Party / Host A Chocolate Tasting
Hosting A Chocolate Tasting
Bored with the usual wine and cheese parties? Be the first in your neighborhood or social circle to throw a Chocolate Tasting Party! It’ll get your friends buzzing!
What It Is
Invite guests over to discover and practice tasting and appreciating chocolate together – just like the pros. You don’t have to be an expert. We’ll provide you with all the knowledge and fun tools that you need. And, everyone will discover something about chocolate they didn’t know before!
How To Stage It
- Personalize your party invitations. Use our sample, or have fun designing your own.
- Print out our colorful Tasting Placemats. These provide a place-setting for each taster, and instructions on tasting, as well as room for writing individual tasting notes.
- As the party host, you’ll want to brush up on how to taste chocolate in the first section of the site.
- Plan your chocolate theme, and go shopping for your chocolates. You will probably want to choose 5-6 different kinds of chocolate to sample. Consider how you’d like to theme your party – exclusively around exotic darks, decadent milk chocolates, or a tasty variety of darks, milks and whites. We’ve created a convenient Ghirardelli Shopping List for creating different chocolate tasting parties!
- Next, visit our Chocolate Matchmaking section. Conduct a “serious” chocolate tasting like the pros, serving nothing but water between tastings. Or, jazz up your party with your favorite coffees, liquors and wines, serving a beverage with each sample or ‘course’ of chocolate. (You can also bring out these beverages after your official tasting.)
- Finally, consider your entertainment. Set the stage with elegant music. Consider lighting, and romancing your chocolate table with candlelight. Entertain your guests with our challenging Chocolate IQ Game Cards!
How Much Chocolate Will You Need?
For a formal chocolate tasting party, plan to provide up to ½ oz of each type of chocolate (4-6 kinds) per guest. (And keep an extra bar or two on hand, just in case.) Cut your bars into an assortment of sizes with the point of a sharp paring knife: cut some into tiny bites and some into larger one-inch shards as well (to allow tasters to bite into them). Try not to jumble or scuff the pieces, so that they remain as visually enticing as they are delicious.
You may want to buy some extra bars for table display. And, consider buying extra bars for party favors. Give your guests a sample of each chocolate to take home and enjoy!
*Tip: Besides bars, chocolate-makers like Ghirardelli also sell individually wrapped Squares™ chocolate. These are smaller than bars, and nicely sized for tastings.