Hospitality Loves Chocolate

A love of chocolate and good company was a common theme among attendees of a recent event hosted Eta Sigma Delta Hospitality Honors Society. The event hosted on Wednesday, February 5, was an opportunity for members of the organization to taste a variety of chocolate flavors and discuss their thoughts. 

Conversation about the chocolates was guided by a tasting sheet provided by the club. As we worked through each chocolate, discussing the categories on the tasting sheets, we observed the appearance, smell, taste, and mouth feel. Our guide through this experience was the club Vice President Antoinette Jacques. Using her experience in classes like beverage appreciation, she was able to craft a fun and educational program.

She provided each attendee with a piece of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, dark chocolate sea salt caramel, and dark chocolate with chili. One chocolate at a time, we carefully worked through the tasting guide sheet and discussed our thoughts among the group. Milk chocolate was waxy and creamy to some people, and other people said it reminded them of easter candy. Dark Chocolate was rich and had almost a brownie batter mouth feel. The more we discussed, the more the group got into it and felt comfortable together. 

To end the tasting, we discussed what we would pair the chocolate with, whether it is a dessert wine or stout. Some of the attendees with more of a beverage class background suggested those types of pairings. Attendees, who had more of a food background, suggested things like goat cheese or rosemary. This showed that no matter what hospitality-related major attended, there was a shared love, a love of chocolate.