- 4 webinars
- 1 - 26 Oct 2024
- Webinar + home study, Online
- €445 (€373.95 + VAT *)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Enter the engaging and complex world of chocolate origins with this structured course focusing on individual cacao origin regions and countries. This tasting-based course will introduce you to the culture, history, varieties and genetics of the origin and give you an understanding of the flavour profiles of chocolate made with cacao from the origin.
* Business/professional price outside the EU. 19% VAT added for EU bookings and non-professional bookings outside the EU
Origin: Dominican Republic – online with tasting kit
Our first online Origin Study introduction course will give you a unique and in-depth dive into the origin. More than just a country origin, Dominican Republic has a vibrant history as a cacao producer with a rich genetic mix of cacao and distinct regions such as Duarte, Bejucos, Mirabal and more. With a rich Caribbean genetic mix, the cacao includes old trinitarios and new clonal developments such as neo-nacional white bean cacao. Flavours range from classic chocolate and dark sugars to distinct and elusive oxalic rhubarb notes.
The Dominican Republic was one of the first cacao producing countries to embrace the new wave of fine cacao in the 1990s and has transformed its quality since then. During the course we will taste chocolate made from some of the now well-known sources, as well as new discoveries and approaches.
This course will be taught in English over two weeks in four webinars, followed by an online exam session with a multiple choice exam and an origin identification blind tasting test.
Your Origin Study tasking kit will include:
- Samples of 15 craft chocolate bars from the origin
- Samples of commercial and defect bars from the origin
- Course notes (in online PDF format)
- A map of the origin (online PDF format)
- Sealed samples for your blind tasting exam
Your chocolate samples will include:
- Definitive origin reference flavour samples
- Samples of bars made from classic sources and farms within the origin
- Examples new origins and projects from within the origin
- Samples of chocolate made from the origin country, where possible
- Examples of different recipes used by chocolate makers for the origin
- Your practice and final blind tasting exam samples
You will receive around 15g-25g of each sample in sealed sample bags or as mini-bars. Sample size may vary according to the rareness and availability of each sample. All samples will be prepared using the Institute sampling protocol, as used for judging and professional evaluation.
Shipping
Free shipping of your tasting kit is included within the EU, Switzerland, Norway and UK. There will be a surplus charge of 50€ to receive the kit in other world regions.
Study format
The course will be taught in 4 webinars introducing the origin and with time for group tasting and profiling using the IICCT flavour profiling system.
Webinars and group tastings will be repeated several times and scheduled to suit students in different world time zones. The sessions will also be recorded so you can catch up or review at your own pace if you can’t make the live sessions.
Exams
The course will be examined with an online multiple choice and blind tasting of chocolate samples and will be moderated by our Institute assessors to our usual standards as an accredited FDQ Learning Centre. The course fee includes the cost of the exam registration. No reduction is offered in the event of not passing the course and retakes will be charged at 100€ (incl. VAT).
Booking deadline
To ensure your place on the course, please book before 21 September 2024. For bookings placed after this date we can not guarantee that your tasting kit will reach you on time for the start of the course.
Origin Introduction
The origin study program takes the subject of chocolate flavour study to a more detailed level, focusing on each cacao producing country – or region in larger countries. The program will give you the background and knowledge to fully understand the flavour profile of an origin based on its cacao genetics and introductions, climate, farming practices and the culture and history of the origin.
Origin Study is divided into two courses for each origin, beginning with an introductory course, which takes place in a classroom setting or can be taken online. You can then take your origin journey a step further with the Origin Field Study trip, which is based around a field visit to the origin, exploring the culture and cacao sources of the origin in person.
The Origin Introduction course includes tasting of a range of dark chocolate bars made from the origin , representing the traditional ‘classic’ flavour of the origin, as well as new varieties, trends and processes. Through classroom or online learning and tasting, cacao sources within the origin will be given context to help build your understanding of how the origin’s flavour profiles are created and how flavour differs across the origin.
- Tasting and flavour profiling of 15 or more dark chocolate craft bars made with cacao from the origin
- Tasting of commercial versions of the origin, including defect identification
- An overview of the geography and history of the origin
- An introduction to the types and varieties of cacao growing in the origin
- A look at the main cacao producers in the region, including well-known names and lesser-known farms and cooperatives
- A review of changes and developments in the origin, giving you an inside look at new processes and flavours coming from the origin
- Certified IICCT tasters wishing to extend their chocolate learning
- Tasters who want to develop their understanding of individual origins
- Educators who want to develop their background knowledge
- Chocolate makers who want to learn more about the source of the cacao they are using