Locked in a chocolate shop!

Friday night, I got locked in a chocolate shop! And not just any chocolate shop. A Hotel Chocolate shop! Katherine and I went to a chocolate tasting adventure, run by Hotel Chocolate in celebration of National Chocolate Week. When Katherine and I got to the Ardale centre in Manchester, the shop was shut so we got a drink. Then at 6.45pm, Katherine got impatient, picked up my things and went to stand outside the shop. :-) So we stood at the window grinning like idiots until they let us is. We were the first ones there. They opened the shutter for us and shut them behind us, thereby locking us in. And then a good looking guy asking me if I would like a glass of Prosecco.:-) If only all nights were like this!

Very happy!

Katherine, equally happy!

Nice man pouring Prosecco.

When everyone else arrived (another 14 people), we settled down for the chocolate tasting. Over the evening, we tasted 13 different chocolate and learnt a lot about chocolate. The most interesting bits were when we got 2 or 3 pieces at one time so we could compare. Usually when I eat chocolate, I just open a bar and eat it. I never realized different chocolates could be so, well, different. Cacao trees are very delicate. They only grow 20 degrees above and below the equator and they don't like too much heat or sun light. So the farmers grow other trees such as coconut trees around the cacao trees to shade them. So the cacao beans take on flavors from whatever is grown around them. The beans can be completely different.

Cacao pod, cacao beans, and bread to cleanse the palate

Also the percentage doesn't mean the amount of coco solids, but the lack of sugars. So dark chocolate has less sugar than milk. But the taste can be just as mellow. The main factor is hot much conching is used, which is basically how much they mix the chocolate. The more they mix, the more mellow the taste.
It was a really good night with loads of chocolate. And then I spent a load of money on chocolate (and port!). Some of it was presents, so I don't feel so bad. And we got a free goody bag on the way out (the 3 items on the left in the picture).

Haul from Hotel Chocolate (3 on the left from the goody bag)!