How to Taste Chocolate

Room Temperature

For best tasting, chocolate should be at room temperature. This allows the chocolate to begin to melt the moment it hits your mouth.  Cold chocolate doesn't release its flavors and aromas as quickly, altering the tasting experience.

Clear Your Palate

You don't want other tastes interfering with your experience of the chocolate.  Make sure no flavors are lingering in your mouth before you begin tasting your chocolate.

Look at the Chocolate

Chocolate experts use the appearance of the chocolate as one of many criteria to judge its quality.  Good chocolate should have a shiny, even gloss on its surface.  If chocolate is too old, it will develop a hazy finish called “bloom.”  The color of the chocolate depends on the origin of the beans and the roasting process.  The color should be uniform for the entire bar. 

The color of the chocolate depends on the origin of the beans and the roasting process.  The color should be uniform for the entire bar. 

Break Off a Piece

Break your piece of chocolate in half and listen to the sound.  High quality chocolate produces a sharp, crisp sound and a clean edge.  This is called the chocolate's "snap."  The higher the cacao quantity, and the better the tempering, the louder the "snap" of the chocolate. Professional chocolate tasters can tell a great deal about the quality of chocolate just by this sound.

Rub It

Take your finger and rub just a bit of the chocolate.  The chocolate should feel smooth and even.  The warmth of your body will cause the chocolate to melt and release odors.  These odors will enhance the intensity of your tasting.

Smell the Chocolate

Much like wine experts, chocolate experts can find an incredible array of scents and aromas.  Some chocolate flavors include: toast, nutty, spicy, fruity, etc.

Taste I

Finally, you should taste the chocolate.  You can chew if you want, but just a couple of times.  Like with smelling the chocolate, pay attention to the flavors that just pop into your head.  These could be the same as what you smelled, or completely different.  Spend time being aware of how the flavors change over time as the chocolate continues to melt and coat more of your mouth.

Feel the Chocolate in Your Mouth

Good chocolate should literally "melt in your mouth." Chocolate melts at about 97 degrees.  While melting the chocolate should feel rich and luscious in your mouth. You should not need to chew good chocolate at all, just let the flavors release on their own.  Examine the texture of the chocolate -- it can vary from smooth to grainy. Good chocolate has a rich, velvety texture.  Poor quality chocolate feels waxy or greasy.

The Finish

As the last of the chocolate leaves your mouth, the lingering flavor is known as the “finish” of the chocolate. Good chocolate should have a complex, interesting finish that is not bitter or unpleasant.  The finish is an important part of the tasting, as many of the early flavors may be masked by other ingredients in the chocolate.

As you can conclude tasting chocolate is a lot like tasting wine.  Our job as tasters will be to determine the type and flavor of chocolate we enjoy and pairing it with wine. So, "Let Your Palate Be The Guide".

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