Craft Chocolate Tasting Workshop Series (June, July, August)
Wine & chocolate have a lot in common! Like winemakers, bean-to-bar chocolate makers use a combination of science and magic to turn fruit into a delicious and incredibly nuanced end product. Join Certified Chocolate Taster & Educator Christy Conte in a guided tasting of some of the best chocolates being made in Canada today. Learn how chocolate tasters use touch, sight, sound, smell and taste to evaluate chocolate and explore the same flavour profile map used by international chocolate judges to describe what you’re tasting. We’ll learn what makes fine chocolate ‘fine’ by tasting four excellent bean-to-bar chocolates from Canadian makers, and will also describe the fermentation, roasting, conching and manufacturing processes used to create the amazing flavours you’re tasting. Ages 16+

June 10th: Joy and Protest
Pride started as a protest against police harassment. The craft chocolate movement is a protest against an industrial system that disempowers local communities. Happily, both groups have found joyous ways to celebrate in the midst of their struggles. We’ll celebrate the bean-to-bar movement by sampling bars that represent the ethics, sustainability and diversity craft makers hold dear.

July 16th: Chocolate is a Fruit
Come explore the floral, herbal side of bean-to-bar chocolate against the backdrop of Base 31’s Flowering Wild Art Installation

August 13th: Dark, Darker, Darkest
!Is all dark chocolate bitter? Can a 70% bar taste more bitter than one with no sugar at all? Find a new favourite as we sample some amazing bars at 60%, 70%, 85% and 100%. Learn what craft chocolate makers can do to achieve what Italians call “amaricante”,  that wonderful tongue taste beloved by dark chocolate lovers everywhere.

About Christy
Christy Conte is a Certified Chocolate Taster (IICCT Level 2) and trained as a Professional Chocolatier at George Brown College. She is passionate about food and was the co-owner of Edgy Veggie Foods, where she developed flavour-forward recipes for major clients such as Whole Foods, Farmboy and others. She’s a keen taste-hunter: her Thai Basil Lime Coconut Gelato made Toronto Life’s ‘Top Flavours of Summer’ list a few years back!

Christy has spent time in France visiting and making chocolate with members of the French craft chocolate association, Le Bean to Bar. She’s the Leader of the eastern North American alumni chapter of the International Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Tasting and meets with other chocolate tasters regularly to explore new craft chocolate. As an OISE-trained educator by profession, she’s eager to share what she’s learned about craft chocolate with others. Blown away by Canada’s award-winning bean-to-bar chocolate makers she looks forward to introducing these makers to new audiences