- 7 weeks
- 16 Oct - 25 Nov 2026
- Webinar + home study, Online
- €1275 (€1,053.72 + VAT *)
Combined Foundation and Intermediate level courses in Cacao Evaluation and Flavor Profiling.
* Business/professional price outside the EU. 21% VAT added for EU bookings and non-professional bookings outside the EU
– Online home study with tasting kit –
Take your understanding of fine chocolate and cacao a step further with our Combined Level 1 & 2 Certificate course in Cacao Evaluation and Flavour Profiling.
The Cacao Evaluation course applies the sensory approach we use in our Chocolate Tasting courses to give you an understanding of the flavor potential of fine cacao, cacao production, cacao varieties and common cacao defects.
In this online course we explore fine cacao through a series of webinars and tastings using the IICCT flavor profile system and your cacao tasting kit. The course will be taught in English over a five to six week period, with exams held in the following month. The exams will consist of a multiple choice element and a blind tasting assessment.
Your Combined Level 1 & 2 Home study and tasking kit will include:
- Sensory reference samples for aromas and tongue tastes relevant to cacao *
- Samples of over 30 different cacaos
- Samples processed with different preparation protocols
- Samples of cacao defects
- Examples of cacao processed through to chocolate
- Your mini cacao-sampling equipment kit
- Practice samples for your final blind tasting exam
- A poster version of the IICCT flavor profile map
* You will also be asked to source some fresh samples yourself, for example local fresh fruits and condiments
Your samples will help you study:
- Sensory preparation for tasting cacao
- Cut tests and quality evaluation
- Cacao flavour counts
- Cacao tongue tastes
- Roast comparisons of samples
- Common cacao defects
- Examples of cacao processing techniques
You will receive between 20g-50g of each sample in sealed sample bags. Sample size may vary according to the purpose and availability of each sample. All samples will be prepared using the Institute sampling protocols.
Free shipping to Europe (EU, Switzerland, Norway and UK)
Free shipping of your tasting kit is included within the EU, Switzerland, Norway and UK. Normally we would not expect customs issues for kits sent to Switzerland, Norway or the UK, but there may be additional customs charges payable, which you will need to cover. Please contact us for more details or any questions.
Shipping to USA and Canada
There will be a surplus charge of 100€ to receive the tasting kit in other world regions, which will also apply to the USA and Canada. Packages will be sent with a customs proforma invoice and phytosanitary certification, which should allow your tasting kit to arrive without any problems. We have not experienced the application of customs charges for kits sent to North America, but you will need to cover these if any arise.
Shipping to other World Regions
If you are planning to sign up for Cacao Evaluation online outside of Europe or North America, please contact us first to discuss the customs situation in your country. Every country has different rules, so we will need to check if sending the tasting kit to you will be possible. For example, some cacao growing countries will have restrictions on importing unprocessed cacao.
In some cases, we may be able to send the tasting kit but not all the reference aroma samples. This will depend on the customs rules in your country. If you are registering for the course as a business or if you have an import license, this may make things easier.
There will be a surplus charge of 100€ to receive the tasting kit in other world regions.
If we are unable to send tasting kits to your location, please check our course dates for local classroom based courses.
Study format
The course will be taught with a combination of:
- Home tastings
- Live webinars
- Recorded lectures from our experts
- Group tasting reviews
- Self-study using evaluation forms, data sheets and online Institute training material
Webinars and group tastings will be repeated several times and scheduled to suit students in different world time zones. The sessions will also be recorded so you can catch up or review at your own pace if you can’t make the live sessions.
Please note that for practical reasons it is not possible to study Level 1 or Level 2 in Cacao Evaluation online as separate courses at this time.
Exams
The course will be examined with an online multiple choice exam and a blind tasting to test your evaluation learning. The exams will be moderated by our Institute assessors to our usual standards as an accredited FDQ Learning Centre. The course fee includes the cost of the exam registration. No reduction is offered in the event of not passing the course and retakes will be charged at 100€ (incl. VAT).
Booking deadline
To ensure your place on the course, please book before 6 October 2026. For bookings placed after this date we can not guarantee that your tasting kit will reach you on time for the start of the course.
Please note that registration may close before this date if places in the course are sold out.
Certificate course in Cacao Flavor Evaluation
Cacao Flavor Evaluation is a comprehensive sensory and technical course that will give you a deeper understanding of flavor in fine cacao and how the flavor potential of cacao can be unlocked in finished chocolate.
The course follows the IICCT principle that we can measure the quality of a chocolate by how much you enjoy its flavor. In Cacao Flavor Evaluation we take the same approach with cacao: good tasting cacao can make great chocolate; defective, bad cacao that you don’t want to eat, will not make good chocolate.
The Cacao Flavor Evaluation course will help you to develop the sensory skills needed to assess cacao quality through its flavor, the transformation of cacao flavor into finished chocolate and how cacao flavor relates to technical methods of evaluating cacao.
Sensory
Cacao Flavor Evaluation includes extensive tasting and evaluating of cacao, including:
- samples of recognised high quality cacao from a range of origins
- sampling different preparation protocols: dried cacao, nibs, sweetened liquor, lab chocolate
- roasting sets from dried beans, to light roasting and through to extreme high roasts
- exploring defects and problem through physical examples
- evaluating cacao using the IICCT system, focusing on good flavor and defects
- workthroughs from dried cacao to finished chocolate
- bean-by-bean tasting of different cacao origins to understand where the flavor comes from – do all the beans taste the same, or is your cacao a mix of genetics?
Technical
The sensory training is backed up with knowledge sessions focusing on:
- review of technical approaches to cacao evaluation and alternative approaches
- market sectors, facts and figures and fine flavor definitions
- realities of cacao farming and fermentation, the good and the bad
- cacao genetics, varieties and reproduction – what’s really happening at farm level?
- how cacao moved around the world and how this helps us to learn about flavor
The evaluations made during the course are made using the Institute’s electronic sensory evaluation method, which is based on an understanding of cacao flavour and quality that can be applied with any sample preparation protocol, including dried cacao, cacao liquor and sample or retail chocolate.
Our approach recognises that cacao is a crop grown to produce foods giving us hedonistic pleasure and an enjoyable eating experience. Technical industry knowledge can be useful for basic screening and quality control, but good chocolate needs a flavor profile that’s complex, distinctive and balanced and this requires an understand of flavor, from cacao to bar. If you want to understand great flavor in chocolate and where it comes from, this is the course for you.
Assessments
Certificates will be awarded on a pass of a multiple choice exam and tasting assessments.
- Training the senses to appreciate cacao flavour
- Sensory exploration, practice and the brain science of cacao tasting
- What is fine cacao and how we define it
- Tasting of example cacaos and sample protocols
- Origins and varieties of cacao and the history of cacao introductions
- Cacao production, quality and problems
- How cacao is processed and how this affects flavor?
- Tasting practice and profiling with our online system
- Understanding and tasting flaws and defects in cacao
- Cacao farming, economics and trading
- Take away study guides
- Certificate for exam passes
The course will help your development and flavour understanding for:
- established chocolate makers
- start-up chocolate makers
- chocolate tasters
- cacao trader or commercial grower
- cooperative technicians
- NGO staff members
- anyone with an interest in cacao flavor and quality
- anyone wanting to develop their sensory skills in a new area or learn more about cacao