The sweetest tour in Boston: Cocoa Beantown

Victoria Kichuk of Belmont has traversed the globe with a singular purpose: to delve into chocolate. Through reading, research, and collaborating with industry experts, Kichuk has cultivated an expertise in the field. Venturing to cacao farms and chocolate factories, observing indigenous artisans ply their trade, and wandering through cities searching for chocolate shops and tasting their wares, she’s become a connoisseur of cocoa in all its many forms. Kichuk calls herself a chocolate sommelier. Several years ago, she founded Cocoa Beantown, and leads chocolate walking tours through Boston’s Back Bay and South End. She infuses the walks with historical anecdotes along the way. “Do you know candy love started way before we became a nation in the early 1700s?” she asks. And later, “From Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, everyone drank chocolate. They were the first chocoholics.” And that Baker’s chocolates was named after its cofounder, Dr. James Baker, and not because it’s made for baking. On her 2½-hour excursions, participants make six to seven stops sampling an array of the best bonbons and bars, or baked goods — chocolate brownies, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cupcakes. “If it’s chocolate or has chocolate in it, it’s fair game,” she says. Kichuk also offers private, customized chocolate tastings at your home, office, or via Zoom. She orchestrates the experience similar to a wine tasting, delving into the details of the craftsman and where the bean comes from, discerning quality by the snap and melt test, and appreciating aroma and flavor profiles. She says, “We teach how to taste chocolate like an expert, which has its own protocol that, unlike in wine tasting, never includes spitting.” Kichuk claims her vocation is akin to an ongoing Easter egg hunt. “It’s my professional goal to discover small finds.” Walking tours are held on Saturdays at 11 a.m. For more information, to book a walking tour or tasting event, click on cocoabeantown.com.