Classes and workshops are ongoing throughout the day.
Tickets include entrance to any classes within the time slot shown on your ticket, but space is limited.
Tickets include entrance to any classes within the time slot shown on your ticket, but space is limited.
Morning Session (10:30am-2:00pm)
Tasting Room
11:00 am - 11:45 am Jose Lopez Ganem (Professor, Boston University)
Chocolate and Beverage Paring
Matching chocolate with your drink of choice does not have to be a headache. Learn from Jose Lopez Ganem, a BU Food Studies professor, tips and tricks to balance the tastes of chocolate with your favorite fix. Discover the theory of food and beverage paring, and engage in few experiments to put this to the test. Non-alcoholic pairings will be tasted by guests.
Chocolate and Beverage Paring
Matching chocolate with your drink of choice does not have to be a headache. Learn from Jose Lopez Ganem, a BU Food Studies professor, tips and tricks to balance the tastes of chocolate with your favorite fix. Discover the theory of food and beverage paring, and engage in few experiments to put this to the test. Non-alcoholic pairings will be tasted by guests.
12:00 pm - 12:45 pm Sophia Rea of Projet Chocolat & Mara Papatheodorou, Master Foodie & former Bon Appetit Travel Editor Sweet & Savory Sisters.
Chocolate & What?! Past Present and Future
Sweet & Savory Sensations collide all in the name of chocolate & its unique inclusions & infusions. Flavors, facts & folklore galore! A deliciously fun and informative tasting & talk delves into the curious & delectable world of chocolate and its surprising suitors from then to now & beyond!
Chocolate & What?! Past Present and Future
Sweet & Savory Sensations collide all in the name of chocolate & its unique inclusions & infusions. Flavors, facts & folklore galore! A deliciously fun and informative tasting & talk delves into the curious & delectable world of chocolate and its surprising suitors from then to now & beyond!
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm Mateo (Prophecy Chocolate)
Exotic Relatives of Cacao
This tasting and educational presentation will follow the cultivation, harvest, fermentation and processing of Cacao - the raw ingredient for Chocolate, and its exotic jungle cousins - Macambo, Copuazu and Cupui. Attendees will have a chance to taste chocolate bars and the unique cousins of cacao imported directly from farmers in Peru.
Exotic Relatives of Cacao
This tasting and educational presentation will follow the cultivation, harvest, fermentation and processing of Cacao - the raw ingredient for Chocolate, and its exotic jungle cousins - Macambo, Copuazu and Cupui. Attendees will have a chance to taste chocolate bars and the unique cousins of cacao imported directly from farmers in Peru.
Auditorium
11:00 am - 11:45 am Estelle Tracy (37 Chocolates)
What you didn’t know about chocolate: the cool hidden facts and stories behind your favorite food
Join chocolate sommelier Estelle Tracy for an exploration of the history, geography, culture, and industry of chocolate. Peppered with engaging stories, the presentation will give you a deeper appreciation of chocolate and a collection of fun facts to impress your friends.
What you didn’t know about chocolate: the cool hidden facts and stories behind your favorite food
Join chocolate sommelier Estelle Tracy for an exploration of the history, geography, culture, and industry of chocolate. Peppered with engaging stories, the presentation will give you a deeper appreciation of chocolate and a collection of fun facts to impress your friends.
12:00 pm - 12:45 pm Lauren Adler (Chief Chocophile)
Deciphering Chocolate Labels
Chocolate bar wrappers have become small novels, cramming facts, stories and data onto a package the size of an envelope. Don’t know what it means? Not sure why it’s there? You’re not alone! Go behind the wrapper with Chief Chocophile Lauren Adler as she demystifies, deciphers and defines the stories, symbols and seals on fine chocolate labels and shares her priorities before purchasing a chocolate for the first time.
Deciphering Chocolate Labels
Chocolate bar wrappers have become small novels, cramming facts, stories and data onto a package the size of an envelope. Don’t know what it means? Not sure why it’s there? You’re not alone! Go behind the wrapper with Chief Chocophile Lauren Adler as she demystifies, deciphers and defines the stories, symbols and seals on fine chocolate labels and shares her priorities before purchasing a chocolate for the first time.
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm Jose Lopez Ganem (moderator, Boston University), Brian LoBue (Kokoa Kamili), Ben Rasmussen (Potomac Chocolate), Elmer Pineda (Yojoa Chocolate), Galo Pazmino (SamiChakra), Mariano D'Aguiar (River-Sea Chocolates), Mark Christian (C-spot.com)
Panel Discussion: Cacao Prize Bonanza - Winners and Losers
Panel Discussion: Cacao Prize Bonanza - Winners and Losers
Afternoon Session (2:00pm-5:30pm)
Tasting Room
2:30 pm - 3:15 pm Shirley Lum (Chocolate Sommelier, International Chocolate Awards Judge)
Tastings from trailblazer Canadian women Chocolatemakers
Join us for a special in-person tasting event curated by Shirley Lum, a chocolate sommelier, International Chocolate Awards judge (the Americas & World’s Final) and Canadian Craft Chocolate Competition Grand Juror, and Culinary Historian based in Toronto, Canada. It’ll be equal portions of food-for-thought and food-for-all-the-senses, as Shirley will introduce a bit of fascinating Canadian chocolate history, while sharing her judging and grand jury experience, focusing on insights on what to look for when selecting your chocolates at the 7th DC Chocolate Festival.
Tastings from trailblazer Canadian women Chocolatemakers
Join us for a special in-person tasting event curated by Shirley Lum, a chocolate sommelier, International Chocolate Awards judge (the Americas & World’s Final) and Canadian Craft Chocolate Competition Grand Juror, and Culinary Historian based in Toronto, Canada. It’ll be equal portions of food-for-thought and food-for-all-the-senses, as Shirley will introduce a bit of fascinating Canadian chocolate history, while sharing her judging and grand jury experience, focusing on insights on what to look for when selecting your chocolates at the 7th DC Chocolate Festival.
3:30 pm - 4:15 pm Jessica Henderson (Chocolate Monkey Fine Chocolate Tastings)
Flavor Illusions: Using Physiology and Psychology to Create and Enhance Flavor
Dr. Jessica Henderson will explore how your brain creates your perception of flavor and how sensory information can be altered to fundamentally change your experience. This presentation will integrate tasting samples to help you fully understand various influencers of flavor. Expand your understanding and increase your enjoyment of all the things you taste!
Flavor Illusions: Using Physiology and Psychology to Create and Enhance Flavor
Dr. Jessica Henderson will explore how your brain creates your perception of flavor and how sensory information can be altered to fundamentally change your experience. This presentation will integrate tasting samples to help you fully understand various influencers of flavor. Expand your understanding and increase your enjoyment of all the things you taste!
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm Valerie Beck (Chocolate Uplift)
The Value of Chocolate: Benefits to People and Planet / Who Sets Prices, Who Profits?
Learn benefits of cacao and chocolate to human and ecological health, as we investigate who benefits from recent price increases to commodity cacao (hint: it's not the farmers, and it's not the public) and what could be causing financial upheavals in chocolate. We'll also taste and discuss healthful and ethical craft chocolate made from cacao that is not traded on commodities markets but purchased directly from growers.
The Value of Chocolate: Benefits to People and Planet / Who Sets Prices, Who Profits?
Learn benefits of cacao and chocolate to human and ecological health, as we investigate who benefits from recent price increases to commodity cacao (hint: it's not the farmers, and it's not the public) and what could be causing financial upheavals in chocolate. We'll also taste and discuss healthful and ethical craft chocolate made from cacao that is not traded on commodities markets but purchased directly from growers.
Auditorium
2:30 pm - 3:15 pm Pathmanathan Umaharan (Director, Cocoa Research Centre, Trinidad & Tobago), Marisol Slater (DC Chocolate Festival organizer / The Chocolate House DC), John Forrer (Director, Institute of Corporate Responsibility, George Washington University), Mark Christian (publisher, the C-spot.com / co-founder, Landmark Wild Chocolate Reserve)
Panel Discussion: DATELINE Chocolate Island™ 2024 Update
A year on from the launch of C3 (Cocoa / CO2 / Community) on Chocolate Island Trinidad & Tobago… find out what progress has been gained or lost in making the IMPOSSIBLE Chocolate Bar™ (Ingredients: NO child labor, dirt poor wages, deforestation, pesticides, contaminants, etc.etc.).
Panel Discussion: DATELINE Chocolate Island™ 2024 Update
A year on from the launch of C3 (Cocoa / CO2 / Community) on Chocolate Island Trinidad & Tobago… find out what progress has been gained or lost in making the IMPOSSIBLE Chocolate Bar™ (Ingredients: NO child labor, dirt poor wages, deforestation, pesticides, contaminants, etc.etc.).
3:30 pm - 4:15 pm Nicholas Silverman (Diego's Chocolate)
Tz’utujil (Mayan) Cacao Culture, Past & Present
Mayan people are not just from the history books. Today, cacao still plays an extremely important role in various aspects of Mayan cultures.
Join Nicholas Silverman as he shares his stories and perspectives from over a decade working with Diego’s Chocolate, Tz’utujil (Mayan) owned since 1990. This is the oldest craft producer in Guatemala, and a rarely found Native American-made fine chocolate.
Tz’utujil (Mayan) Cacao Culture, Past & Present
Mayan people are not just from the history books. Today, cacao still plays an extremely important role in various aspects of Mayan cultures.
Join Nicholas Silverman as he shares his stories and perspectives from over a decade working with Diego’s Chocolate, Tz’utujil (Mayan) owned since 1990. This is the oldest craft producer in Guatemala, and a rarely found Native American-made fine chocolate.
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm Christina Kim (Korita Chocolate)
Meditate with Cacao
Cacao has been used as a sacred ceremonial plant medicine since ancient Chinchipe, Olmec, and Mayan times. This tradition has been passed down for generations to come. Celebrating life, death, fertility, Mother Earth, and community, cacao is still used today in many indigenous and modern societies. Learn how to gather with cacao in community, and take home this sacred wisdom. Please wear comfortable clothes for sitting.
Meditate with Cacao
Cacao has been used as a sacred ceremonial plant medicine since ancient Chinchipe, Olmec, and Mayan times. This tradition has been passed down for generations to come. Celebrating life, death, fertility, Mother Earth, and community, cacao is still used today in many indigenous and modern societies. Learn how to gather with cacao in community, and take home this sacred wisdom. Please wear comfortable clothes for sitting.