If you want to create a new spark in your romance, here’s one date that may do the trick: Take your taste buds on an adventure!
Start by Googling “chocolate-tasting,” “cheese tasting,” or “dessert tasting” plus the name of your city. This should net a list of tastings near you. Now all you have to do is sign up to attend.
Will it be expensive? Probably not as costly as you think, because the whole point of a chocolate-tasting is to allow you to sample bite-sized portions so you can experience a wide variety of flavors. Of course, the idea is that you’ll also be lured into purchasing some of the variety you loved most to take home.
If you don’t think you are the “foodie” type, bear with me. There’s a lot more to a chocolate-tasting than just sampling a Hershey bar. A tasting event is usually equal parts tasting and education, so if you are even a little bit curious about the world, you’ll find this is an experience worth investing in. Look for a tasting sponsored by the food producer and you’ll often get a tour the manufacturing facility as a bonus.
Our adventure began at TASTE, a local chocolate factory that doubles as a French-themed “tasting boutique.” Here, patrons sample gourmet chocolate, vinegar, cheese, artisan desserts, and more.
Chocolate Factory Tour
The evening began with a full guided tour of the chocolate factory. Here, we learned some of the details about chocolate making that would inform the rest of our experience. We handled a full-size cocoa bean, tasted raw chocolate nibs, and learned about how cocoa beans are grown, harvested, shipped and stored. We learned why different varieties of the cocoa plant (Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario) are used in different types of chocolate. Our guide explained that while cocoa beans are grown only in humid climates, the best chocolate bars are produced where the air is dry.
Chocolate-Tasting Training
Once the chocolate factory tour was complete, it was time to learn how to taste chocolate, and Tommaso Cardullo, a native of Italy was our host for this part of the evening. Tommaso taught us the “art” of tasting.
“Chocolate is a sensory experience, so every sense is involved,” he said as he snapped a square of dark chocolate in half. He rubbed his thumb across the edge of the chocolate sample to show that good chocolate will melt with only slight friction and heat. Next, he taught us the importance of enjoying the aroma. “This is why Italians have big noses,” he deadpanned. “We enjoy life with fullness.”
Finally, he came to the part of the evening we had anticipated all this time: “You put it in your mouth and you let it melt. Put in your right, on your left, in the front…The tongue is a very important element of the experience,” said Tommaso
“The tongue has a memory. Some of you will distinguish immediately some specific notes. ‘Oh wow! This tastes like hazelnut and maybe even walnut.’ Then there are the undernotes: ‘Oh lavender! Or maybe just a tiny bit of cinnamon!’ That’s the experience. Every chocolate has a unique personality.”
-Tommaso Cardullo
With coaching completed, we were ready to taste and rate the 9 chocolate samples in front of us. “That nutty flavor you are tasting in this sample is not an inclusion” (a flavoring mixed into the chocolate), he reminded us. “It’s part of the DNA of the cacao bean the chocolate was made from.”
Once I had the hang of it, I could taste what he was talking about. Cloves, blackberry, and caramel were some of the flavors my tongue “remembered” as we were tasting.
Puertofino bar–a dark Criollo manufactured by Domori was the first we sampled. “Figs, dates, papaya!” intoned Tomasso. “This chocolate is almost like a symphony of flavors!” For the next twenty minutes, we sampled chocolate from all over the world–Belize, Peru, Venezuela, Italy, Spain, Madagascar–along with varieties made in San Francisco and Provo.
Our evening continued with samples of several balsamic and sipping vinegars and four varieties of imported cheeses. The house chef even added some fresh Irish soda bread with rye and cranberries to give us some new flavors and textures to experience.
Chocolate-Tasting Date
Cost: $20 per person
Time Commitment: About 2.5 hours
Special Equipment Needed: None
Romance Rating: 8+
Variations: Try an At-Home Chocolate-Tasting
Reinvent this experience for yourself at home even if the babysitter cancels or the budget is tight.
- Fine chocolate won’t be easy on your pocketbook, so if you are looking for the full tasting experience, you might have to limit yourself to fewer samples. Be creative with chocolate you already have in the pantry. A mug of hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies might be a good way to end a romantic evening for two.
We rated our favorite chocolate. You can create your own chocolate “scorecard” as you rate your favorite tastes at home. - If the quality of the chocolate isn’t your top concern, you can still have fun sampling several drugstore chocolate treats. Or, buy a sampler box of dipped chocolates and do a blindfold taste test to see if you can determine which flavors are which. Make your own chocolate-rating scorecard so you can rate your favorites.
- Try an entire meal with each course made with chocolate. Savory mole or chili laced with cocoa will make a great main dish, and a chocolate fondue is easy and healthy as a dessert course. Since you can’t go on your own factory tour, make a mug of hot chocolate and finish with a documentary on how chocolate is made.
Romance = Chocolate
Romance is created when you combine equal parts wonder and affection. What that means is that if you can create wonder (a feeling of surprise caused by something delightful, unexpected, or unfamiliar) and combine that with affection (the deep admiration and appreciation you feel for someone you truly care about) you have a combustible combination.
This feeling of excitement and mystery isn’t just for newly-acquainted couples. It’s equally as vital to a seasoned relationship. Chocolate-tasting is one of those experiences that wakes up your senses so it’s uniquely suited for creating romance.
