The life of the party? Chocolate.
NEWTON -- Some taste a hint of olive. Others ponder cinnamon, caramel, plums -- even cigars. More agree that they can taste dirt. Yes, dirt. All this from small morsels of chocolate melting slowly, revealing subtle flavors.
A chocolate tasting does not involve wolfing down ordinary supermarket bars. Instead, the ancient confection is savored and swirled in the mouth. The increasingly popular chocolate party involves an expert and a group of eager tasters.
Gina Medaglia decided she wanted to have a party for her staff. The chef and owner of Dalias Bistro & Wine Bar in Brookline hired Dana Zemak, owner of the Tasty Show. Zemak brings everything with her, including palate cleansers (watermelon, berries, cookies, sorbet) as well as 15 chocolate samples and rating cards. ''Chocolate is like a story," says Zemak. ''It starts one place and ends another." Zemak encourages Medaglia's guests to smell and savor their samples, challenging them not to chew.
In Medaglia's Newton home, eight women gather around a coffee table. Some admit they have never considered the aroma of chocolate (giggles all around). ''It makes sense," says Michelle Ladew. ''I feel so happy right now."
Some of Zemak's bars are infused with Earl Grey, ginger, and pink peppercorns. Guests discover that flavors evolve in the course of the tasting. Most agree that American-made Scharffen Berger's Semisweet 62% Cacao has a mild taste of olives. (More giggles.)
Zemak offers four chocolates with a 70 percent cocoa content (the standard Hershey's bar contains between 10 and 15 percent). ''The taste just got better," marvels Erica Hannon. The group continues to call out flavors: malt, vanilla, cheese, mushrooms. ''You figured out how to pull out the tastes very quickly," says Zemak. ''We have distinguished palates here," says Medaglia.
Suzanne Oakley, owner of Experience: CHOCOLATE, a company she started several years ago, offers chocolates from various countries as a way to illustrate the difference in taste. Learning to appreciate and even crave artisanal chocolate may take time for those who are used to candy bars. A tasting party is the perfect way to get acquainted with new, richer tastes.
''I always thought, 'Chocolate is chocolate,' " says Michelle Appleby, who hosted 12 friends at her Cohasset home with Oakley. ''But there is a whole complex, very different taste than you'd expect." Appleby enjoys entertaining and was excited to support a new business. That's where Oakley came in. Like Zemak, Oakley brings all the ingredients and begins each tasting with a brief history of chocolate and the evolution of chocolate consumption. Tasters begin with a cup of sumptuous hot chocolate. Then she introduces the cocoa nib, the meat of the bean, something Oakley suggests adding to a salad as a substitute for nuts.
The party at Appleby's home includes six pure chocolates and several flavor-infused ones. ''The inclination is to chomp your chocolate pretty quickly," Oakley tells the group. ''Take a minute. Look at the chocolate, inhale the aroma, and slowly let it melt in your mouth."
Still, to resist chomping chocolate is no easy task. ''It takes a lot of self control," says Oakley.
"Experience: CHOCOLATE," www.experiencechocolate.com or 617-840-4766; the Tasty Show, www.thetastyshow.com or 617-797-2595. 
