Close encounters with cocoa

If you’re a chocolate lover looking to fine-tune your taste buds, Cocoa Encounters’ specialist courses can help you become a qualified chocolate taster. Barbara Young meets founder and course leader Kathryn Laverack.

For those of us who adore the sweet sensation of all things chocolate, what better than the opportunity to delve into the world of cocoa to discover what makes real chocolate so special.

The International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting (IICCT) recently launched in-person chocolate tasting courses held in Louth, which enable chocolate professionals and enthusiasts to develop advanced skills and knowledge in the understanding and evaluation of the flavour experience of fine chocolate.

Delivered by IICCT course lead and international chocolate judge Kathryn Laverack, the curriculum – FDQ-accredited Level 1 certificate and Level 2 certificate in Chocolate Tasting – follows four learning streams: chocolate tasting and evaluation, cacao production, chocolate making, and chocolate’s history, culture and society.

As students progress through the levels, they build a deeper understanding of each of these elements, their interconnections and critically how they influence the taste experience of chocolate.

“Cocoa Encounters was born out of a desire to support the craft chocolate industry and the farmers who grow fine-flavour cacao,” explains Kathryn, who grew up on a Lincolnshire farm before going on to study for a degree in Hispanic Studies and a post-graduate diploma in International Marketing.

“I realised that I could help these communities through education and introducing as many people as I could to the joys and benefits of eating craft chocolate.

“As a farmer’s daughter, although I cannot claim to understand what it is like to be a cacao farmer, I can understand the challenges.

“I began by doing group tastings but have gradually expanded my offering to include a series of tasting experiences, workshops and courses available both online and in person to people of any age. I also provide accessible and enjoyable learning opportunities to children (our future consumers), consumers and professionals.”

According to Kathryn, who has been delivering International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting (IICCT) courses online for the past three years, the craft chocolate industry is still in its infancy when compared to wine or speciality coffee.

However, she points out that the demand for courses has increased as a result of the burgeoning craft chocolate scene in the UK.

The qualification gives graduates the confidence to use tasting professionally in their career as a maker, educator, chef, or journalist, while many qualified tasters also go on to become chocolate judges.

“There are still very few specialist retailers and craft chocolate cafes, so although there are tasting jobs in the industrial chocolate world there are very few in craft chocolate, you have to make your own way. As well as running the IICCT training courses, I have created a series of workshops and discovery experiences both online and in person, to teach people to taste, identify and explore fine chocolate.”

Craft chocolate
“Previously, chocolate education was very London-focused, so I thought it was time we had something further north. Lincolnshire also has an important place in the history of craft chocolate in the UK, as we have one of the first bean to bar craft chocolate makers in the country in North Lincolnshire, Duffy Sheardown of Duffy’s Chocolate in Cleethorpes. Duffy gave chocolate lovers like myself access to a whole new world, the world of fine chocolate and cacao, as opposed to the mass-market industrial chocolate we had grown up with.

“He is a renowned maker and industry leader and has been making award-winning chocolate from the bean since 2008. He is a pioneer and an inspiration and has helped and guided many new makers across the UK.

“Louth also has a thriving chocolate tasting community. After studying for my IICCT Level 1 in Chocolate Tasting in 2016, I set up a community chocolate tasting group in Louth in 2017 with a fellow Louth chocolate enthusiast, Lindsay Gardner of Spire Chocolates.

“As far as we know, this was the first community chocolate tasting group in the UK where anyone could just come along and taste craft chocolate. It is just like a wine tasting club but for chocolate. It is still running, and we have a regular membership of between 15 and 20 tasters.

“So even though we don’t yet have a maker based in Louth, it is definitely on the craft chocolate map and we even got a mention in Andrew Baker’s book From Bean to Bar.”

Kathryn says that there are now dozens of makers crafting chocolate from fine cacao beans in the UK.

“A significant proportion of the chocolate we will be tasting as part of our learning will be from these makers, and I feel privileged to be able to offer these tasting courses in the county where it all began. We also get to visit Duffy’s factory to learn how he coaxes the natural flavour notes from the beans he works with.”

Specialist training
There are currently three levels of training with the IICCT, with further options to go on to do specific origin studies or further judging training.

Level 1 is a one- or two-day foundation course with a theory exam, while Level 2 is a three-day course with a theory and tasting exam.

Level 3 is an immersive five-day programme either studying chocolate making in Italy or cacao production in an origin country, followed by written exams and two more advanced tasting exams.
So what attributes does the ideal chocolate taster have?

“We all have different palates but what you do need is an interest in food and flavour. We taste with our brains, so you need to build up your library of flavours in your brain to be able to recognise them in chocolate.

“This has been a long journey for me, because I have to admit that, growing up in 1970s Lincolnshire, the food, although very wholesome, was not particularly varied and flavoursome.

“I have no culinary training, but I developed a love of food through travelling, and chocolate has made me even more of a foodie. I have explored food and flavour and studied the different aromas likely to be found in chocolate. It just takes time and effort.”

Flavour journey
Kathryn explains that to fully appreciate the flavour journey that fine chocolate can offer, you need to know how to taste it properly.

“This is not instinctive, generally we just want to munch our chocolate and to be fair for most industrial chocolate that is probably the best way to eat it. That way, you don’t notice the defects or just how little flavour there actually is!

“We believe that it is the mission of some of the big chocolate brands to make you think that their chocolate is fine. They talk about flavour, the ‘finest beans’, sustainability and traceable sources and even craftsmanship.

“However, to see through the big brand marketing you also need to have an understanding of where fine flavour cacao is grown, how it is traded and how the flavours are crafted from the beans. But the most important thing is the taste. Once you know how to taste chocolate and know how good fine-flavour chocolate can taste (only approximately five percent of the cacao grown each year is fine-flavour) then you can be the judge of the quality of the chocolate you are buying and eating.”

According to Kathryn, who also delivers workshops in primary schools, taking pupils on a journey to the rainforests or back to the time of the ancient Maya, the main difference between fine chocolate and commercial brands is not only the taste but also the flavour journey.

“Fine chocolate has different levels of complexity, distinctiveness and balance, just like any other fine food or drink. The flavour journey is there because it is made with beans with different genetics; these beans then go through a different supply chain and the flavours are crafted to reflect the natural flavours of the beans rather than manufactured to create a standardised taste. Fine chocolate has more taste, transparency and craftsmanship.”

The art of ‘tasting’ chocolate involves using all your senses, by looking, snapping, smelling, sensing the melt and mouthfeel and then crucially picking out the flavour journey and savouring the aftertaste.

“We pay particular attention to the nose and our olfactory system as this is where we detect all the nuanced flavours. Once you have learnt this, it becomes second nature and you can sit back and enjoy the experience of all the senses playing in harmony together… if it is a good chocolate that is!”

Judging quality
Kathryn admits that as a child she adored indulging in bars of Cadbury with a preference for milk chocolate up until about ten years ago, when she was introduced to the idea of single origin chocolate by her sister’s partner, a chocolatier in Yorkshire.

“He taught me how to taste chocolate and that chocolate, depending on where it was grown, had the potential for different flavour profiles. That was my first taste of what I called ‘grown-up’ chocolate with bars from French makers such as Valrhona and Michel Cluizel.

“The real change however came when I walked into Royston’s deli in Louth and found a range of Duffy’s Chocolate bars and the distinct tastes of beans from Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Guatemala. That was the moment I realised I had found something extraordinary that I needed to know more about.

“When you taste craft chocolate for the first time, it is quite a revelation, and you want to tell other people about it. Then when you discover the farmers, traders and makers behind these amazing flavours you want to tell people about them too.

“When you learn how hard it is to grow fine-favour cacao and how difficult it is to make chocolate from bean to the bar and to sell it for sufficient profit for everyone to make a living, you realise this industry needs support. It needs more people to buy this type of chocolate and to pay more for the tastes experiences that are being created, to help it grow and maintain the production of fine cacao.”

mission of the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting (IICCT) is to raise the standards of education in chocolate and cacao tasting and improve the understanding of tasting and evaluation. The IICCT brings together experts and enthusiasts to learn more about chocolate and offers the world’s first accredited qualifications in Chocolate Tasting. It also runs the International Chocolate Awards and its founders are members of the Grand Jury for the awards.

“Being a judge is a great privilege, it is also hard work. It may sound glamorous but involves days of intense concentration. As each competition involves judging at least 200 samples, it requires dedication and stamina. Then there is the palate cleansing with soupy polenta and the regular palate calibrations.

But as the results are delivered the wider picture comes into view. The announcements that spotlight the passion of the people pushing the boundaries in the sector and the celebration of those spectacularly crafted taste experiences make it all worth it.

“Every chocolate takes you on a journey back to origin and in a well-crafted bar you can sense the skill, care and respect for the beans. Then when you introduce someone to these flavours and they get that ‘wow’ moment too, that is one of the best rewards. I never tire of hearing the words, ‘I had no idea that chocolate could taste like that!’”

Cocoa Encounters’ next IICCT Level 1 and Level 2 classes are scheduled for 20th-23rd March. For more info visit www.cocoa-encounters.cademy.co.uk

We Recommend

Van life

Seal sanctuary celebrates diamond anniversary

Where the past meets the present

Showcasing Sleaford

Holes

Education

View all