Posted by Yara Coelho on Feb 22, 2014 in Swiss recipes, vegan / vegetarian |

Sweet Zurich – A Swiss chocolate tour Extravaganza!

When visiting Switzerland, the idea of exploring the Swiss chocolate, famous for it’s quality and variety is on everyone’s list of top things to do.

What if you could take a tour that combines the best of the Swiss chocolate world, while exploring the old historical town? And what if it could change your views on chocolate for the rest of your life?

Well, that’s what happened to me. I was searching for an interactive way of exploring the city of Zurich, a different way of engaging with the city, of literally tasting the flavors it had to offer. After all, I have been living in the world’s capital of chocolate.

Convinced I would probably be a passive spectator in the tour, mostly because I’m vegan and don’t eat any animal products, I was proven wrong by Kerrin, the amazingly passionate and super knowledgeable tour leader of the Sweet Zurich tours. Kerrin is a New York native, who settled in Zurich many years ago. She has been running the Sweet Zurich tours for over 3 years now.

Kerrin and I strolled around the streets of the old historic Zurich, in search of the most traditional and high quality of chocolates. She was extremely attentive to the fact I don’t eat dairy and together we explored some of the most amazing black chocolates I never even thought existed.

Kerrin educated me to the fact that Chocolaterie is a fine art, just like wine and olive oil. The different aromas, smells, textures and concentrations of cocoa powder and cocoa butter can make a tremendous diffirence on the end product. I never imagined the world of chocolate could be so interesting, to be honnest. I found out there absolutely no need to feel limited to the bitter, dry and terrible dark chocolates we vegans are unfortunately used to.

During the tour, you’ll get to learn about the interesting history of the Swiss chocolate, the families who started this old art, the processes in which is produced, the origins, the ingredients and concentration of and variations of ingredients and how to read a label properly.

The varieties of chocolate you’ll be exposed during the tour is mind blowing.

I really appreciated the fact that I got to visit the off the beaten path small family shops I would have never find by myself, as well as getting to know about the bigger stores around town.

It would have been a waste not getting to know about them and talking to the people behind the counter.

I loved the experience and I highly recommend this amazingly interactive tour of the city’s old town and chocolate world. I would specially recommend VEGANS, Lactose and gluten intolerants who usually feel they can’t get much of food and sweet tours, to join and experience this adventure. Kerrin is very careful when selecting the samples and turning this a fun experience. You won’t feel left out or restricted in any way.

The tours take place all year round. This experience was a courtesy of Sweet Zurich tours. Follow them on Facebook and check how other people rated their experience on Tripadvisor

** featured photo: thefutureofhealthnow.com