Chocolate Clubs are forming now, are open to the public, will meet once per quarter, to teach the ‘art’ and nuance of chocolate tasting

Seneca Klassen, chocolatier for the Bay Area’s three renowned Bittersweet Cafes, will host once per quarter chocolate tastings through newly formed Chocolate Clubs. Each of the three Bay Area Bittersweet Cafes will have its own club.

The Rockridge Chocolate Club will kick off on October 22, the Danville store’s first meeting will be November 19 and the San Francisco’s Club will enjoy its initial meeting on December 17.

Forming now, the Chocolate Clubs at each store will be limited to 18 regular members plus seven open spaces reserved for on-the-spot sign-ups for each meeting. Annual memberships cost $20 which includes four chocolate tasting meetings (one per quarter) and a ten percent off discount card for Bittersweet purchases. Individual meetings will cost $5. The first Chocolate Club meeting at each store will cost $5 so people may attend and see what’s in store before making a full year’s commitment.

“Focused chocolate tasting is a great experience and offers a new way to really appreciate the amazing palate you find in chocolate,” explains Klassen. “Like any other fermented varietal food, chocolate is affected by factors ranging from genetics to soil, climate and microbiology. We look forward to exploring this territory with our in-store chocolate clubs.”

“The initial club meetings will introduce members to the various aspects of chocolate tasting so people will have an opportunity to see what the concept is all about, and the chocolate club membership might be a great gift for your favorite chocoholic,” says Bittersweet co-founder, Penny Finnie.

Klassen will guide members through the chocolate tastings at each store. He is the creator of Bittersweet Origins chocolate and makes the “bean-to-bar” chocolate in 50-pound micro-batches, making each bar unique. He uses cacao beans from the Dominican Republic, Bali and Venezuela for his Bittersweet Origins chocolates and roasts and prepares the beans in Bittersweet’s Berkeley production facility. Klassen spent this summer in Oahu, planting a 15-acre 7000-tree cacao plantation.

Sign ups for each Chocolate Club are available at each Bittersweet location. The Bittersweet Cafes are located in San Francisco on Fillmore Street, College Avenue in Oakland and the Rose Garden Shopping Center in Danville.