Chocolate Festival 2015


After attending last year's event, I couldn't wait to go to this year's and indulge in more chocolate! From 4-6th December, the event is held at the Business Design Centre, N1 0QH in Angel. Read below for more details and photos of what you can find!

Following The Chocolate Festival on Facebook, I found they were offering the same offer as last year - 241 on tickets so bought them instantly! Usual price is £12 per person but if you check Twitter they sometimes have offers, such as £10 on the door. 

Once we had entered the building, my sister had already fallen in love with the massaging gadget and probably could have sat there for hours! If you're looking for a pamper day for two, next door is a stall called Face, where for £69.99 you and a friend can have champagne, a photoshoot, make up and hair done.
Upstairs, were all the chocolates, wine and cheese stalls. First stall to visit - Baru, famous for their chocolate enrobed marshmallows. 
They also now do 3 different hot chocolate flavours, including salted caramel :) Their packaging is so cute, it would be a perfect little gift.
I was kindly given a box of dark chocolate salted caramel marshmallows to sample by the lovely Lucinda :) It was so nice to meet you!
Inside the box were 4 individually wrapped, cute clouds of chocolate. I loved the dark, crunch of the chocolate upon the first bite, with the contrasting soft, fluffy marshmallow. The rich, buttery caramel with the hint of salt went so well with the sweetness of the marshmallow - pure yummyness in a cube! 

Trying to stick to our planned route, we headed towards Zone E, where I was able to sample M-Wines chocolate wine. It was delicious but he did warn me it could be too sweet to have a whole glass of it as people sometimes pour it over ice cream! I'm not an expert in wine but the dark rouge colour and taste reminded me of kirsch - yum.

I found my sister already at a brand I discovered last year and was so happy they had their dark chocolate fig bar in stock - I had been looking and waiting all year for it! Except this time, I had the pleasure of meeting Juan and Patty who have just taken over Pacari and are ever so friendly and patient. 
We were able to try any chocolate they had and even gave me a box of dark chocolate golden berries and two cute little bars of lemongrass and 70% raw chocolate to take home and sample! 
The golden berries were sweet but also had a tartness to it but balanced out the strong, dark chocolate. If you looking for a fruity but not overly sweet chocolate, with a crunch :) then this is the chocolate for you.
Now I'm not a lemongrass lover but this little bar, has a great balance of lemongrass to the dark chocolate. Its refreshing taste was light and lemony. When I opened the packaging of the raw chocolate bar, I could tell that the percentage of cocoa was high from the smell. However, when I ate a small piece, there was no bitterness, just a smooth taste that left me wanting more!
Thank you Pacari, I hope to see you again soon! They are located in Zone D, so make sure you pop over and taste their amazing dark chocolate range!

In the centre of the top floor was Paul Wayne Gregory's stall, where you can have your face (or your friend's) made out of chocolate! So if you're feeling a little stuck for ideas this Christmas then check out his stall :p

I stopped by Comptoir Gourmand, where they recommended me an Eclaire Chocolate for £3. Sadly it was quite dry and tasted more like a churro :(

Last stall to visit was Hans Sloane - known for their chocolate made for drinking. He kindly poured me two little shot glasses of raisin shaped chocolates. One was rich dark chocolate and the other was 70%. I preferred the rich dark chocolate but quite liked how you could always eat it as it was instead of making it into a creamy hot chocolate.

I was quite sad not to see Amelia Rope's stall this year but I know I can find her chocolates in Selfridges. 
Overall, another great event for chocoholics, wine drinkers and cheese lovers :)

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