Chocolate tasting
Try out this delicious activity with your unit
Nutty, smooth, floral, bitter, metallic? What makes our favourite chocolate our favourite? Usually, it’s the taste, smell, how it feels in our mouths or it could even be its sustainability. Here’s how to hold a chocolate tasting session with your unit, leaders within your district, your family or even as a fundraiser.
Sourcing the chocolate
You don’t need to break the bank to hold a good tasting event. There may be a fancy chocolate you’ve always wanted to try or share with others. It could be fun to throw something like a 100% dark chocolate into the mix – maybe not for everyone to eat, but surely fun to watch. You can also use leftover easter eggs, seasonal clearances or ask everyone attending to bring a chocolate with them.
Bars, truffles, buttons, hot chocolates and spreads – the possibilities are endless! Set a theme or pick a random selection. You could pick a particular chocolate manufacturer or an area of the world to taste from.
When picking your chocolate, check that no one taking part has any allergies or dietary requirements. We recommend having around 6 different chocolates to try and providing vegan alternatives for those who require them. It might sound unbelievable, but you can have too much chocolate. Consider your budget and supply to figure out how much of each chocolate everyone is going to try.
Prepping for your tasting
You’re going to need pens, the tasting grid in the activity attached (you can also create or find your own) and a clear, clean space. Prepare your chocolate beforehand, it’s easier than having everyone trying to watch you cut up a chocolate bar.
Think about how you can run the tasting. Will you reveal each chocolate one at a time to keep the mystery? Or will you get people’s mouths watering by showing them everything at the start?
You may find that not everyone is a fan of the treats you’re tasting. Think of ways in which they could dispose of them, and make them aware of them before you start tasting. You’ll need drinks to clean the palate between each tasting. Water works well but you could experiment to see if different drinks change the taste of the chocolate. Some people say apples and bread are great at resetting your tastebuds after every bite.
Holding your tasting
Before eating any chocolate, you may want to take everyone through the tasting grid. Instead of classifying things as good or bad, we recommend writing your thoughts. Show everyone the tasting wheel if you’re using one. It can be hard to know what you’re tasting but tasting wheels can help you figure it out. But use your own language – you don’t need to be a tasting expert.
Together figure out how you’re going to do the tasting. Is everyone going to take a bite at the same time so you can see everyone’s reactions? Or are people going to be blindfolded? Decide if you want to show everyone the packaging first as it could influence people’s thoughts.
Once you’ve tasted everything, chat about what was your favourite. Were there any surprises or clear favourites?
Twist the tasting
Make the tasting your own. You can add something to make it a little bit different. You could hold a beetle drive for everyone to earn their chocolate first Or even spread it out across a couple of weeks – you could hold an egg club where you try all the different mini easter eggs and rate them.
Not a chocolate fan? Hold a tasting to suit you and your tasters. You’ve probably heard of a cheese tasting, but what about a bread tasting or a milk tasting? Maybe you have a local delicacy you could do a tasting of.
Tasting top tips
- Smell the chocolate - a lot of the flavour in chocolate comes from the smell. What notes can you pick up?
- Does it snap? This can get really technical, but a well-tempered bar should have a clean snapping sound.
- Let the chocolate melt on your tongue - as it melts can you figure out its texture.
- Hold your nose - some say holding your nose as you put the chocolate in your mouth can intensify the flavour. Try it out and see if it makes a difference.
- Save the spice for later - begin with the highest cocoa percentage and work your way down. If you have flavoured bars like chili, mint or orange save these for last.
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