Tucked in among the houses on Quarry Hill is a small workshop that produces little packages of heaven.

Dan Manning and his partner Rebecca McCarthy have converted their garage into a workshop, and are now turning out bars of chocolate divine enough to keep any chocaholic happy.

The Clever Bean Chocolate Company began when Dan, an IT project manager, became interested in the science behind the craft of chocolate making.

That interest became a hobby, and then something of a fixation as he struggled to produce the perfect bar. It's not an easy task - the liquid chocolate has to set at a certain temperature and in a certain way to create that smooth texture we all love. But once he'd cracked it, Dan and Rebecca started giving the results as gifts to friends and relatives.

"A couple of years ago me and my partner wanted to make truffles as Christmas hampers," Dan explains.

"We had a go at that, but it didn't go very well. We had to keep them in the fridge as they weren't quite right. I started watching YouTube videos and I just got really interested in it. I kept trying, and I failed many many times! I took me about six months from starting until I had a bar of chocolate which was tempered properly."

Having cracked the science behind the art, Dan then bought a piece of equipment to help him with his new hobby: a melanger, also known as an Indian spice grinder. About the size of a microwave, this piece of equipment is basically a metal tub with a stone base and a grinding wheel inside which reduces the cocoa beans to liquid as the cocoa butter melts.

After trying a few, Dan settled for Madagascan cocoa beans to make his dark chocolate, and Peruvian for his milk chocolate.

The beans are delivered to his converted garage, where he has set up his workshop. Environmental health officials have pronounced themselves happy with the setup, and for the last two years Dan has been creating Clever Bean Chocolate and hot chocolate, which Rebecca has sold at farmers' markets, and which are now being stocked by retailers. This year he has also produced an Advent calendar, which has proved popular.

"It's really busy at the moment as it's coming up to Christmas," he says. "People are shopping more in local farmers' markets and food shops, which is great for us."

While the product has stayed much the same over the last couple of years, he has changed the packaging: "It's now fully recyclable, and the chocolate is fully organic," he says.

"That's the sort of product we want – it's a premium bar. We try to use as few ingredients as possible."

Clever Bean chocolate bars come as milk, white with vanilla, dark mint, dark chocolate and orange – and there is a vegan bar too. Dan also makes drinking chocolate, in milk and dark varieties, and there are also gift boxes.

Visit the website to find out more about Clever Bean Chocolate.