It's a question we hear all the time: Is there a right way to taste chocolate?
The short answer? Not really. But there are a few simple things you can do to discover more of what makes chocolate so interesting.
Much like wine or coffee, chocolate has an incredible range of flavors. Depending on where cacao is grown, how it's fermented, roasted, and crafted into chocolate, you might discover notes of berries, nuts, caramel, citrus, or even flowers.
And the fun part? Everyone experiences those flavors a little differently.
Introducing Our Chocolate Tasting Wheel
For the 2026 Portland Craft Chocolate Festival, we developed a chocolate tasting wheel to help guests explore the flavors they were experiencing and put words to what they tasted.
We wanted something approachable, easy to use, and, most importantly, fun.
The wheel starts with broad flavor categories and works outward toward more specific tasting notes. It's a simple way to explore chocolate, whether you're new to craft chocolate or have been enjoying it for years.
And now, we've made it available online for everyone!
A Few Tips for Tasting Chocolate
Here's something that surprises most people: before you taste chocolate, smell it!
Good chocolate should have a clean, pleasant aroma. Take a moment to hold a piece near your nose and breathe in. You might notice hints of fruit, nuts, caramel, or other subtle aromas. This first impression tells you quite a bit about the chocolate before you've even taken a bite.
Next, let the chocolate melt in your mouth.
Temperature plays an important role in how we experience chocolate. As chocolate warms, its cocoa butter begins to melt, releasing the aromatic compounds that contribute to its flavor. Rather than immediately chewing and swallowing, let a small piece slowly melt on your tongue.
Notice how the flavors develop and change as the chocolate melts. You might experience something fruity at first, followed by nutty, floral, or caramel notes.
And remember, there's no need to identify every flavor, and there's certainly no test at the end.
Try a Little Chocolate Experiment
One of our favorite ways to explore chocolate is to compare single-origin bars from different chocolate makers.
Find two or three bars made with cacao from the same origin, ideally with similar cacao percentages. Often, the ingredients are nearly identical, but the flavors can be remarkably different.
Think of it like giving two chefs the same ingredients in the kitchen. Each brings their own techniques, experience, and approach to the process, and what comes out can be entirely different.
Chocolate is much the same. How the cacao is roasted, ground, refined, and developed into finished chocolate can dramatically influence its flavor.
Taste the bars side by side, taking time to smell each one and let it melt slowly in your mouth. Use our tasting wheel to explore what you're experiencing.
You might be surprised by just how different they are!
Explore Our Chocolate Tasting Wheel
Whether you're tasting chocolate for the first time or have been exploring craft chocolate for years, we hope our tasting wheel encourages you to slow down, explore, and discover something new.
It's not about finding the right answer. It's about enjoying the experience and developing a better understanding of the flavors you enjoy.
Explore Our Chocolate Tasting Wheel →
Happy tasting!