Level 1 Certificate in Chocolate Tasting

About the course

Level 1 Chocolate Tasting lays the sensory foundation for your journey as a Chocolate Taster, introduces chocolate making in the fine and craft chocolate world, and takes you through where cacao comes from and how it is produced.

During the course you will experience the sensory elements used in chocolate tasting through a series of tasting games and experiments and you will practice using a formal approach to chocolate tasting.

The Foundation course is designed to run over a single day workshop, as three evening class sessions or as three online webinar sessions plus self-study. Level 1 course provides a good grounding in chocolate tasting and includes tasting of 9 or more different origin or blended fine dark chocolate bars, tasted in different forms for an understanding of aroma, length, texture and taste. The chocolate tasted includes examples of well made craft chocolate origins and examples of defects and industrial production.

The course finishes with a 30 question multiple choice exam based on the course content. Certificates will be issued upon achieving a pass mark.

Entry requirements

None. The Level 1 chocolate tasting course is open to all comers, and is suitable for professionals and enthusiasts.

If you are new to the world of fine or craft chocolate, it is recommended you first take the Institute’s short ‘Introduction to Fine Chocolate‘ course, which will introduce you to the basics of the chocolate market, explain what is meant by fine chocolate and introduce terminology that will be used throughout the Institute’s courses, such as ‘tempering’ and ‘couverture’.

What's included
  • Training the chocolate senses
  • Taste and explore flavour in fine chocolate
  • Introduction to the origins and varieties of cacao
  • Overview of how cacao is produced
  • How fine or craft chocolate is made
  • How cocoa butter and cocoa powder are made
  • Taste and recognize flaws in chocolate
  • A look at direct sourcing of cacao
  • Study booklet
  • Certificate for exam passes
  • All the chocolate and sensory samples you will need*
Who should take this course?

This course will be ideal for you if you:

  • Love chocolate, and want to know more about its flavour and origins
  • Are a chocolate maker who wants to expand their sensory skills
  • Are an educator or events organiser looking for more information to pass on to your audience
  • Work in the catering/pastry/fine chocolate industries
  • Want to improve your clients’ experience of chocolate you are working with
  • You are considering launching a fine chocolate business
  • You want to buy a fascinating and unique gift for someone
  • You want to see just how good your palate is for chocolate