Take a bite. Swallow. Wait three seconds. Feel the heat.” These are the words Marilyn Coates, owner of Cowgirl Chocolates, used to describe the experience of eating her spicy chocolate. The Co-op has been selling her products with a “Cowgirl kick” since 1997. You can find an assortment of candy bars, truffles, and dessert sauces in the Grocery Department.

The origin of the business in 1996 brought together various aspects of Marilyn’s life: her career as a ceramicist, her family and working for a chocolate company in Pennsylvania. As an artist, Marilyn viewed the venture as an art performance piece, “you setup a movement or performance to accomplish an aim or goal.” She wasn’t thinking about gaining or losing money, she wanted to explore selling spicy chocolate. The notion of adding hot and spice to chocolate actually came from her brother, who had presented the idea to the chocolate company where Marilyn had her first job. Although the company wasn’t interested, Marilyn began whipping up recipes and recruiting friends as taste testers. If the Aztecs and Mayans valued cocoa beans and spice, why wouldn’t Moscowvites?

The name of the business came from a friend’s excited response of “these taste like cowboy chocolates!” when sampling the chocolate for the first time. Marilyn intrigued, thought “not cowboy, but cowgirl.” Hunters Chocolate in Moscow made the first forty pounds of the product. Marilyn recalled her nervousness when picking up the order and wondering if it would sell. However, as she drove away from the store her car radio was playing the line “sugar, sugar, you are my candy girl” from the 1969 hit song “Sugar, Sugar.” Clearly, it was a comforting sign.

Marilyn has seen many changes in her business and in the world of spicy chocolate in the last 14 years. Starting Cowgirl Chocolates with no training in business, she learned business and marketing techniques with the help of others and through her own trials. She remembers feeling like a chocolate pioneer in the late 1990s at a Fancy Food Show where she was one of three companies with spice in chocolate. Many people waked by her booth laughing and one person said “I don’t think so.” Over the years, consumers’ minds and palettes towards spicy chocolate changed and Cowgirl Chocolates roped in numerous awards at food shows and received media coverage from across the U.S. The business saw overnight success in 2002, after the Food Network’s t.v. show “Extreme Cuisine” came to Moscow and hosted Marilyn making truffles.

A business starting with a mere 40 pound order of chocolate transformed into a business that presently sells between 5,000 - 8,000 pounds a year.

Although today you can find spicy everything, Marilyn knows that Cowgirl Chocolates stand out from other businesses. Her gourmet chocolate comes from Europe and the products are crafted by companies in Idaho, Montana, and Canada. She explains “If you use cheap chocolate, you can keep the price low. But you’ll miss out on tasting the blending of a fine, premium chocolate with heat. It’s a gourmet experience.”

Marilyn enjoys Moscow and likes the feel of the adventurous West. She’s not interested in big growth and plans to keep her current production amount. Cowgirl Chocolates employs 10 people to package and distribute their products throughout the local area and the world. November and December are particularly busy.

For all those chocoholics out there that aren’t so keen on spicy, no worries, the company also sells their gourmet chocolate sans (without) the heat. Think about joining Cowgirl Chocolates’ Chocolate Club. When you buy a hundred dollars worth of any chocolate over the course of a year, you get a credit of twenty dollars worth of chocolate plus 10% off of any chocolate related items. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

About Johna: During the writing of this article, Johna ate Cowgirl Chocolates, drank hot chocolate, and danced in her living room to “Sugar, Sugar.”