- 3 webinars + varieties lecture & exams
- Fri - Sat, 21 - 29 Nov 2025
- Webinar + home study, Online
- Full price: €445 (€367.77 + VAT *)
- Early bird: €375 (€309.92 + VAT *)
MADAGASCAR Enter the engaging and complex world of chocolate origins with this structured course focusing on individual cacao origin regions and countries. This tasting-based course will introduce you to the culture, history, varieties and genetics of the origin and give you an understanding of the flavour profiles of chocolate made with cacao from the origin.
* Business/professional price outside the EU. 21% VAT added for EU bookings and non-professional bookings outside the EU
Origin: Madagascar – online with tasting kit
Our second online Origin Study introduction course features Madagascar, a classic cacao origin and an important flavour refence for all tasters.
Madagascar was the first country chocolate origin of the modern fine chocolate era and was the first to be widely available from a number of chocolate makers in the early 1990s. Before this, almost all chocolate was blended, mainly using West African cacao or at best a regional blend, such as the Caribbean. Madagascar was the beginning of the horizons of cacao origins opening up, back before the age of micro-batch chocolate makers and the many origin locations we can now taste.
Most of the great historical cacao in Madagascar comes from the Sambirano valley from a few plantations, where cacao was introduced by the Swiss and Germans in the 19th century. These introductions pre-date most modern commercial cacao, so while there is a mix of cacao, it’s mostly trinitario based with some higher criollo content in some cases and very little of the later Upper Amazon introductions. This makes Madagascar quite definitive as a trinitario reference, with the influence of the terroir producing the famous Madagascan citric notes.
In this course we will delve into the history and origins of Madagascan cacao, explore the main production areas and the country’s larger scale chocolate makers – one of the earliest examples of fine chocolate made at origin.
This course will be taught in English over one week in three webinars + a varieties lecture, followed by an online exam session with a multiple choice exam and an origin identification blind tasting test.
Your Origin Study tasking kit will include:
- Samples of 15 craft chocolate bars from the origin
- Samples of commercial and defect bars from the origin
- Course notes (in online PDF format)
- A map of the origin (online PDF format)
- Sealed samples for your blind tasting exam
Your chocolate samples will include:
- Definitive origin reference flavour samples
- Samples of bars made from classic sources and farms within the origin
- Examples new origins and projects from within the origin
- Samples of chocolate made from the origin country, where possible
- Examples of different recipes used by chocolate makers for the origin
- Your practice and final blind tasting exam samples
You will receive around 15g-25g of each sample in sealed sample bags or as mini-bars. Sample size may vary according to the rareness and availability of each sample. All samples will be prepared using the Institute sampling protocol, as used for judging and professional evaluation.
Shipping
Free shipping of your tasting kit is included within the EU, Switzerland, Norway and UK. There will be a surplus charge of 50€ to receive the kit in other world regions.
Study format
The course will be taught in 4 webinars introducing the origin and with time for group tasting and profiling using the IICCT flavour profiling system.
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.
Exams
The course will be examined with an online multiple choice and blind tasting of chocolate samples and 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 13 November 2025 outside of the EU and 15 November 2025 within the EU. For bookings placed after this date we cannot 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.
Origin Introduction
The origin study program takes the subject of chocolate flavour study to a more detailed level, focusing on each cacao producing country – or region in larger countries. The program will give you the background and knowledge to fully understand the flavour profile of an origin based on its cacao genetics and introductions, climate, farming practices and the culture and history of the origin.
Origin Study is divided into two courses for each origin, beginning with an introductory course, which takes place in a classroom setting or can be taken online. You can then take your origin journey a step further with the Origin Field Study trip, which is based around a field visit to the origin, exploring the culture and cacao sources of the origin in person.
The Origin Introduction course includes tasting of a range of dark chocolate bars made from the origin, representing the traditional ‘classic’ flavour of the origin, as well as new varieties, trends and processes. Through classroom or online learning and tasting, cacao sources within the origin will be given context to help build your understanding of how the origin’s flavour profiles are created and how flavour differs across the origin.
- Tasting and flavour profiling of 15 or more dark chocolate craft bars made with cacao from the origin
- Tasting of commercial versions of the origin, including defect identification
- An overview of the geography and history of the origin
- An introduction to the types and varieties of cacao growing in the origin
- A look at the main cacao producers in the region, including well-known names and lesser-known farms and cooperatives
- A review of changes and developments in the origin, giving you an inside look at new processes and flavours coming from the origin
- Certified IICCT tasters wishing to extend their chocolate learning
- Tasters who want to develop their understanding of individual origins
- Educators who want to develop their background knowledge
- Chocolate makers who want to learn more about the source of the cacao they are using