Club Cacao

A measly $20 dollar yearly fee is all that stands between you and a quarterly chocolate tasting

Mmmm … can you detect the pepper and the complex, lingering finish? Hold it up to the light: Is it glossy? Silky? If this sounds like wine tasting, you’re not entirely off. It involves premier chocolate that, like a fine wine, deserves to be tasted—not gobbled down like a Snickers bar.

You can learn to taste fine chocolate at the new quarterly Chocolate Club sessions hosted at Bittersweet: the Chocolate Café, in Danville, Oakland, and San Francisco, where you’ll taste three to five chocolates during an evening that may focus on a country of origin, specific farms, or a particular manufacturer.

“It’s a new way to think about chocolate,” says Seneca Klassen, chocolate-maker for Bittersweet and the host of each meeting. “Like wine, chocolate has a huge range of flavor. The Chocolate Clubs take place in a focused setting to let members explore what chocolate can be.

"We’re hoping to create some new chocolate evangelists.”

You can join the Chocolate Club for $20 a year, which includes the four chocolate tastings and a 10 percent discount on Bittersweet purchases. Chocolate Clubs at each store will be limited to just 20 members, with five spaces for drop-ins.

For more information, go to bittersweetcafe.com.