I had the greatest pleasure of attending the Chocoholic Tour hosted by the best in the business, Kristen Mercieca, in the beautiful, sunny city of Melbourne on Sunday, 30th March 2014. If there is one word to describe this experience, it'd be 'Chocolate-licious'! My family and I were all marvelled by Kristen's insatiable passion in the history and culture of chocolate making and its deliciously chocolatey influence in Melbourne's vibrant food scene. During our relaxing tour, everyone got to experience the sights, smell and sweetness of the best chocolates Melbourne has to offer to the world, as well as hear the interesting background behind each of the shops, their unique histories and fascinating stories passed down through generations. My kids totally enjoyed the experience (and exercise), not to mention tasting the yummy chocolatey delights from each of the shops during the tour. I especially loved the quirky and tasty little chocolates from Koko Black. They were all uniquely special in their own ways, in taste and style. Overall, Kristen made everyone feel welcome and thoroughly entertained by her sweet blend of humour, passion and knowledge in everything chocolates in the two hours of fabulous food and fun. We certainly had the best afternoon with the kids in Melbourne, and would highly recommend this Chocoholic Tour to anyone, in Australia or from overseas!

I organized this tour (and participated!) for a group of international students just before Christmas 08. Because we had a large group we were able to organize our own tour, but she runs several regular tours on Fridays and Saturdays that individuals can join. We got to the meeting point (Laurent) and Susie soon met us there--on time for our 1 1/2 hour tour. We started with a drink (hot chocolate anyone?), a talk about chocolate and a tasting of different types of chocolate. We then moved on to Haighs for some more tasting/shopping and from there finished at Koko Black where we had a brief talk from their chocolatier (I believe she was from Holland). Basically, if you like chocolate, you'll LOVE this tour!

Approximate cost: $35