A 5 Senses Experience with Lindt Chocolate Studio

Ever since the first time (of dozens) that my son, Damian, watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he has been asking, no nagging, me to take him to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory and to buy Wonka bars for him. As a parent, we love to make our children’s dreams come true, but with the make believe worlds created by the magic-makers of television, granting these wishes is most times impossible. When he asked to go to Neverland, I had to tell him that we could use our imaginations to take us anywhere! This earned me a scowl and an eye-rolled “fairy dust” in response – how silly of me, of course all it takes is pixie dust!

This time though, Lindt Chocolate Studios was the wow experience brought to life. Eight children from Warrior On Wheels Foundation became chocolatiers for an afternoon, generously hosted by head chocolatier, Dimo, who led us on a 5-senses chocolate experience… of course, the best part was the tasting!

On arrival, each child was given a chocolatier’s hat to wear, and set before us was a selection of four different Lindt chocolate pieces – 85% dark, the milder 75% dark, creamy milk, and a dessert chocolate – creme brulée – but first, a fascinating introduction into how chocolate, specifically Lindt chocolate, is made.

Dimo, our head chocolatier, led an interactive lesson, showing us a minitaure cocoa bean tree and a model of a cocoa bean pod. We held cocoa butter and rubbed it on our skin, and tasted raw chocolate nibs. Each child also got to take a cocoa bean home with them as a souvenir. We learned that only the best quality ingredients are used, with cocoa beans being sourced from select areas, with the majority used imported from Madagascar, Ecuador and Ghana.