Chocs & Tunes Night

“I know this great little place in London…” is a popular Facebook page, Twitter account and web site that aims to uncover some of the hidden gems in London. Last night, they organised their first official event, a “Chocs & Tunes” night in the tiny 3 Blind Mice bar, just off Old Street.

The tunes were provided by pianist Holly Walker and the chocs by our bestest chocolate friend Jennifer Earle of Chocolate Ecstasy Tours. We managed to sneak in unnoticed in order to take a few pictures.

3 Blind Mice is a tiny basement bar with barely any indication of the fact it exists at all. Even the web site refuses to give you the address of the place, so it takes a bit of local knowledge or a phone with Google Maps and a compass in order to find it. I arrived just after 8pm and the first thing I noticed was how warm it was, even when the place was mostly empty.

Hot confined spaces and quality chocolates don’t generally mix, but thankfully the chocolates all survived!

The format of the evening was four songs, followed by four chocolates, four more songs and another four chocolates. This seemed to provide the perfect balance of great music and chocolate-anticipation, and the fifty-odd people packed into the bar seemed to appreciate both equally.

Jennifer bought along chocolates from Paul A. Young, Rococo, Masion du Chocolat and Artisan du Chocolat. She chose a good mix of mainstream offerings (solid dark and milk squares from Maison, a delicious lemon curd & violet chocolate from Rococo and an Earl Grey Tea ganache from Artisan) as well more challenging chocolates including a goat’s cheese chocolate and Tellicherry peppercorn bar from Paul A. Young which I’ll be reviewing myself very soon.

I was pleasantly surprised how open people were to these more unusual chocolates, all of which people consumed readily. I think the combination of good music and a few drinks encouraged people to try something new, and it really seemed like everyone enjoyed the event.

This was by far the least formal chocolate tasting I’ve been to, but it was also one of the most fun. There’s something exciting about helping people to discover great chocolate, especially when it’s all made locally.

I do hope there’ll be more of this kind of event. And if you’re thinking of organising something like this yourself, do let us know!

You might also like...