When Jessica Tye, owner of The Cocoa Muse, talks about her new European-style chocolate shop, she practically vibrates with enthusiasm.
“There’s nothing like it in the area,” she proclaims, then lists a few offerings to make her point: “Hand-poured and painted truffle bars in a variety of flavors. Fudges, pecan candies, espresso, specialty teas, coffee, and sipping chocolates.” More about that last gem later.
The fact is, Jessica has had a lifelong love of chocolate, especially fudge.
“I’m the person who, every time we go out of town and come across anyplace that sells fudge, I have to try it,” she says.
Together with her husband, Derek, and five children ranging from 23 to 13 (Montana, Maxwell, Parker, Gabrielle, and Liliana), Jessica considers her family lifelong cheerleaders when it comes to Loveland—taking part, firsthand, in the development and renaissance that has occurred in the past couple of decades.
Given that, Jessica was sad when the town’s only candy store, The Loveland Sweet Shoppe, closed at the end of 2023 after more than half century in business. A loyal patron of the shoppe herself, Jessica couldn’t imagine Loveland without a dedicated candy establishment—so she decided to fill the void herself.
As it turned out, when it came to location, she didn’t have to look beyond a property she and Derek owned on the corner of Loveland-Madeira Road and West Loveland Avenue. “When the boutique that had been there left, both my husband and son, Parker, said, ‘This might be your chance to start your candy store.’” They were right. And as it turned out, Parker had even greater ideas about how to move forward.
Parker had been working for a chocolatier, Chris Warman Sr.’s Chocolate Moonshine, headquartered in Pennsylvania. Warman had been making chocolate confections for 30 years. Parker brought home some samples for the family to try.
“It was the best-tasting fudge I’d ever had in my life,” Jessica recalls. It was then that she switched her game plan from recreating an old-fashioned candy shoppe to giving Loveland something entirely new: The Cocoa Muse.
Over the next few months, Jessica visited Warman several times, getting to know his candies, processes and chocolate philosophy. At the heart of his approach were his Old-World methods of cooking in copper kettles and insistence on the purest of ingredients. That translates to chocolate without dyes or fillers, born from real sugar, butter and vanilla.
“I’m actually a nutritionist by profession,” Jessica reveals. “So I appreciate the pureness of all the ingredients he uses. Everybody wants sweet, but you don’t have to have junk sweets with lots of preservatives and fillers.”
Jessica was confident that everyone’s taste buds would love the results as much as she did, deciding to make Warman’s chocolate creations the foundation of The Cocoa Muse’s menu of goodies.
Jessica believes two other offerings are sure to attract a loyal customer base—first, Affogatos, a traditional Italian dessert, made with vanilla gelato, a shot of espresso, plus whatever topping you choose. “It’s a big thing people mentioned countless times when I asked what they would like to see us offer.”
The other? European-style sipping chocolate made on-site from raw chocolate imported from Belgium and France. “We’ll add espresso, then it can be flavored with different syrups and served hot, cold or frozen,” Jessica says. “It’s new to many Americans, and not at all like the hot chocolate we think of. I’m excited to introduce it to the area.”
Because the The Cocoa Muse isn’t a traditional coffee shop focused on attracting the java-craving morning crowd, this new shop opens at 10 a.m. but stays open a little later: till 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday).
“I want The Cocoa Muse to be a place where people walk in, immediately relax, and smile when they see all the fun artwork and furnishings,” she says. “A place to drop in after dinner when you still need a little something sweet.”
Jessica also has a few special events in mind. “We’ll feature a community nonprofit every other week, with a portion of the weekly sales going to them. We’re also going to do a non-alcoholic Social Hour, with five or 6 different mocktails.” Think espresso martini minus the gin or vodka.
Another important draw—54 parking spaces, which can pass for gold on just about any night patrons scramble for a spot further down the street near the bars and restaurants.
Admittedly, The Cocoa Muse is a few blocks off the bustling center of Loveland’s historic downtown and bike trail. “I was nervous about that until we did a couple of soft opening weekends … we could hardly keep up with the crowd,” Jessica says, breaking into a wide smile. Definitely a taste of success that bodes well for the future.
Facebook.com/TheCocoaMuse | @TheCocoaMuse | 600 W. Loveland Ave | 513.300.6356