Science Of Chocolate
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Science Of Chocolate
Virtual Chocolate Tastings & Lessons • Online Chocolate Shop • Chocolate World Map

One-of-a-kind Chocolate experience!

✈︎ Seamless Shipping Across USA & Canada. All prices in $CAD

Kits & Tasting

Made with fairly or direct trade cacao. Ethical.

Dietary requests possible (no nuts, no gluten, vegan, etc.)

Beautifully packed and shipped with care.

Live and interactive via Zoom.

About Geoseph

Professional Chocolate Sommelier

Master Chocolatier

Chocolate Maker

With nearly 20 years of experience in the fine chocolate industry, a background in biology, gastronomy, and fine arts I offer a very unique and exciting approach to learning about your favourite food: chocolate.

Learn More Here

Ships Across Canada & USA

Seamless shipping with tracking for each address.

No duties or customs fees for USA customers. All pricing in CAD (use exchange for US pricing)

Learn more about shipping virtual kits here.

+ How are your tastings unique?

Hosted by a professional

Most virtual tastings today are hosted by event co-ordinators, retailers looking to sell more products, or those who have completed a crash course in chocolate tasting. It's rare to come across a chocolate tasting hosted by an actual professional working in the chocolate industry. And with that comes a more honest and deeper approach that many find far more satisfying. Educating the public on chocolate is something I'm very passionate about and I'm excited to share my passion with you and your guests.

I have nearly 20 years of experience in the chocolate industry including hosting tastings, workshops, working as a chocolatier, making chocolate, teaching, and training. The main reason I host these tastings is to elevate the satisfaction and knowledge people have with chocolate. It's very rewarding for me to watch people experience chocolate in a whole new light, to convert milk chocolate eaters to dark chocolate, and to hear what you have to say about the chocolates you taste! My approach is educational, fun, and approachable. No preaching.

These tastings were created from years of conducting my own research on cacao and chocolate with the help of my biology degree, experience in the field, and dialogue with other professionals. They were not created to simply capitalize on a trend nor to sell more products. These tastings offer you and your guests a fun, educational, and delicious experience that also helps promote small-scale artisan chocolate makers worldwide who focus on preserving fine cacao and ethical sourcing and business.

 

Birthdays

Corporate

Team Building

Family Event

Socials

Schools

Birthdays Corporate Team Building Family Event Socials Schools

 

There is a $25 non-refundable booking fee which will be deducted from your total. Minimum order: 5 kits or $200 total.

Can host small groups to 100+. Contact me if you have questions before booking!

Recommended For First Tasting!

Book Classic Tasting

+ Classic Tasting

Perfect for your first tasting! A great overview of what makes fine chocolate so special. Depending on the kit size and duration it includes a breif insight into the history, how chocolate is made, and then analyzing a range of ethical fine chocolate made from cacao and makers from around the world. We use all our senses and learn to listen to what our brain is telling us while Geoseph guides the group. Learn what makes this chocolate so different than the chocolate you grew up on!

Kit Options: 10 piece ($39) or 16 piece ($49)

Kit Includes: Chocolate and cacao samples, informative handout, simple preparation instructions, virtual session info., informative handout, and optional add-ons (such as chocolate/cacao products and tasting tools).

Virtual Session: Hosted by Geoseph. Interactive, fun, educational, and includes music, images/videos, and time for questions.

+ Melt it!

Similar in some aspects to the Classic Tasting, but more approachable! Some find chocolate tasting intimidating, but melting your chocolate before eating just feels right. Enjoying it melted even alters or enhances our perception of the flavour and texture.

We briefly go into the history of various ways chocolate was prepared, some insight into the process of chocolate, and then we melt and enjoy a range of ethical fine chocolate made from cacao and makers from around the world.

Kit Options: 10 piece ($34) or 16 piece ($44)

Kit Includes: Chocolate samples, simple preparation instructions, virtual session info., informative handout, and optional add-ons (such as chocolate/cacao products and tasting tools). Guests are required to have hot water.

Virtual Session: Hosted by Geoseph. Interactive, fun, educational, and includes music, images/videos, and time for questions.

+ Drink It!

My favourite way to take my chocolate. In fact, this is the original way chocolate was consumed - as a drink. This drinking chocolate is going to be very different from the hot cocoa you grew up with.

The session will include some history and facts on drinking chocolate over the ages. Then guests will prepare the drinking chocolates made with cacao and chocolate from around the world.

Kit Options: 8 sample-size drinking chocolates. ($39)

Kit Includes: Drinking chocolate samples, simple preparation instructions, virtual session info., informative handout, and optional add-ons (such as chocolate/cacao products and tasting tools). Guests are required to have hot milk/milk alternative to prepare drinks. Hot water is also possible, but preferably milk.

Virtual Session: Hosted by Geoseph. Interactive, fun, educational, and includes music, images/videos, and time for questions.

+ History Tasting

This tastings will take you through over 5000 years of known chocolate history. Think chocolate started with the Aztecs? Think again. This tasting will focus on the history of chocolate with various cacao/chocolate products to enjoy along the way.

A great tasting for those fascinated by history and want to understand how cacao and chocolate has evolved throughout the ages. This tasting will require guests to prepare a couple drinks with hot water.

Kit Options: 16 piece ($49)

Kit Includes: Chocolate and cacao samples, simple preparation instructions, virtual session info., informative handout, and optional add-ons (such as chocolate/cacao products and tasting tools). Guests are required to have hot water to prepare drinks.

Virtual Session: Hosted by Geoseph. Interactive, fun, educational, and includes music, images/videos, and time for questions.

 

+ Process Tasting

Most people have no idea where chocolate comes from and how it is made. What influences the flavour of your chocolate? Terroir? Think again. This tasting will scratch the itch of curiosity for those who love to learn about where their food comes from. We will try samples of cacao and chocolate in various forms and stages.

Other aspects we will cover in addition to the process of chocolate are costs associated with fine chocolate, ethics in the cacao and chocolate industry, and an overall deeper appreciation for small-scale craft chocolate makers.

Kit Options: 16 piece ($49)

Kit Includes: Chocolate and cacao samples, informative handout, simple preparation instructions, virtual session info., informative handout, and optional add-ons (such as chocolate/cacao products and tasting tools).

Virtual Session: Hosted by Geoseph. Interactive, fun, educational, and includes music, images/videos, and time for questions.

+ Truffle Making

The focus of this is chocolate truffle making, and a mini chocolate tasting. This is a fun, educational, and hands-on tasting experience. Includes a simple recipe that can be duplicated and adapted at home, with some trouble shooting tips for ganache making.

Guests are required to be in a kitchen for this, and will be responsible for the wet ingredients and basic common kitchen utensils and tools. It will include a helpful preparation instruction guide as well.

Kit Includes: Dry ingredients for truffles, informative handout, a tasting set of 5 samples, and flavourwheel keep sake.

Virtual Session: Hosted by Geoseph. Interactive, fun, educational, and includes music, images/videos, and time for questions.

+ Tea & Chocolate Pairing

In my opinion, there is no better companion to fine chocolate than fine tea. This tasting we will enjoy a range of fine chocolate along with two fine unflavoured looseleaf teas (such as white, oolong, pu-erh, black). The goal of this tasting is to enjoy the chocolates and how they interact with the teas. We will also discuss the underappreciated nuances of unflavoured chocolate and tea and how profound the flavours themselves can be due to processing.

Kit Includes: 6 types of fine chocolate in duplicate (12 samples total), two fine teas (you may choose preference), informative handout, simple preparation instructions, virtual session info. Guests are required to have hot water to prepare tea.

Virtual Session: Hosted by Geoseph. Interactive, fun, educational, and includes music, images/videos, and time for questions.

+ Custom Tastings

Have an idea for a tasting you don't see here? Happy to make it work if I can! I've hosted many custom tastings that may include ideas you see from other tastings, or other pairings and collaborations.

Although I cannot ship alcohol, if you were to arrange that on your end for your guests, we can turn our chocolate tasting into a wine and chocolate or beer and chocolate pairing!

Contact me if you wish to discuss putting something unique together!

Tasting Kits

Fun and Educational Chocolate Tasting Kits from The Science Of Chocolate!

Depending on the type of kit and optional add-ons, kits will be beautifully presented in a small or large black mailer box, stuffing, and a yellow branded sleeve.

Pricing for specific kits can be seen in the drop down under the booking links above.

Price Breakdown

Canadian Based Orders: Kit + Shipping + Tax

USA Based Orders*: Kit + Shipping (No tax, no duties).

Unless you wish to include add-ons for your guests (see below), there are no extra costs. The $25 booking fee is deducted from your total.

*Listed prices here are in CAD, so if you are ordering from the USA you can convert the costs to USD (for instance, a $39 or $49 CAD kit will cost you around $28 or $35 USD).

Shipping

Seamless shipping across Canada & USA. For up-to-date rates on shipping virtual kits, check out the shipping page here.

Kit Add-Ons

optional but lovely additions to make your kit even more exciting!

$10-18 each

+ Craft Chocolate Bars

This can be added to a full-bar kit as an additional bar for the tasting, or to a sampler kit as a nice takeaway.

Add as many as you like per kit. It is a great way for your guests to continue enjoying chocolate and also apply what they learned in the tasting.

Bars will be selected according to any dietary restrctions (example: no dairy). Not everyone may get the same chocolate bar, and the bar received may not be the same as one of the samples in the kit. A popular choice is one single origin dark chocolate, and one milk or flavoured dark chocolate.

If you want specific brands included, you may inquire, but this is subject to an extra charge depending on the brand you prefer, and may not be able to accomodate depending on stock levels.

$3

+ Flavour Wheel Keepsake

This can be a great momento after the tasting concludes. It contains a wonderful poem on one side (Written by Geoseph) and a beautiful flavour wheel on the other. The flavour wheel is a great tool to help one articulate the flavours they experience in fine dark chocolate.

They are printed on thick Mohawk Superfine card paper, with a wonderful texture and clean finish.

*Your kit will include a flavour tree printed on the handout (a similar tool to a flavour wheel) to help the guests analyze the flavour. This keepsake would be an additional upgrade. *

$2.50 each

+ Extra Samples

Incorporated

Perhaps you want the 10 piece kit, but with 1 or 2 more samples. Or perhaps the 16 sampler kit just isn't enough. You can even add a few sample sized additions to your full-bar kits to add a bit more variety without the additional cost of adding more full bars.

Each sample is an additional $2 per sample per kit. You may just ask for more samples, and I choose the best ones, or you may request what samples you prefer (Although I can't always guarantee I can add them depending on stock levels and cost).

 

$4

+ Cacao Fruite Puree

Incorporated

This will be incorporated into the tasting, and is a great way for people to experience the tast of the fruit of the cacao!

Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao, but the seeds are covered by a sweet tart fruit. It tates nothing like chocolate. A fun addition while we explore what chocolate is all about.

Learn more about this cacao fruit puree here.

$10+

+ Hot Chocolate

Depending on available stock and lead time, there is the option of adding delicious single-origin hot chocolate mixes all of which are dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, nut-free. Many are in the $10-11 range, which larger packages being $16-20+. Check out my online shop for possible options.

$16

+ Gianduja

Depending on available stock and lead time, there is the option of adding incredible chocolate hazelnut spreads (AKA gianduja). This makes nutella taste mediocre at best - and uses only real ingredients. Dairy-free and dairy options available.

 

General Tasting FAQs

+ How Do I pay?

You will receive and e-invoice with all the details of your event, shipping, and kits.

Upon reviewing the invoice, you may pay via a secure payment processor using credit or debit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.

I do not accept bank transfers or cheque.

Although you will not receive any hard copy invoice in the mail, I will still require a billing address for the e-invoice. You can include this when you book, or I can collect it from you later if you wish.


+ Can I change my event date and time?

You certainly may within reason. If your new date/time works with my schedule I'm happy to accomodate it if it works with the logitics of when the kits can arrive. Feel free to ask!

If you are booking now, and not 100% sure on the date or time, that's okay with me! We will work it out.

If for whatever reason there is an issue with shipping or something on your end, the event can be postponed and the chocolate will still be great if kept in a cool place away from heat sources. Contact me right away if this applies to you.


+ Tell me more about the products.

At The Science Of Chocolate I focus on bringing in high quality craft chocolate made with cacao from ethical sources. Although most products are not Fairtrade certified, they actually go above and beyond fairtrade standards!

The chocolate also tastes different than what you and your guests may expect. But this is the point: to push your understanding of chocolate beyond your expecations and perhaps enjoy something new!

The flavoured chocolates may contain dairy, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, etc. You have the option to opt out or opt in on ingredients you may not want or want more of!


+ Are the products fair trade? Organic? Vegan?

All products come from cacao that is fairly traded, even if not certified. The focus of The Science Of Chocolate is to highlight makers who use high quality cacao, which is also fairly traded. Many of the products use organic cacao when possible.

Most of the products will be plant-based or vegan. I will include a few dairy based chocolates unless you request not to have any.

I cannot guarantee that all products are nut/dairy/allergen free. Since I don't manufacture all the products, I cannot say one way or the other. Some makers have "may contain traces of" on their bars. Please inquire if you have any concerns. However, I will never guarantee any product is completely nut/dairy/allergen free. You can request not to have products that contain dairy/nuts/etc., but the ones that do not, may contain trace elements of such allergens.


+ I have very specific requests/format/time frames.

It doesn't hurt to ask. Sometimes I get new requests I have not thought of, and they work out great. Sometimes I cannot.

I have a certain way of conducting my tasting, so I can only compromise within reason. However, feel free to ask and I can see what I can do.