Both! We host virtual tastings for guests all around the world and in person tastings in the New York City area and San Francisco Bay area.

Our signature chocolate tastings include a one hour guided chocolate tasting led by one of our chocolate sommeliers, kits shipped to individual addresses that include 4 artisanal chocolates (2 full size bars, 1 half size bar, and 1 chocolate drinking wheel) made with transparently traded cocoa beans from our favorite small-batch chocolate makers, a tasting sheet to use during the event, and a letter from us with chocolate storage instructions.

If you’re having a tasting with a tea pairing, you’ll also receive three single servings of our favorite single-origin teas.

If you’re having a tasting with a wine pairing, you’ll also receive a separate shipping with three 2-ounce servings of curated natural wine pairings from an award-winning California microwinery.

Of course we can always customize the kits to make them extra special with extra chocolate bars, caramels or a signed copy of Megan’s book, Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution

Find more information about our virtual tastings here.

Our in person tastings include a one-hour guided chocolate tasting led by one of our chocolate sommeliers, samples of 3 artisanal chocolate bars and 1 take-home drinking chocolate wheel made with transparently traded cocoa beans from our favorite award-winning chocolate makers, a tasting mat, and light selection of palate cleansers like water crackers and dried fruit.

We also offer single or triple wine pairings, and for some small groups in NYC, tea pairings with single-origin teas.

Of course we can always customize the experience to make it extra special with extra chocolate bars, caramels or a signed copy of Megan’s book, Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution.

Find more information about our in person tastings in NYC or the San Francisco Bay area.

Pricing depends on if your tasting is virtual, in person, if you have any beverage pairings, and the size of your group. Rates start at $79 per person. Take a look through our Tastings page for more information on the tasting that suits you best.

As many as you’d like! We’ve hosted tastings for groups of 5 and groups of 300. It really depends on how you envision the tasting, and we’re happy to discuss different options with you.

Making artisan chocolate is fun, we agree! But it’s also a lot of work! We like to keep our events focused on the guest experience, and chocolate tasting team building events allow you to relax and engage with one another over amazing chocolate. No clean-up required!

Think of a wine or cheese tasting, but with chocolate. On the day of the event we’ll gather together and our incredible chocolate pro will kick the hour off with an introduction and a fun chocolatey icebreaker. Then we’ll walk through three high-end chocolate bars, tasting them as though they’re fine wines and introduce one drinking chocolate for folks to enjoy later. Guests learn how to taste the nuanced flavors of craft chocolate, how bean-to-bar chocolate is made, and how cocoa beans have terroir, like wine grapes.

Our events are super interactive, and we encourage guests to weigh in with their own chocolatey experiences and ask questions throughout. It’s like a great dinner party conversation with good friends, led by one of our incredibly knowledgeable chocolate sommeliers, who can tell you everything you ever wondered about chocolate. (For example, is white chocolate really chocolate?!)

We feature ethically sourced bean-to-bar chocolate from our favorite makers around the world. Most events feature two single origin dark bars and one milk chocolate bar, but we can customize the selection based on your preferences or dietary needs.

Yes! We can accommodate most dietary restrictions. Please be sure to mention any special requests when you reach out.

Chocolate Noise Founder Megan Giller has assembled a team of chocolate sommeliers who are all chocolate experts in their own right. Our chocolate sommeliers not only offer their wealth of knowledge, but also share their passion for craft chocolate and create interactive experiences that are both educational and engaging. You can read more about them here.

Absolutely! You can view a short preview here. For privacy reasons you won’t see any guests, but since our tastings are always engaging and interactive, this little taste will help you imagine how dynamic it will be with a group of chocolate tasters!

Up to you! We typically use Zoom, but if you’d prefer to share your own Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, etc. link with us, that works too.

Tell us a little about what you’re looking for here, and we’ll be in touch to share more information. After we finalize the details, a contract and 50% deposit is due to confirm your booking.

For virtual and hybrid tastings, we require mailing addresses 3 weeks in advance of your event. This deadline can be extended to 2 weeks in advance with a $10 expediting fee per person.

For in person tastings, we require bookings be made 2 weeks in advance of your event. In some cases this deadline can be extended, but may be subject to expediting fees.

Once the contract is signed, we require a 50% deposit to confirm the booking and the remainder 24 hours before your event.

Yes! We’ll send our chocolate kit directly to guests, and they’ll receive it 3-10 days in advance of your tasting.

We work with chocolate makers and purveyors around the world to provide amazing bean-to-bar chocolate for guests in different regions. Depending on their location, they may have a different but equally incredible chocolate lineup that will coordinate with the lineup received by US guests. While we don’t have every corner of the globe covered, let us know where your international guests are based and we’ll see what we can do!

We aren’t currently offering beverage pairings for international guests, but we’re happy to make some recommendations.

We sure can! Our chocolate makers have experience shipping chocolate year-round.

If you’ve selected a wine pairing, we work with an amazing microwinery in California who ships our curated wine pairing kit in a separate package directly to your guests.

Chocolate Noise is a woman-owned social enterprise obsessed with bean-to-bar chocolate. We lead personalized team-building chocolate tastings where guests learn everything from how to taste artisanal chocolate like an expert to how transparent trade works to how to pair fine chocolate with fine wine. Our chocolate sommeliers have over 30 years’ collective experience in the chocolate world, studying the cocoa supply chain, working at some of the best artisanal chocolate companies in the world, and judging bean-to-bar chocolate competitions.

Chocolate Noise was founded by Megan Giller, an award-winning food writer and the author of the best-selling book Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution. Her writing has been published in Slate, Zagat, and Food & Wine, among other places. Megan’s blog Chocolate Noise was a 2016 Saveur Food Blog Awards finalist. A member of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association, she speaks at FCIA events, judges the International Chocolate Awards and the Chocolate Alliance Awards, and teaches classes at the Institute of Culinary Education. She regularly appears on TV and radio programs as a chocolate expert.

Read more about us here or for media inquiries, contact Megan at megan@chocolatenoise.com.

Chocolate Noise only uses craft chocolate made in cocoa-growing regions and US-made bean-to-bar chocolate with transparent sourcing practices. We work closely with the craft chocolate community in the US and in cacao-growing regions, sharing profits and contributing to social justice projects across the world.

Bean-to-bar chocolate means that it’s made from scratch, starting with the whole cocoa bean, with an emphasis on flavor, quality, and ethics. You can read more about bean-to-bar chocolate here and in our blog.