Create A Chocolate Pairing Experience

April 15, 2025

Looking for a fun and interactive experience that will break the ice, spark engaging discussions and bring your guests together in collaboration? Host a chocolate pairing experience!

Chocolate pairings transform ordinary events into memorable occasions, ones that build relationships and encourage engagement.

If you don’t know where to begin I’m here to provide you with starting points, but I encourage you to branch out and try things that speak to you. Chocolate pairings are a wonderful way to enjoy two foods together and spark fun conversation.

There are so many things you can pair with chocolate. I’ve listed my personal favorites here as examples, but the options are endless. My favorites, in order of preference are:

Cheese and chocolate
Tea and chocolate
Bourbon, whiskey, Scotch and chocolate
Sweet or fortified wines and chocolate

Some of my choices may be surprising, but I’m going to bet that my rank order is what’s most surprising. Right now you may be asking yourself, “Cheese and chocolate?”. Yes, cheese and chocolate. Truly a duo made in heaven. Or it can be. Like any pairing, not all cheeses go with all chocolates. You have to do the hard work to find the pairings that sing. But that hard work is going to be some of the most fun, and certainly the most tasty, work you’ve done to date.

I’ve had the pleasure of creating pairings with a number of well-known cheese, tea, spirits and wine experts. At the end of this post I’ve provided links to past blog posts about specific pairings. I recommend watching the cheese & chocolate tasting video I did with Dessert Geek, Jess Tupper, and the Mobile Monger, Janee’ Moha, as a starting point.

Pairing Guidelines

Below are guidelines for putting together a successful pairing for whatever accompaniment you’ve chosen to go with your chocolate.

Put a stake in the ground – When pairing chocolate with another food or beverage you have so many choices it can become overwhelming. Where do you start? Put a stake in the ground by choosing one item first. I like to choose my chocolate first, since I know it well. I recommend choosing no more than 5 chocolates, which can include a mix of any type of chocolate you like – bars, bonbons, truffles, etc.
Choose a range of flavors/profiles – Whatever kind of chocolate you like (dark, milk, white), choose a range of flavor profiles and types. If you’re a dark chocolate lover, I recommend you include at least one milk chocolate in the mix. Dark chocolate many not be a good fit for every type of pairing. I’ve found, for example, that milk chocolate often pairs well with blue cheese.
Taste the chocolate – Before you purchase items to pair, taste the chocolate and write down the flavors you notice for each one. Bring your notes with you to a reputable specialty food store. Not only will a specialty store have the best selection, you’re more likely to find a knowledgeable employee who can steer you to products that may pair well.
Set up your tasting experience – Break up the chocolate bars into small pieces and put them on a platter making sure to clearly mark them so your guests know which chocolate is which. Do the same for the items you plan to pair.
Create a tasting placemat – Put together a one-page tasting placemat for each of your guests to use to take notes. The placemat should include a numbered spot for each pairing. Provide a space for guests to write the name of the chocolate and the name of the item they’re pairing as well room for them to record tasting notes.
Taste individually – Taste the cheese/tea/spirits/wine on their own before tasting them with the chocolate. Then taste the chocolates on their own. Use all of your senses to evaluate each of the delicacies you’re tasting, letting all of them linger in your mouth. As my mother used to say, “Don’t chew!” (you can chew twice, but no more).
Pair them – Based on your initial tasting, decide which combinations might work well together and give them a try. If you’re tasting cheese, try the cheese first, and only after you’ve finished the piece of cheese, put a piece of chocolate in your mouth and let it melt. Why cheese first? The advice I got from cheese expert Janet Fletcher is to start with savory and end with sweet, just like you would with dinner and dessert. Evaluate your pairings. Does the pairing make the chocolate and cheese/tea/spirit/wine taste even better? Or do they not go together at all?
Mix it up – Now comes the really fun part. Mix it up. Try different chocolates with different cheese/tea/spirits/wine combinations and see if you find other pairings that sing. You may be surprised. The pairings you thought might work may not. The pairings that sounded ludicrous might be fabulous! Or you might find an “interesting” pairing – one that you don’t love but that brings out notes you never noticed in the chocolate or the cheese/tea/spirits/wine.
Discuss – When you’ve finished tasting, discuss your pairings with the group. What worked well together? Do you agree or disagree on what worked? What were each person’s favorite combinations? How would you conduct the tasting differently next time?

I’ve provided resources, below, for putting together a pairing. Not only do these experts offer great products and advice, you’re supporting small businesses.

Cheese

List of Artisan Cheese Makers Selling Online (Janet Fletcher)