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Things To Do In Sydney: Take A Chocolate Tour At The QVB
Who has the will power to say no to a chocolate tour when invited to check it out? Not this blogger that's for sure! The QVB "Something Sweet" tour is a must do for chocolate lovers. I never tire of the QVB, it's one of my most favourite buildings, and to think it once faced demolition! Read more
I arrived at the concierge desk on the ground floor to meet the tour guide who gave some history about the QVB, and chocolate, before the tasting began.
Then it was time for a chocolate tasting frenzy!
First stop was Haigh's Chocolate! I remember the very first time I tasted Haigh's was when my partner had bought me a bag of milk chocolate peppermint frogs from one of the Melbourne stores. This was a number of years ago when we didn't have Haigh's here in Sydney. I fell in love with those frogs, and it would be nothing for me to polish off a whole packet whenever he bought them for me from Melbourne.
Haigh's in the QVB is a busy shop as it's a popular stop for tourists. On this tour guests get to sample some of the Haigh's treasures, find out a bit of history of the brand, and get a bag of chocolates to take home! It's worth noting that there are over 200 Haigh's varieties to choose from! I also love their gift ideas as pictured above.
Chocolate covered strawberries are always a big hit with me and when we arrived at Parisi for the next tasting, we had a choice of chocolate dipped fruit to choose from. I sampled a chocolate coated fig; it was superb. The fruit is very fresh and, here's some trivia for you; across the Parisi Group 6,500 punnets of strawberries are sold a week during peak periods. That's amazing!
Following on from Parisi it's now time to visit the 'King of Macarons' store, and of course I'm talking about Adriano Zumbo! The range of colours and flavours is incredible. It's a popular little outlet with a range of amazing cakes. On this tour you can sample a macaron and take two more home with you.
How do you think I'm feeling by now after this amount of sweetness? You guessed it, very over-indulged, but that's not going to stop me! It's now time to visit Koko Black. Again, the store was busy and it's not surprising with the beautiful range of hand-crafted chocolates made with the finest ingredients. In fact the chocolates do not have a long shelf life and are made to enjoy sooner rather than later. The choice of flavours is phenomenal. Tour guests get to sample a chocolate, and are given a couple to add to their goodie bag.
For the finale we are taken up to the Palace Tea Room to enjoy a cup of chocolate flavoured tea! OMG I love this! It's so refreshing and very tasty. The tea has a distinct chocolate smell, however, the taste is very subtle. I'm actually enjoying a cup as I type this because guests are given a canister to take home as part of the tour. I had to decline any tasting of hot chocolate because, by now, I was so full I couldn't even think about having anything else.
The Palace Tea Room is an elegant and refined place to partake in fine teas and High Teas. I will certainly be making many more visits when I'm in need of a cuppa in the QVB.
For lovers of chocolate this is a great tour that takes up to 2 hours depending on numbers. Max is 10. Price $65 includes tasting, goody bag, booklet and bottle of water.
To book: www.qvb.com.au/about-qvb/qvb-tours
Tours run 2.30 pm on Wednesdays and bookings are essential.
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