From a rum ball to an artisan bonbon — the story behind Yearn Chocolates

It started with a rum ball.

Back in 2018, I was making a batch of rum balls when someone in the room said, almost as a throwaway comment — "I wonder what that would taste like wrapped in chocolate?" It was one of those small, offhand moments that you don't think much of at the time. So I tried it. And it was amazing.

That was the moment everything changed.

A creative journey into chocolate

I've always been driven by creativity — it's a thread that has run through everything I've done. But chocolate opened up a world I hadn't expected. It sits right at the intersection of art and flavour, science and instinct. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know.

Over the years since that first experiment, I've had the privilege of learning from some of the world's leading chocolatiers — masters from the US, the UK, and Europe. The classes were online, but the knowledge was every bit as rich. Technique, flavour pairing, the science of tempering, the art of hand-painting a shell — I absorbed it all, and I brought it back to my kitchen in Melbourne.

Why Yearn Chocolates exists

Yearn Chocolates was born from a simple but deeply held belief: that you deserve more. More artistry. More flavour. More of an experience.

So much of what passes for chocolate gifting is, frankly, ordinary. A box of small, mass-produced pieces that are forgotten almost as soon as they're eaten. I wanted to create something different — something that made people stop, look, and feel something before they even took a bite.

That's why every Yearn box contains just four chocolates. Not eight, not twelve — four. Because each one is generously sized, beautifully designed, and made to be savoured. One bite is never enough, and I want you to sit with that second and third bite, to really taste what's inside.

What I hope you feel

When a Yearn box arrives — whether it's for you or someone you care about — I want the experience to feel special from the very first moment. These aren't your average chocolates. They're handmade in small batches in Melbourne, hand-painted one by one, and crafted with the kind of care that I hope you can taste.

Luxury doesn't have to mean unattainable. It means thoughtful. It means considered. It means someone took the time to make something truly beautiful, just for you.

That's what Yearn Chocolates is. And it all started with a rum ball.

— Alana Sowman, Founder, Yearn Chocolates