he and his wife began the festival due to their love of chocolate and coffee. When they first began, they consulted with local chocolatiers, candymakers and coffee houses. Through the support of the community, the Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest began, and that continued support has helped it grow, he said.

“What’s really great is it’s attracting vendors and attendees from all over the world now, and that’s so wonderful,” Strober said.

“We get to show off Albuquerque and get to show off New Mexico,” Strober said.

This year, the festival will sell some of its own chocolate products.

“We have created a very unique chocolate bar that’s only available at the festival,” Strober said. The bar is made of layers of milk chocolate, dark chocolate and coffee beans fermented with bananas.

While many vendors feature traditional flavor combinations, some take a walk on the unusual side. Strober said an offering that stood out to him from years past was an elote chocolate bar from an Arizona company.

To get a taste of it all, Strober encourages eventgoers to get there early, not only to avoid the crowds but to also connect with vendors.

“They want to introduce their chocolates and coffees to people here in Albuquerque,” Strober said.

Strober said it’s important to him that people leave the events having learned something new about what their palates like and where those treats come from.

So much of this event is meeting the people who make it, Strober said.

“That’s really where people can discover the stories behind the products.”

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local ����������ϼ� Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.