I’m still discovering the world of cocoa and chocolate, bit by bit. And today I’ve got you something new – a thought.
At 6:00 PM last Sunday, I clicked the link to my 2nd (virtual) chocolate tasting session.
This was one of the monthly tasting sessions of the Cross Atlantic Chocolate Collective – my newest discovery of amazing chocolate people with many juicy stories.
The CACC is a movement of African and Caribbean cocoa growers and chocolatiers bringing farmers to the value addition table while revealing Africa’s true stories in the global cocoa-chocolate scene. I’ll tell you more about this movement as I learn more about them. But for now…
As Zoom connected me to what would be a memorable experience, I remembered Oh dear!
For the second time, I was attending a chocolate tasting session WITHOUT a bar. Who does that?
But it wasn’t a problem at all. Because this wasn’t just about chocolate. It was about stories, and I got a taste of many.
Wow.
First, you have different nationals joining in from Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Nigeria, USA, Mexico, Grenada, Ghana!, etc. That’s many stories already.
Then it gets complex…
Some of them are seasoned cocoa growers and chocolate makers, like Gillian Goddard the convenor of the collective (who was also the best host ever!), Uzo Igweike of Loom Chocolate (Nigeria), and Aaron Sylvester of Tri-Island Chocolate in Grenada. Others are first-generation cocoa farmers and first-time chocolate makers, like Emily from Uganda.
But that’s not all…
You also have first-timers on the call like Rodney North, a Marketing Consultant who’d recently talked about Marketing on the Cocoatown webinar series. And then you have someone like me – a story enthusiast tracking down diverse stories in the world of brown bars.
Very diverse people. And we’re all here to learn about one another via chocolate tasting? Wow.
The format for introductions was remarkable: your name, what time it is where you live, then one exciting thing happening in your cocoa/chocolate life.
Simple, right? But already, the many different responses gave everyone an idea about how differently people are experiencing the same planet at the same time. In a few sentences, you learn that while you’re about to have dinner, someone else is just starting their day, and another must go to bed soon.
Then, after the introductions, we moved on to tasting and talking about the three or four selected bars. Again, more stories.
I was all smiling while the chocolate makers share stories about how they crafted the bars everyone else was tasting; what inspired the recipe, and how many failed experiments they had to endure.
That, right there, is my favorite part about chocolate tasting sessions – the stories of how the bars came to be. And at this point, I yearned to taste those stories (sorry, chocolate) on my tongue. I hated Zoom for not making it possible to snatch someone’s bar through the screen.
Was there some feedback?
But of course! Why not? There was diverse feedback from different tasters. And Gillian did a perfect job at encouraging everyone to share THEIR own experience of the bars, without thinking about how it’s SUPPOSED to taste. She argued that chocolate tastes differently depending on the eater’s preferences, even their current situation. (I’m still thinking about that truth.)
And those positive comments, what did they mean to the chocolatiers? I love to think of them as confirmation that the chocolate maker didn’t waste their time. Aaron Sylvester – who invited me to the session – put it perfectly: he said he knew he made great chocolates, but it felt wonderful hearing somebody else give him that affirmation.
Now, that’s a powerful statement we all can agree to. You put your time and energy into experimenting with a recipe until you get it right. What’s better than knowing someone across the ocean enjoyed it? What’s more rewarding than knowing someone far far away had a good day because they taste the fruit of your labor? I think it justifies all the hard work and the pain. And it encourages you to wake up tomorrow, and do it again.
I think chocolate tastings are great moments for story-sharing, and also for learning about the experiences people go through to make the products billions around the world love. Also, choco tastings are perfect moments for correcting wrong narratives or prejudices. Like Cocoa Runners’ myth-busting session with Dr. Kristy Leissle early this year, which I was privileged to be a part of.
We should have more chocolate tastings. But more importantly, we should encourage a lot of story sharing and myth-busting.
Do you attend chocolate tasting sessions? What has been your experience? Please share it in the comments.
And thank you for reading this. It means a lot to me.
