Seattle Chocolate Tour @ Pike Place Market

This Top Pick was written on special assignment for The Ticket through the TeenTix Press Corps, a teen arts journalism program run by TeenTix, a youth empowerment and arts access nonprofit organization.

📆 Tours available daily
🎟 Tickets start at $79
📍 Venues include Dahlia Bakery, Maiz, The Confectional, and more locations around downtown Seattle

I’ve always loved chocolate. It’s significant across cultures, and it brings people together. While on a recent trip with the Seattle Chocolate Tour from Sum Good Tours, my group of six strangers and I all tried a uniquely spicy, chili-infused hot chocolate. We laughed about our reactions to the spiciness and shared stories about our favorite chocolate experiences. The tour introduced me to new friends and was a perfect way to celebrate chocolate desserts around Pike Place Market.

A two-hour walking (and eating) tour, the Seattle Chocolate Tour dives deep into the history of chocolate and maximizes the chocolate-tasting experience by recommending local Seattle places with interesting spins on chocolate. My tour was small—but expect some crowds and hills in general. It started at Dahlia Bakery, tasting their famous coconut creme pie with white chocolate shavings and chocolate truffle cookies. Here I learned about the difference between dark, milk, and white chocolate, and where to find the best of each type.

Next, we walked to Maiz and tried their corn chocolate drink, champurrado, which made me think of a chocolate smoothie with a hint of corn. (I initially hesitated to try it since I didn’t think corn and chocolate could taste well, but it was really enjoyable.) At The Confectional, we tasted their delicious quadruple cheesecake (rich, creamy, and filled with chocolate chunks) and spicy Colombian hot chocolate (chocolaty and full of spices).  At Chukar Cherries, while sampling different types of chocolate-covered cherries, I learned you’re supposed to eat chocolate from dark to light to taste each type better.

After a stop at Bottega Italiana for chocolate gelato, our tour ended at Fran’s, where we got to try their most famous confection chocolates. I really enjoyed their smoked salt chocolate—It was Barack Obama’s favorite and made Fran’s the official White House chocolate maker during his presidency.

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