Serving & Pairing Suggestions
Coffee, wine, cheese, beer and chocolate pairings can heighten your flavor experience! We’ve worked with regional cheese-makers and mongers, wine merchants, artisanal spirit and craft beer makers to create an easy food pairing and beverage pairing guide for you to explore along with our chocolates. From like-goes-with-like to contrasting flavor combinations, below are some pairing and serving suggestions we especially enjoy. Scroll down for chocolate bar pairings, and be sure to check out our guide to thoroughly enjoying your chocolate tasting here.
Chocolate Charcuterie must be stored in the refrigerator. They can be sliced straight out of the fridge, or the Pâtés Chocolat can be brought to room temperature to be spreadable.
Chocolate Charcuterie Serving & Pairing Suggestions
spreadable, smooth chocolate pâté-style charcuterie
Our pâté chocolats are sliceable when served cool, or spreadable when they reach room temperature. Spread on toasts, thinly sliced baguette, water crackers, cookies, or other biscuits. Place a thick slice on warm toasted bread, pancakes, french toast and waffles for a divine, melty treat!
To serve as individual desserts, float a couple of thick slices on a pool of berry coulis, a sweetened red wine reduction or créme anglaise, and serve with fresh fruits and unsweetened freshly whipped cream.
See our recipes for a fresh berry-port reduction here, and grilled chocolate pâté toasts here
Mont Vert Pâté Chocolat dark milk chocolate ganache brick with chèvre, raw honey & a pinch of lavender
- cheeses: soft goat cheeses, fresh whipped cream, heavy cream whipped with honey, taleggio, brie, tomme, tomme de chèvre, manchego
Vermont Shepherd Verano and Invierno, Consider Bardwell Farm Dorset, Vermont Creamery chévre, whipped Butterworks Farm heavy cream, Parish Hill Creamery Hermit, Round Table Farm Cosmo Manchego-style - fruits & nuts: summer berries like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and red cherries, cranberry preserves, hazelnuts, almonds
- spirits: port, sherry, sparkling wines like champagne, cava, prosecco, fruit wines, fruity rosés, lambrusco, off-dry rieslings, blanc de blancs, lambics, sour belgian beers, scotch, hoppy fruity IPAs
Hermit Thrush Brewery‘s Rowdy Monk, Boyden Valley Winery Vermont Ice Red, Putney Mountain Winery‘s Cassis & fruit wines, SILO Distillery’s Lavender Vodka, La Garagista Ci Confonde Petillant Naturel - pro tip: make a delicious VT Royale with sparkling wine & a splash of Putney Winery’s Vermont Cassis, or a Grande Hibiscus Royale with sparkling wine & Runamok Maple Hibiscus Infused Maple Syrup.
Miso Maple Pâté Chocolat dairy-free dark chocolate ganache brick with miso, dark amber maple syrup & coconut mylk
- plant-based cheeses:
Koko’s coconut gouda, Violife Just Like Smoked Provolone, Field Roast Original Chao Slices - dairy cheeses: gruyère, smoked cheddar, aged gouda
- fruits & nuts: toasted almonds, cashews, dates
- spirits: coconut or chocolate stout, coffee drinks, porter, oaky chardonnay, brandy/pommeau, apple and pear ciders, ginger liqueur
Putney Mountain Winery‘s Pommeau and Simply Ginger Liqueur, Ten Bends Split Seasonality coconut stout
Bleu Hour Pâté Chocolat dark milk chocolate ganache brick with blue cheese, smoked salt & bourbon barrel aged Vermont maple syrup
- cheeses: blue cheese, gorgonzola, roquefort, danablu, cabrales, blue stilton, washed rind cheeses, triple-crème brie
Jasper Hill Farm Bayley Hazen Blue, Parish hill Creamery West West Blue - fruits & nuts: crisp, tart apples, figs, pecans
- spirits: port, sherry, brandy, sauternes, Pouilly-Fuissé, sweet & off-dry rieslings, ice ciders, Imperial Stout, Chocolate Stout, Coffee Stout, American IPAs, bourbon, maple bourbon & whiskey
Eden Ciders ice ciders, SILO Distillery’s Maple Whiskey
Sapling Pâté Chocolat dark chocolate ganache brick with mascarpone & maple bourbon
- cheeses: crème fraîche, fresh whipped cream, heavy cream whipped with a splash of maple bourbon, gouda, alpine cheeses
Vermont Creamery crème fraîche, whipped Butterworks Farm heavy cream, Grafton Village Cheese Bear Hill, Parish Hill Creamery Suffolk Punch - fruits & nuts: dried apricots, figs, plums, marrons glacées and roasted nuts, chestnuts, pears, cherries
- spirits: bourbon, stouts, porters, pommeau, coffee liqueur, coffee drinks
Putney Mountain Winery‘s Pommeau, Honest Weight Artisan Beer‘s Tom Swamp Road, Saxtons River Distillery‘s Sapling Maple Bourbon - pro tip: make a hearty Vermont Coffee with strong brewed local beans, Saxtons River Distillery’s Sapling Maple Bourbon and a shot of creamline milk or a dollop of maple-sweetened whipped cream
sliceable chocolate saucisson-style charcuterie
A European holiday tradition that we’ve “Vermont-ified”, we suggest serving our savory, textured sliceable chocolate charcuterie with french bread or toasts, pizzelles, fresh and dried fruits, shortbread cookies, salty crackers, sweet & crisp olive oil tortas, fresh unsweetened whipped cream, artisan cheeses & sliced cured meats, or whatever your heart desires.
chocolate salami dark chocolate ganache log with pommeau-marinated fig, rosemary shortbread & toasted hazelnut, available during winter holidays
- cheeses: blue cheeses, washed rind cheeses, aged and smoked cheddars, gruyère, comté
Consider Bardwell Farm Rupert & Wookey Wells, Parish Hill Creamery West West Blue & Vermont Herdsman, Von Trapp Oma, Grafton Village Cheese smoked maple cheddar - fruits & nuts: dried & fresh figs, fresh & dried apples & pears, roasted almonds and hazelnuts
- cured meats: salami/salumi, prosciutto
Vermont Salumi, Von Trapp Salami - spirits: madeira, marsala wine, sherry, port, porter, crabapple ciders, hard apple ciders, sour Belgian ales, pommeau
Honest Weight Artisan Beer‘s Sunk Pond, Hermit Thrush Brewery‘s Brattlebeer, 4 Phantoms Brewing Co Worship Doom Imperial Stout & Tormentor Black Birch Doppelbock, Eden Cellar Series King in the North Kerr crabapple cider, Putney Mountain Winery Pommeau & their full line of dry fruit wines
soppressata piccante di cioccolato dark chocolate ganache log with organic black garlic, chili & black pepper flakes & sliced almonds, available during winter holidays
-
- cheeses: chèvre, pecorino, picante provolone, sharp cheddars, triple crème, taleggio
Consider Bardwell Farm Dorset, Grafton Village Cheese aged cheddars, Vermont Creamery Chévre drizzled with olive oil & toasted sliced almonds - fruits & nuts: ripe nectarines, peaches, raspberry preserves, marcona almonds
- cured meats: salami/salumi, soppressata
Vermont Salumi, Von Trapp Salami - spirits: zinfandel, syrah, creamy porter or stout, amber, Vienna style lager, fruity hard ciders, ice cider, chai, fruity sour ales, rhubarb and cranberry fruit wines
- cheeses: chèvre, pecorino, picante provolone, sharp cheddars, triple crème, taleggio
Chocolate Bar Pairings
Pairings and inclusions (the ingredients added to chocolate confections) play with the tasting notes of the single origin chocolates, teasing out different notes, layering pops of flavor to contrast, magnify, enhance and/or transform the flavors of the terroir, climate and process that the cacao was grown in and made into chocolate. Explore our bars and tablets au naturel to taste how inclusions play with your palate, and go further with our favorite beverage and food pairings that create a complex and deeper flavor experience.
Chocolate Bar Serving Suggestions
- Try our chocolate bars on a s’more with a pillowy marshmallow for a delicious gourmet spin on a classic.
- Break up a bar and serve on top of your favorite ice cream. Explore different flavor combinations!
- Toast a bar on a baguette and sprinkle with a pinch of coarse sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Heavenly.
- Add a bar to your grilled cheese for a deep, melty delight. Fruit jams and chutneys are amazing with.
- Chop up a bar and substitute for chocolate chips in your favorite cookie recipe for a flavorful twist.
- Serve a variety of bars with nuts, fruits and cheeses. Check out our drink and food pairing suggestions below!
General Chocolate Bar and Wine Pairing
- Dark chocolates pair wildly with port, madeira, sherry, cassis, fruit wines, and sparkling wines like champagne, cava and prosecco, as well as full-bodied red wines
- White chocolate is splendid with ice wine, hard apple ciders and sparkling rosés
- Milk chocolate is heavenly with moscato/muscat, riesling and crisp sparkling wines
Try these food and drink pairings with our bars:
Fireside dark chocolate, toasted almond, cacao nib & smoked sea salt bar
- Cheese: smoked cheddar, manchego
- Spirits: SILO Distillery’s Single Malt Whiskey, Frangelico, Putney Mountain Winery’s Pommeau
- Beer: stout, especially chocolate or coffee stout, porter, barley wine
- Wine: champagne, cava, oaked chardonnay, Keuka Lake Vineyards 2021 Dry Reisling
- Beverages: espresso drinks, coffee, hot drinking chocolate, pu’ehr tea, twig tea
Roasters dark chocolate, locally roasted coffee bean, hazelnut & sea salt bar
- Cheese: Maple Smoked Cheddar
- Wine: Brachetto d’Acqui
- Beer: stout or porter
- Beverages: coffee & espresso drinks, coffee liqueur
- Wine: Keuka Lake Vineyards 2021 Leon Millot
- Accoutrements: hazelnuts, dried fruits like figs, apricots
- Spirits: Saxtons River Distillery’s maple bourbon, Stonecutter Spirits heritage cask whiskey, coffee+whiskey drinks
Midsummer Night 85% dark chocolate & dried tart cherry bar
- Cheese: triple créme, brie
- Spirits: bourbon, a Manhattan
- Wine: big hearty reds, sweet red wines, cabernet, zinfandel, syrah, primitivo, ripasso, ruby port
- Beverages: black teas
Botanical dark chocolate, edible flower blossoms bar
- Cheese: chèvre
- Spirits: SILO Distillery’s Lavender Vodka, Lillet, champagne & sparkling wines like prosecco, Caledonia Spirits Tom Cat Gin, Vermont Vermouth
- Beverages: black teas, herbal teas, tonic water
Golden Nugget dark chocolate maple sugar bar
- Cheese: blue cheese, roquefort, gorgonzola
- Spirits: SILO Distillery and Saxtons River Distillery maple bourbons, Putney Mountain Winery’s Apple Maple wine, hard apple cider, brandy, mead
- Beverages: coffee, espresso drinks, sparkling apple cider
Maple Macaroon dark chocolate maple roasted coconut bar
- Cheese: gouda, Grafton Village Cheese smoked maple cheddar
- Spirits: maple bourbon, Putney Mountain Winery’s Apple Maple wine, hard apple cider, mead
- Beer: maple porter, maple stouts, farmhouse ales
- Beverages: coffee, espresso drinks, roasted teas, sarsaparilla root beer
Rouge dark chocolate, dried raspberry, hibiscus & pink peppercorn bar
- Cheese: Grafton Village Cheese Smoked Chili Cheddar, chèvre
- Beer: fruit lambic, pilsner, belgian style, fruity sours, Dieu du Ciel!’s Solstice d’Été
- Wine: lambrusco, sparkling rosé, port, fruity cabernet, port, sherry, madeira, cassis, Putney Winery’s Rhubarb Blush Wine & Vermont Cassis, Keuka Lake Vineyards 2021 Tin Pathi blend of 50% Blaufränkisch, 32% Saperavi & 18% Cabernet Franc
- Beverages: black teas, fruit teas
- Accoutrements: fresh berries
Starry Night dark chocolate atlantic sea salt bar
- Cheese: pecorino, romano
- Spirits: SILO Distillery’s Maple Whiskey, Vermont Vermouth, mead
- Beer: porters, stouts
- Wine: Carol Shelton Old Vine Mendocino Wild Thing Zinfandel, Keuka Lake Vineyards 2020 Semi-Dry Riesling
Nibby Milk dark milk chocolate, cacao nibs, black lava salt
- Cheese: Truffle Cheddar
- Beer: brown ale, saison, oatmeal stout
- Wine: riesling, moscato, sparkling wines, vin santo, moscato d’asti
- Beverages: coffee, espresso drinks
- Accoutrements: mixed roasted nuts
Summer Berry white chocolate, dried berries bar
- Spirits: Eden Ice Ciders, Putney Winery’s Cassis in a Kir Royale, SILO Distillery’s Lemon Vodka
- Wine: champagne & sparkling wines, rosés, ice wine, moscato, riesling, oaked chardonnays, moscato d’asti
- Beverages: green teas, fruit teas
To delve even deeper, check out our chocolate tasting guide here, and check out our blog for creative sweet and savory chocolate recipes for desserts, main courses, cocktails, spice blends and more!