The Chocolate Box

So while in Seattle my husband and I did the Chocolate Indulgence Tour. The Chocolate Box was one of the stops while on the tour. We received lots of fun facts and great information about Chocolate from Kathy. She definitely knew her information, and shared fun facts about chocolate.
We tried 3 different chocolates.
1) Dark Chocolate Mexicano (Taza Chocolates: Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper)
2) Fiori Chocolate (Gianduia: Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts & Honey)
3) Gusto Chocolates (Lemon & Pepper in White Chocolate).
The Dark Chocolate had a bitter taste and was gritty from the salt grains. It has a little spice to it from the pepper. I normally like dark chocolate but this one was my least favorite. Also, probably bc this was «real» chocolate. I’m use to the store brand dark chocolates. The milk Chocolate was a nice sweet and smooth taste. It was pretty good. Nothing here really to talk about. Just milk chocolate. My favorite was the white chocolate. It was very smooth and creamy, and believe it or not the lemon & pepper was a nice combination. The chocolate itself tasted like a lemony white chocolate and had a nice hint of pepper to finish. The pepper nor the lemon were too overpowering. It was very good. I will say there is a big difference between store brand chocolates and chocolate from specialty chocolate stores (stores that specialize in chocolate).
Ok… Ok. So I will share ONE fun fact that Kathy taught us:
QUESTION: what is the difference between a chocolatier (a person who does the chocolate from start to finish, goes to other countries harvest and picks their beans to seeing it all the way through to chocolate in which we eat) VS a Confectioner (a person who does not make their own chocolate and only manipulates someone else’s chocolate, like what a lot of us do at home when we make cakes and cookies (the at home baker))?
ANSWER: if you see (s) on the end of chocolate like chocolates (i.e. Hershey’s Chocolates or Fran’s Chocolates) they are confectioners (they DO NOT make their own chocolate). When you DO NOT see an (s) on the end of chocolate like chocolate (i.e. Indi Chocolate) these are chocolatiers (they see the chocolate process from start to finish and get their own beans, in other words make their own chocolate)
Overall, the Chocolate Box is a really good place to buy chocolate and learn if you are into chocolate. I hope you enjoyed my fun fact and if you did, stop by and see Kathy and she can answer all your chocolate questions. She is really good and informative. My husband and I enjoyed ourselves. Thanks Chocolate Box!

What a delightful place! I went on a chocolate tour of Seattle and this was one of the stops. Chris gave us a lot of information about chocolate and he went out of his way to be sure that one of the members of our party, a diabetic, had sugar free chocolate to taste along with us. VERY good both for shopping for high quality items and informative. FUN. We are definitely going back.

Best hot chocolate ever! Also tried some wine tasting and it was very nice to meet Chris

Wow. Just wow. Stopped in today and got two exquisite chocolates. They were both so beautiful that it was almost a shame to eat them. Almost, but not quite. They were both absolutely decadent. The service was excellent and the prices were very reasonable for the quality. Definitely a treat!

If they have private event, they should put a sign instead of impolitely rejecting customers who enter to check chocolates.

Very nice and unique place! Yummy rich chocolate for all the chocolate fans! The manager was super nice and you’ll definitely find something. Perfect place for gift shopping!

EXCELLENT! My girlfriend and I are huge chocolate lovers and our respective sweet-​tooths (sweet-​teeth?) are always yelling at us. We were in the area and thought we would try this place out. It was fantastic.
We ordered:
Hot chocolate with peanut butter — One of the best hot chocolates I have ever had. They line the cup with peanut butter when they make it and gives such a good balance between chocolate and peanut butter
Chocolate-​peanut butter cone — Really tasty. The peanut butter was light and airy.
Cookies N Cream cone– Pretty good. Tastes just like the ice cream flavor.
Chocolate-​peanut butter egg — Tastes exactly like a Reese’s egg (which are amazing)
Definitely go here if you are in the mood for some chocolate in the Pike Place area.

The wine and chocolate experience was amazing. Jessica was fantastic and very knowledgeable.
The company of those that also participated makes a difference and we had a great group. Lots of questions and engagement.
Definitely recommend going back for wine and chocolate recommendations. All those that were working were very welcoming. Loved it!

Wandered into this place Sunday afternoon because we were at loose ends — got off the monorail, no place else on our lists to visit (we’re sightseeing from SFCA). Saw their sandwich board sign for chocolate and wine tasting, looked at the window display including the smart-​ass slogans, and went in.
The wine bar was just getting busy but Chris was polite and efficiently segued between his customers. We chose a rear table and at his suggestion decided to share a flight of whites and reds each. We’re not impressed by WA whites (this was our 3^rd place in 4 days) but Chris proved well-​informed about the vintners and regions and why they had to get their white grapes from Oregon and New Zealand. As the bar filled up, he smoothly introduced us to Julie, the manager, who served us the red flight. She spent a good part of her life in Sonoma and other CA growing regions and informed us well about the comparisons of terriors in the 3 states. We were even able to discuss Napa wineries from the 1970s and Bay Area wineries of the 2010s. Julie spent a lot of time with us and later we saw her in deep discussion with another customer.
The pairings — the 3 whites each had one of their front-​of-​the-​store chocolates to try and the choices were all excellent. We are not pair-​ers ourselves but when it’s done well we appreciate it.
Greatly enjoyed the 4 reds, much more than the whites.
The bar is so small we could hear Chris’s interactions with other customers. He was pleasant and as prompt as he could be with each, and took pains to explain how soon he’d get to serve each delayed client, which seemed to only encourage them to stay and make him busier! (Is this high level of service a Seattle achievement? At the Merchants Café an hour later the lone barman/​waiter/​busboy took equally good care.)
While waiting for the tab on the 2 flights (about $ 14 each) and a bottle of red, I shopped and bought $ 20 of cards with snide sayings. Like: Ever since I ate a chocolate chip cookie and found out they were raisins, I’ve had trust issues. Which happened with my hotel cookie just a few moments ago. Then we decided to get a box of truffles for my wife’s ex-​office (recently retired; I’m writing this on her Mac). We just love the stores that are so great it takes 3 trips past the cash register to escape!
Except that our cats don’t like rain (spoiled after 4 years of drought) this little shop might tempt us to cash out of CA and become, like Julie, another ex-​SFCA refugee.
PS the rest room was fine except it was out of supplies. By this time it was after 6PM.

Greatest place in the world!!! Chocolate and service is the best I have ever received.

If you are in Seattle with a friend or a lover this place is a must! I found out about this place on Groupon and then went over to their website.
We ended up booking the Chocolate Experience for two, which since we are AAA members, was buy one get one free via their website. Our total cost was $ 59 for two people for a two hour class.
We arrived at the Chocolate Box about 15 minutes before the start of the class and were greeted by Chris. He checked us in and guided us to the back of the store where the class took place.
The class was led by Mercedes and I must say, considering it was 9am on a Saturday morning I was impressed at her level of enthusiasm. She was super sweet, energetic and made the class exciting!
The class started with a brief history of the store and the owners and then moved into the production of chocolate. From there we tasted an assortment of chocolates from across the globe and we even got the added bonus of a wine pairing with out surprise chocolate. We made our own chocolate bars and hand tempered our chocolate for dipping. Everything we tasted during the class was 25% off for purchase.
We really enjoyed the class. This class is a unique experience you won’t find elsewhere. I highly recommend it. My husband is not a huge chocolate nor a fan of sweets and he enjoyed it as much if not more than I did. Would definitely love to come back here!

This place is a first choice on Valentine’s Day and many other days. After trying a real hot chocolate, my journey began! My family and I were hooked. We went on the THEO tour of which was a fun way to educate oneself on the creation of real chocolate. Yum!

The hot cocoa rocked my world. And the young man helping me (Nathan) was so pleasant and knowledgeable!

I wish I could explain to you how amazing their HOT COCOA is. I live in SoCal; which means a real authentic Chocolatier Place is rare so I take advantage of it every where I travel. This was By Far thee Best HOT CUP OF COCOA I have ever had. It is great for All Ages.

Cute place, owners are obviously knowledgable about their product. It’s always great to find a place that carries regional wines as its one of my favorite things to seek out when traveling. Chocolate is good, although a step down from other chocolatiers with an over reliance on sugar rather than nuanced flavors.
Just don’t use the bathroom before you shop. I almost walked out after my BF was rudely accosted about bathroom costs while I used it. Some people, like myself, have serious GI health issues. There’s no reason to berate and embarrass your customers over using the bathroom before they shop. If you’re worried about a $ 400 per month «cost» for the toilet, there are bigger business issues at hand.

Firstly, don’t lie to your customer. If you insist on lying, and your customer finds out, apologize. Even if you have to do it every time.
One month ago, I had a great experience doing a chocolate and wine pairing with a friendly, accommodating, and knowledgable woman.
Today, I stopped in again, perusing the products and considering a second paid tasting. My girlfriend said she needed to use the restroom, so I asked the young man behind the counter, Chris. He informed me that the restroom was out of order. I looked back and noticed my girlfriend had asked an employee I recognized from before, got a key, and entered the restroom!
I went back to the tasting bar employee I recognized and asked if the restroom was out of order, and then Chris smugly sauntered over to overhear my discovery that he lied. As I explained my frustration, Chris proceeded to be rude, interruptive, defensive, stone faced, and unsympathetic. This was despite the fact that I expressed my sympathy for his position as a service worker, having worked in a busy café myself. That said, I felt disrespected because he lied to me. I just want honesty. He wasn’t even phased by my explanation. He simply said, «Look, I have to do this 20 times a day» and, «I’m a straightforward and honest guy.» Clearly not!
When I said his disrespect made me not want to come back, he said, «Don’t come back for me, come back for the store and the product.» Well bucko, the experience, including employee interaction, is part of the product! That’s business 101. I’m sure there are 20+ other chocolate and wine shops in Seattle, maybe even Pike Place alone!
So again, don’t lie to your customer. If you insist on lying, and your customer finds out, apologize. Even if you have to do it every time.

My wife and I are chocoholics of the highest order. So it’s with great delight that we saw a veritable cornucopia of chocolatiers in the Seattle area once we moved here this year. Indeed we’ve greatly enjoyed our experiences so far at Fran’s, Jcoco (owned by Seattle Chocolates), Brugge in Redmond, and Intrigue.
On a Sunday with nothing to do, we decided why not try another chocolatier. Chocolate Box seemed to have good ratings. We’d also seen they had some interesting looking classes on truffle and chocolate making online. As someone who’s worked with chocolate, including tempering chocolate, and using it in a variety of baking projects, this seemed very interesting to me. They’re also included in the Chocolate Tasting on the Savor Seattle Tours. I found this a compelling reason for us to make the trek across the bridge (we live in Bellevue).
After a long drive, parking, etc — my wife had to use the restroom. As we walked into Chocolate Box, we saw they had one, so figured it wouldn’t be a problem to use it before beginning tasting the truffles, and trying out the Hot Chocolate «Bar» that seems to be their centerpiece.
Unfortunately the woman at the back found it fit to physically step in front of my wife and tell her she’s not a paying customer and can’t use it. Her tone was so snooty that we were taken aback and walked away. I’m not going to beg and plead for bathroom privileges like a kindergartener who’s made one too many trips to the water fountain. Nor am I going to qualify my visit for stating we made a long trip to evaluate the classes, etc. I’m not at the school principal being admonished for throwing spit balls and defending my self with «he started it!».
Nevertheless, I’m willing to accept a bad apple in the barrel and assumed that another employee might have a sense of sanity. I approached a surly looking woman at the front, who didn’t look particularly enthused about helping the customers at the front already. I had a small change of heart about qualifying the visit, and said we drove from Bellevue to visit their store, can my wife use the bathroom first? She adopted a tone suitable perhaps for using towards a six year old who took an extra cookie before dinner. «Are you REALLY going to buy something? Because we hear that A THOUSAND times a day». I don’t need to commit to buying something, suppose I taste your truffles and they taste like chalk mixed with charcoal left to fester in Chinatown, I’m under no obligation to part with any funds. Nevertheless, we are good faith customers. After lecturing us for a minute or two, she emitted a large sigh as if she were bench pressing the new world record, and said «FINE I’ll unlock the bathroom for you. We go through A HUNDRED dollars worth of toilet paper a WEEK».
My back of the napkin calculations show that to be a gross exaggeration, unless in addition to Chocolate Tastings they also host Chipotle eating contests. Nevertheless the attitude of their employees convinced me that we weren’t going to be patronizing them. As I stated above, there are numerous chocolatiers in Seattle and I don’t need to provide my business with such a lack of manners.
I told that woman at the front not to bother, and we’ll take our business elsewhere.
As an aside, there are numerous other places in the Pike Place area who aren’t terrified of fictional rogue poopers infesting their bathrooms. Pike Brewery which is inside Pike Place has usually been our bathroom stop when we actually are just at a place to use the bathroom. While there, we buy a beer or two, and while the bartender is pouring the beer, we use the bathroom. And never has a bartender jumped in front of me demanding to see my receipt.
It’s a pity, for Chocolate Box. Since my
shows about $ 200 in Chocolate spent over the past month or two. And over $ 300 in cooking classes over the past year. We would have liked to give Chocolate Box some of that money, but they’ll have to find another way to fund their ever-​growing toilet paper expenses.

A bit pricey, but the hot chocolate was the best I’ve ever had. I ordered the salted caramel and my mom ordered the peanut butter. Holy crap. The lady working the wine tasting bar asked how it was and my mom and I answered in unison, «So good.» It was delicious. So rich and creamy.
We also ordered a salted caramel peanut cup that tasted like a snickers bar and the cookie and cream butter in a dark chocolate cone. Both were really good, but our favorite was the peanut caramel cup.
Everyone was really friendly here and I would definitely recommend it.

Great place for a wine and chocolate tasting. Jamie was super friendly and helpful and made our experience great. She showed us each wine and we were able to pick our top 3 and she paired them perfectly with a piece of chocolate. I ended up getting an AntoLin 2012 Riesling which was delicous. They also have chocolate making classes which I’m Sad I won’t be around to get to try. I will definitely recommend coming here to all my friends who ever want to visit Seattle.

The Chocolate Box distinguished itself from other confectioners in the area because they have everything. Every time I walk in, I’m thrilled by the selection.
Are the chocolates pricey? Sure, they can be, but this is really a place where I go to get specialty chocolates and gifts, not a bag of M&Ms. A single truffle from the case usually goes for around $ 3, while bars range depending on the chocolatier. A small bar infused with lavender from France, for example, will set you back $ 7, but so will a thumb-​sized box of Fran’s salted caramels.
My recommendation for this place is Rogers’ chocolates, which are filled with creams featuring ingredients like maple and ginger.
Don’t miss out on the hot chocolate and wine bar, either– the staff are knowledgable and their chocolate pairings are excellent.