Cocoashala, a startup for/by/of startups, hosted the highly anticipated, most expansive, comprehensive & immersive Bean to Bar Chocolate Making & Chocolate Taster courses in the world ever in collaboration with IICCT UK in February 2023 in Chennai for the 1st time ever in India drawing enthusiastic attendees from across the world. The 3 level event featured L Nitin Chordia, India’s 1st certified chocolate taster and Martin Christy, Founder of IICCT who together hosted the certification course which aimed at training the participants with sensory and tasting skills which are required to gain a deeper understanding of chocolate and cacao. The courses included class room based deep diving into the art of tasting chocolate using the IICCT online flavor map tool, aroma and sensory archetype development, defects in cacao and chocolate, cocoa post-harvest, chocolate production, cacao varietals, cacao farming, the impact of multiple variables on flavor etc. As part of aroma and sensory archetype development process, the attendee’s experiences Honey, Tea, Filter Coffee, Ice Cream and Nuts Tasting. The other activities included a cacao/chocolate infused 5 course meal and an evening featuring and tasting of top 20 International chocolate award (ICA) winning chocolates. The Level 3 Attendees had the opportunity to visit to 3 cacao farms, 2 fermentation units and 3 chocolate making units across 3 states in South India. This was the 1st such course organized in India. | 
