The Nibble: Chocolate Party Ideas

Chocolate truffles from B.T. McElrath, filled with dark chocolate ganache.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KAREN HOCHMAN is Editorial Director of THE NIBBLE.

February 2005
Last Updated November 2010

Chocolate Party Ideas

This is Page 2 of a five-page article with chocolate party ideas. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.

Decide when you want to hold the tasting. The best times are mid-afternoon or mid-evening. The timing should be one to two hours after you’ve had lunch or dinner and are no longer hungry, but have had ample time to digest and are ready to taste.
Assess available facilities. You’ll need a table large enough so that everyone can have a space for wine glasses, a plate of chocolate and a rating sheet. If you have a choice, a rectangular table works better than a circular table. The room should be bright enough so that participants can enjoy the visual nuances of the chocolate and wine as well as the flavors and aromas.
You can use plastic tumblers for the wine. If you are tasting a number of different wines and don’t own (or want to rent) many glasses, consider buying plastic tumblers. People can drink their wines from regular stemware, but save their extra wine in a plastic cup instead of dumping it. This enables everyone to keep all of their wines throughout the tasting, referring back to earlier wines to make comparisons.

Plan your guest list. A group of six to eight is a good basic size for interaction and discussion; although if your guests are experienced wine tasters and you have room at the table, a dozen can work. With a larger group, be prepared to direct the discussion by asking someone to lead off with comments.

If your goal is to learn about pairing chocolate and wine, then invite people who are like-minded. It’s fun, but it also takes concentration. Those who don’t really have an interest in exploring flavor nuances—who just want to drink wine or eat chocolate and have social conversations—are better invited to a different event where the agenda is only social.
You can mail invitations (we’ve bought greeting cards with photos of sumptuous chocolates on the cover and blank insides); or create your own e-mail invitations. Remind your guests to ideally finish lunch or dinner two hours before they arrive for the tasting.