It’s that time of year for BBQs, pool parties and gatherings in the garden. There’s nothing wrong with a classic cocktail party or charcuterie board, but why not mix it up with a chocolate tasting party instead? Choc-uterie, anyone? Chocolate is a far more versatile food than people expect, and there are plenty of ways to build a proper tasting experience, no drab, basic boards required.
At The Chocolatarium, we know our chocolate and how to pair it well, and we’re putting that knowledge to use here, in a complete guide to planning, structuring and hosting a chocolate tasting party your guests will actually remember.
1. Planning Your Chocolate Tasting Party
Once your invites are sent and a date is set, you can get around to actually planning your tasting party. Firstly, you need to decide on the type of chocolate you’d like to sample. This comes down to the quality of the chocolate, as well as the darkness.
For us, we recommend a variety of chocolates, including darker chocolates mostly around 75% (though why not throw 100% in there if you’re brave enough), a selection of simple milk chocolates, or those with a variety of different milks used and a dash of unique flavourings (see our fruit flavoured chocolates or more quirky options, such as Irn Bru), and white chocolate of different flavours. Maybe try big-name chocolates, such as Cadbury’s and Tony’s Chocolonely to compare with the independent chocolate makers and see if your guests will be able to pick up on differences.
Perform your own research and build your chocolate offerings around what interests you.
Including the chocolate choice, you should consider what type of chocolate desserts and forms you want to give. For example, having squares of chocolate to pair with other ingredients is great, but consider cakes, brownies or more avant-garde desserts, such as chocolate pasta, to wow your guests. Why not try truffles, hard-shell and soft, as these are both aesthetically pleasing and delicious. You could even start the party with a chocolate beverage, maybe a specialist cocktail incorporating a chocolate liqueur or even a decadent hot chocolate. Chocolate comes in many forms and each should shine at your tasting party.
We have some top-tier flavours that need to be on any tasting menu. Sure to stoke conversation and debate, Stateside creates a whole range of chocolates modelled on various American treats. Try their Maple Bacon Pancake and Key Lime Pie for a wildcard choice.
Or if you’re looking for something more pure, you need to try Chocolate Tree’s 60% Dark and Milk Marañón or Bullion’s Santo Domingo 70% Dark Chocolate. Give white chocolate some love with Montezuma’s Great White or Willie’s Cacao’s El Blanco. If you’re stuck for choice, why not try one of our tasting boxes, complete with different themes to give you options without the headache of deciding what to buy.
2. Structuring the Tasting
When laying out your chocolates, we suggest you follow an order to keep everything in line and ensure that chocolate is paired with similar chocolate. We suggest perhaps starting with lighter chocolate varieties, your white and milk chocolates, before making your way to the more intense and darker dark chocolates. This allows your guests time to build up to these rich chocolates.
Palate cleansers must be provided between tastings. We suggest something like bread or crackers, or even a slice of apple followed by sips of water. This will ensure your guests’ taste buds aren’t overwhelmed and will also allow them to experience the chocolate before them.
Bring this sort of interactivity and appreciation of chocolate to your guests. Teach them the proper way to taste chocolate, via the nosing technique, and encourage them to use all of their senses when tasting; sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste. Give them time to experience each chocolate and what it offers, allowing them to meditate on the flavours.
You can use our Chocolate Tasting Wheel to help the tasters pick out certain flavours they’re picking up.
Once tasted, encourage conversation between the party, have people suggest flavours they taste in the chocolate and see if there’s a consensus. The magic of tasting experiences is that we all bring a unique flavour palette and depth of taste to everything we eat. Create an open-minded space where people can discuss their thoughts on each chocolatey treat.
3. Enhancing the Experience
While tasting chocolate on its own is delicious, once the initial rounds of chocolate tasting are complete, move on to chocolate pairings and encourage your guests to try flavour combinations they normally wouldn’t. We all know how well chocolates like dark chocolate work with strawberries and nuts like hazelnut, but try unique combinations, such as dark chocolate and hard cheeses, or milk chocolate and salty snacks, like crisps and pretzels.
By having a variety of different items to choose from you will actively be encouraging your guests to try combos they would usually ignore. Part of the fun of a chocolate-tasting party is experiencing new ways to enjoy a snack you already enjoy.
If you’re having alcohol at the party, why not turn this into a game of flavour matching? Have guests find the perfect chocolate to eat with their wines, whiskies, gin and tonics. This allows them the fun of pinpointing flavours and finding variations that work best together.
The magic of chocolate is how versatile it is. By tasting it with other sweet, savoury or even umami-flavoured foods, you can bring out notes of the chocolate you didn’t notice beforehand.
4. Hosting the Party
When hosting your chocolate-tasting party, make sure to provide guests with a space where they can share their thoughts and ideas. Furthermore, why not throw some games into the mix to make the tasting a bit more enjoyable and have people experience the chocolate in different ways than normal.
For example, you could have blind tastings, with tasters guessing the flavours in the chocolate or even the different notes and percentages of each chocolate. Split your party into groups and have them compete with each other on who can guess the chocolate type and additional flavours first. Having fun with chocolate tasting is the best way to get the most out of the experience.
Incorporate facts and origins on each chocolate being eaten, ensuring your party can help differentiate between different types and see if they can work out origins from just the taste of the chocolate alone. This one’s a great challenge for supertasters!
Once the guests are finished with the tasting, find out what they liked, what they didn’t, what they would change and any other pieces of feedback they have regarding the party and chocolates used. They’ll have tried it all and will be your best gauge for the favourite chocolates to use the next time you host a party like this.
Ready to get the party started?
At the end of the day, hosting a chocolate-tasting party is all about tasting good chocolate. Hopefully, this guide has been full of great tips to get you started, and the main thing to remember is to have fun. Whether you have a few nibbles of chocolate or pull out an enormous buffet of types and pairings, we hope the party goes well. We’ll be waiting by the letterbox for our invitation!
