World-Renowned Chocolatier Katrina Markoff Launches Violet Flame Chocolate’s Cacao Spiritus™

August Edition Available Here

August 12, 2026 (CHICAGO) — Today, Violet Flame Chocolate, the new luxury chocolate company founded by award-winning entrepreneur, top 10 chocolatier in the world and recent Forbes 50 Over 50 honoree Katrina Markoff, officially launches the Cacao Spiritus™ Club – a new membership that transforms rarified truffles into a sensory ritual for moving beyond overthinking and returning to intuition, creativity, focus and clearer decision-making. The August Edition is available now. 

After more than 25 years at the forefront of modern luxury chocolate, Markoff is introducing a new reason to eat it. Each Cacao Spiritus™ Club collection reflects the ingredients and energy of the season, pairing handcrafted chocolates with access to Markoff’s private tasting portal, where members encounter the ingredients, stories and creative process behind the collection through guided audio tastings, curated music and reflective exercises. The chocolates are made in small batches using exceptional cacao, rare botanicals and thoughtfully sourced ingredients selected for their aromatics, provenance and Divine Signatures – the distinctive sensory and energetic qualities that each ingredient carries from its origin.

The August Edition captures late summer at its most abundant, when blossoms have become fruit, orchards bend beneath their harvest and nature reaches its fullest expression. The collection brings together blackberry, bergamot, osmanthus flowers, violet fig and black currant with rare cacao, mineral-rich sugars and ingredients rooted in ancient culinary and alchemical traditions.

"Chocolate became a way for me to move beyond the noise of an overthinking mind and return to the intelligence of the body," says Katrina Markoff. "Cacao Spiritus grew from that personal practice. I created the club to give others a beautiful, repeatable way to slow down, listen inwardly and transform fear or uncertainty into creative energy."

The Cacao Spiritus™ Club is available for $85–$125 per month and ships internationally. Members receive:

• An exclusive monthly collection of 18–32 handcrafted chocolates
• Access to Markoff’s private digital tasting portal
• Guided audio tastings for each chocolate
• Curated music designed to accompany the sensory journey
• Behind-the-scenes stories about the ingredients, recipes, and creative process
• Reflective practices intended to cultivate attention, imagination, and intuitive clarity

After studying chemistry and psychology at Vanderbilt University and training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Markoff traveled the world exploring Indigenous culinary traditions. She went on to found the internationally recognized brand Vosges Haut-Chocolat, expanding the vocabulary of American confectionery and helping establish chocolate as a medium for cultural and sensory storytelling. This earned her honors including National Geographic's Top 10 Chocolatiers in the World, Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, Fortune's 40 Under 40, and Bon Appétit's Food Artisan of the Year.

Following a series of life-altering personal and professional challenges, Markoff founded Violet Flame Chocolate as a new expression of her craft, one informed not only by culinary mastery but also by regenerative agriculture, neuroscience, ritual, energetic wisdom and the intelligence of nature. Violet Flame works with biodynamic cacao, mineral-rich sugars, rare botanicals and globally significant ingredients such as Uji Black Label Rare Matcha and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee. Each collection is conceived as an exceptional culinary experience and an invitation to become more present, accompanied by a guided cacao ritual that offers participants a chance to slow down and reconnect. Markoff’s spirit of innovation and reinvention recently earned her a place onForbes’ 2026 50 Over 50: Lifestyle list.

From intimate personal rituals to collaborations with leading hotels, chefs and cultural institutions, Violet Flame Chocolate celebrates the intelligence of nature through exceptional culinary craft. Stay tuned for more news and announcements coming soon.

 

ABOUT VIOLET FLAME CHOCOLATE / KATRINA MARKOFF

Violet Flame Chocolate is redefining luxury chocolate through Cacao Spiritus™, a philosophy that honors cacao as both an extraordinary ingredient and a catalyst for presence, beauty, and self-connection. Founded by master chocolatier Katrina Markoff, each collection brings together exceptional cacao with rarified botanicals, thoughtfully sourced for their Divine Signatures, transforming chocolate into an immersive sensory practice that deepens self-connection, awakens inner knowing, and cultivates the clarity for better decision-making. From intimate rituals to collaborations with the world's finest hotels, chefs, and cultural institutions, Violet Flame Chocolate celebrates the intelligence of nature through exceptional craftsmanship.

For more than 25 years, Markoff has been recognized as one of the pioneers of modern luxury chocolate. Her work has been honored by Fortune's 40 Under 40, Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, Bon Appétit's Food Artisan of the Year, American Express Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Goldman Sachs' Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, and National Geographic, which recognized her among the Top 10 Chocolatiers in the World. 

 

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