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Indulge your passion for chocolate and real food with a unique artisan chocolate tasting experience.

At Cocoa Encounters we work with you or your company to deliver carefully curated tasting journeys tailored to your tastes and knowledge of fine flavour chocolate. Along the way, you will discover the art of sensorial tasting and the latest trends in craft chocolate.

Chocolate may be all you need, but you can also discover new dimensions to your chocolate experience if paired with fine food and drink or even a good read at your regular book club.

 

About

My Mission

“Over the last 15 years chocolate has undergone a revolution.  Alongside the familiar brands that trigger memories of childhood indulgence and give us that chocolate feel good factor, we now have a new kind of chocolate to stimulate our senses.

We can choose from hundreds of artisan makers sourcing fine cocoa beans from farmers across Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Bars with flavour profiles to rival the quality and variety of fine wine, tea and coffee. Bars made by people who have a great respect for the origins of their cocoa beans, the people who grow them and the bean-to-bar making process.

After spending five years following my own chocolate tasting journey: discovering new origins and makers; training with the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting and setting up a fine tasting chocolate club; I decided to put my previous career in marketing and events to good use and set up Cocoa Encounters. My sole aim being to encourage an enjoyment and knowledge of fine flavour bean-to-bar chocolate.

Buying chocolate is like buying wine;  with so much choice and similar price tags it can be difficult to know where to start. All you need to recognise the quality and ethics of a bar, is a little knowledge of how cocoa is grown, bought, made and marketed but you can only really discover how ‘fine’ it is by tasting it. All Cocoa Encounters experiences are designed to help you do just that.”

Kathryn Laverack(ii)

Kathryn Laverack, Cocoa Encounters

 

Chocolate Tastings

Book your private or corporate chocolate tasting experience

Get together with friends or colleagues and discover the world of fine-flavour craft chocolate. If you’re a business looking for something different and engaging for your group, sessions can be adapted to make a unique and memorable team building or reward experience. A fine chocolate tasting or pairing also makes a stylish and innovative way to celebrate that special occasion.

All Cocoa Encounters events are curated and delivered by certified chocolate taster Kathryn Laverack.

Discovery Experiences

Learn the art of sensorial tasting and take a journey around the globe with a tasting of 8 bars from different origins. Discover new styles and makers and decide which bar you want to take home with you.

Exploring Craft Chocolate

Explore different origins and makers or learn more about the making process and its influence on flavour development through a tailored tasting of 8 different bars.

Food and Drink Pairings

Working alongside local producers, suppliers and venues offering fine food and drink, pairings can be curated for bespoke events with a choice of wine, whisky, ale, tea, coffee or cheese.

Group tastings usually last 1-2 hours. Prices start at £25 per person but will depend on the venue, choice of chocolate and if the event involves a food or drink pairing. They can be organised in Lincolnshire and the wider East Midlands in a choice of venues or as a private party.

1:1 tasting sessions are also available within a reasonable travelling distance from Louth. An individual session can be delivered for £49 or with two people tasting together, at a total of cost of £69. In addition to the guided tasting, these sessions also include access to my tasting library to help you further investigate your flavour preferences.

Please Get in touch to discuss your event ideas and prices.

Gift Vouchers

CocoaEncounters_Vouchers On Pegs

Printed gift vouchers are available by post (minimum value £25). Cocoa Encounters gift vouchers are redeemable at any of the tasting or pairing events advertised on cocoaencounters.co.uk  (subject to availability) or towards the cost of a tasting place at a private party or book club meeting. Please mention your voucher when making your booking. Payment can be made by Paypal,  simply email cocoaencounters@gmail.com with value required and address details.

Forthcoming Ticket Events

Events open to the public will be listed here. For further information on private or corporate bookings please email cocoaencounters@gmail.com.

 

Book Club Pairings

Introduce chocolate to your book club

Introducing chocolate to a book club is a great way of exploring the origins, characters and makers of craft chocolate.

You could discover bars from Colombia matched to the macho and the melancholy characters of Gabriel Garcia Marquez; bars with the earthy and floral flavour profiles carefully paired to the American thriller Black Eyed Susans or red and white bars that mirror the warring factions in the classic Dr Zhivago. The possibilities are endless.

Starting from as little as £10 per person you can invite Cocoa Encounters along to your book club to present a minimum of four bars matched to your book and show you the art of slow tasting. Select from an existing pairing or a unique pairing to match your chosen book.

For further inspiration take a look at Louth Literary Coven’s Mainly Books and Chocolate blog.

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Garcia Marquez Group

Dr Zhivago and chocolate

Blog

Posted on

On Chapel Sands meets craft chocolate: An exploration of nature versus nurture

For Louth Literary Coven’s November gathering, we chose an illuminating combination of literature and craft chocolate that delved deep into the secrets of a Lincolnshire family and the ancestry of fine cacao. The obvious choice for craft chocolate paired with memories of Chapel St Leonards on the Lincolnshire coast was Duffy’s Chocolate, based just a …

Continue reading “On Chapel Sands meets craft chocolate: An exploration of nature versus nurture”

Posted on

A late summer book and chocolate pairing: The politics of Normal People and craft chocolate

  The Louth Literary Coven book club members met for their late summer craft chocolate and book pairing recently. To stimulate discussion and hopefully add to the overall enjoyment of the afternoon, I chose four bars to bring attention to the underlying themes of the novel. On the basis that Rooney’s Normal People encourages us to consider …

Continue reading “A late summer book and chocolate pairing: The politics of Normal People and craft chocolate”