Chouchoute's Pierre Soualah has conducted numerous chocolate-tasting events. He provides below his personal guide on how best to enjoy tasting luxury chocolate with a group of friends.

"From bean to bar, it's a long journey from the tropical cocoa plantation to the taster's palate. Even more so for artisan-produced chocolate, which relies on the expertise of the master chocolatier to source the finest cocoa beans and lovingly craft them into exquisite, luxury chocolates.

There are many obstacles to overcome before finally achieving the maximum pleasure possible from gourmet chocolate and the painstaking pursuit of quality alone is enough to justify a well-organised chocolate tasting.

How to organise a chocolate tasting

Chocolate-tasting is often likened to wine-tasting, which similarly involves the eye, nose and mouth. It doesn’t require any training or expertise, but there are some important guidelines to follow for the tasting to be as enjoyable and enlightening an experience as possible. I should therefore like to offer my own guide for organising an informal group chocolate-tasting.

Chocolate-tasting is best enjoyed as a group activity, even though it’s inevitable that participants will distract each other! Tasting – as distinct from simply eating – is a sociable activity during which I would encourage preferences, impressions and knowledge to be shared, particularly by those in the group fortunate enough to possess a more developed palate than others.

When determining which chocolates to taste, I recommend that you limit the range to either milk or dark chocolate – not both. This is because the varying degrees of sweetness and creaminess of milk and dark chocolate do not allow the palate to focus clearly on each chocolate’s characteristics. By maintaining this focus, you can easily identify differences associated with each chocolate’s origin, without being distracted by the differing sugar content or dairy components that mask some flavours and enhance others. It’s for this reason that I prefer chocolate tastings that involve dark chocolate bars of pure origin, as they contain less sugar and no milk.

Chocolate of pure origin may mean single country origin (where all the cocoa beans used to make the chocolate are derived from one country, but different plantations) or single estate origin (where all the cocoa beans are derived from one plantation).

At the risk of disappointing you, I also urge you to limit the number of chocolates tasted to six or seven – nine at the very most. If you intend to enjoy filled chocolates (sometimes called bon bons) as well as pure chocolate bars during the tasting, it is always preferable to taste the bars before the filled chocolates. This is because bon bons filled with praline or ganache will usually include a little cream. Avoid fondant-filled chocolates as part of a group tasting, as these will not contribute anything useful to your understanding of different quality chocolate.

Chocolate Bars

When tasting single country or single estate origin chocolate, the aim is to distinguish the original characteristics of the chocolate. As you might expect, cocoa beans grown near banana trees will turn into distinctly different chocolate to beans grown in a volcanic region, and it is perfectly possible to distinguish these differences.

Filled Chocolates (Ganache/Praline)

Tasting filled chocolates is about recognising the artisanal skill of the individual chocolatier, whose style – like an haute couture designer - is unique to his range. Try to analyse the depth of the cocoa, texture of the filling and any blends or aromatisations added to the filling to complement it, such as spices, fruits, vanilla or coffee. The filling should never overpower the chocolate; it should be subtle, perhaps even difficult to detect. The finish in your mouth should be clean – never oily or sickly-sweet - as these are signs of lower quality chocolate.

It's worth including one or two mass-produced, premium high street chocolates in your tasting range, alongside chocolates handmade by artisans in a traditional fashion. I’m sure you’ll find distinct differences, and it’s only by doing this that you can truly appreciate the level of creativity and attention to detail achieved by the artisanal chocolatier.

How To Taste Chocolates: Five Senses

All of our senses are engaged in the tasting and enjoyment of fine quality chocolate, although some are more active than others. Recognising this will enhance the sensual pleasure and joy of discovery that may be achieved during the tasting activity.

I hope you find this guide useful and wish you a very successful chocolate-tasting event. For further advice or recommendations before conducting a chocolate-tasting activity, please email or call me - I’d be only too pleased to help!"

Pierre Soualah

© Chouchoute Chocolaterie