Articles by author: Jean-Michel Carre

I've been chocolate tasting before with my mom and sister (The chocolate was paired with hot tea). I was in the area and had the opportunity to come to Chocolats du Calibressan for a chocolate tasting and couldn't pass it up! On their website they offer a Chocolate Tour and Tasting which are held on the 3rd Saturday of each month at 3 PM and you must RSVP by the Wednesday prior to the event. The tours last 1 hour, include a complimentary glass of champagne and are $25/person. We were with Captain Jack's Santa Barbara Tours and this was one of our stops. When we arrived we were immediately greeted by Jill (her husband Jean-Michel is the talent behind the scenes.) Each of us got to pick any 3 chocolates from the display cases and they also provided us with sample chocolates so we could taste the various kinds. For my 3, I picked La Arcada Turtle (milk chocolate ganache with "Cajeta" Mexican milk caramel in milk chocolate turtle shell, Balsamic (salted Balsamic vinegar in a dark chocolate shell), and the Rocher (praline and milk chocolate, rolled together in caramelized diced almonds and milk chocolate). All were so delicious and I also learned a lot about the art of chocolate making (even down to how to wash the molds). I'm a chocolate lover and this place was like heaven to me.