Chocolate quiz 2022: 15 questions to test your knowledge
5 Jul 2022
Think you know everything about chocolate? Take our chocolate quiz to find out!
Fancy yourself a bit of a cacao connoisseur? If you really want to put your knowledge to the test and impress your fellow chocolate devotees, take a look at our chocolate quiz. It’s the perfect way to brush up on your chocolate facts, figures and trivia.
Chocolate quiz questions
Scroll down to see the answers!
1. Mice prefer chocolate to cheese.
A. True
B. False
2. What colour should you look for in high-quality white chocolate?
A. Creamy and golden
B. Bright white
C. Strikingly Yellow
3. If you smell chocolate, you are more likely to…
A. Fall asleep
B. Buy books
C. Lose your temper
4. Which type of chocolate contains more caffeine: white chocolate or milk chocolate?
A. White chocolate
B. Milk chocolate
5. Where was the first solid chocolate bar made?
A. Switzerland
B. Mexico
C. The UK
6. Which continent produces the most cacao?
A. South America
B. Africa
C. Asia
7. What did people in Mesoamerica use cocoa beans for?
A. As a currency
B. For building things
C. As weapons
8. Which contains more flavour compounds: chocolate or red wine?
A. Chocolate
B. Red wine
9. How many cacao beans do you need to make one 250-gram bar of chocolate?
A. 50
B. 100
C. 200
10. A bar of chocolate gave rise to what common kitchen appliance?
A. Microwave
B. Kettle
C. Toaster
11. What has more sugar, our 70% dark chocolate or our 65% Supermilk chocolate?
A. 70% Dark
B. 65% Supermilk
12. Which country do chocolate Brigadeiros come from?
A. Colombia
B. Spain
C. Brazil
13. Which country consumes the most chocolate per person per year?
A. The USA
B. Belgium
C. Switzerland
14. In 2017, a Belgian chocolatier developed a type of chocolate with a pink hue and subtle fruity flavour. What is this chocolate known as?
A. Ruby chocolate
B. Blush chocolate
C. Berry chocolate
15. When did Hotel Chocolat start selling chocolates online?
A. 1993
B. 2000
C. 2005
Answers
1. A – True
Although cartoons have conditioned us to believe that mice love nothing more than tucking into a square of cheese (preferably the holey kind), it actually turns out they would much rather eat something else.
Rich, strong-flavoured cheese is not something that mice would come across in their natural environment. As such, it’s likely that they would forgo the cheddar for something a little sweeter. According to Dr David Holmes, mice would rather eat things closer to their normal diet, such as cereals and dried fruits — as well as human-made sweet treats like chocolate. So, next time you’re trying to lure some mice, keep the cheese for yourself!
2. A – Creamy and golden
A good quality white chocolate bar should have a golden tinge to it, without being fiercely yellow. Too strong in colour and it may have additives in it to give it that hue. Too white, and it could be made from a low amount of cocoa butter, with vegetable oil added in for a cheaper substitute.
The best quality white chocolate contains a high percentage of cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is the natural fatty substance from the cocoa bean which creates a sumptuously smooth texture, giving white chocolate that golden glow. At Hotel Chocolat, our white chocolate contains a minimum of 36% cocoa butter for that very reason.
3. B – Buy books
A trial in a Belgian chain bookstore found that, by making the shop smell like chocolate, their book sales increased by over 5%. This might not seem like a great deal, but when the study was replicated in a Canadian bookshop and cafe, the results were much clearer.
First, they identified “congruent” book genres (that they thought related to chocolate), such as romantic literature, recipe books and books about food and drink. They also chose non-chocolate-related, or “incongruent” book genres, including history, crime, thrillers and mystery novels.
After a month’s randomised trial, the research found that when the bookshop smelled like chocolate, they sold 22% more “incongruent” books and 40% more congruent genres!
4. A – White chocolate
Cacao solids (cacao beans) contain caffeine, meaning milk and dark chocolate naturally have a caffeine content. White chocolate, on the other hand, contains no cacao solids – only cacao butter. As such, it’s caffeine-free.
5. B – The UK
Despite countries such as France, Belgium and Switzerland claiming that they make the best chocolate in the world, Britain deserves recognition as the mother of chocolate.
The first chocolate bar was made in Britain in 1847 by Joseph Fry and his son, who pressed a paste made from cocoa powder and sugar into a mould shaped like a bar. Although this type of chocolate may have been a lot more bitter than the chocolate that we’re used to today, we’re proud to say that solid chocolate owes its heritage to the UK.
6. B – Africa
Many countries around the world produce cacao. However, around 68% of the world’s cacao is grown in Africa – mostly in West African countries including Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon.
We source some of our cacao from Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, and Nicaragua – and even from our very own cacao estate in Saint Lucia. However, much of the cacao in our products comes from Ghana. We work with over 2,500 Ghanaian farming partners to promote sustainable and ethical farming practices and ensure cacao producers earn a fair wage.
7. A – As a currency
The Mayans, one of the oldest civilisations on the American continent, used cacao beans as a barter currency to trade items such as tobacco, maize and cloth. Joanne Baron, an anthropologist and historian, found that Mayan kings also collected cacao beans from their subjects as a type of tax – most likely to pay palace workers with.
Because the cacao plant needs particular conditions to grow and is very susceptible to disease, cacao beans were prized for their rarity.
8. A – Chocolate
Both chocolate and red wine are packed with flavour compounds, giving them nuanced profiles. However, chocolate contains more than 600 flavour compounds, compared to red wine’s 200. A chocolate-tasting evening is a great way to explore the wide variety of flavours and aromas the cacao-rich treat has to offer.
9. C – 200
A 250g bar of chocolate contains hundreds of cacao beans to achieve that intensely rich taste. We harvest cocoa beans from the cacao tree, otherwise known as Theobroma cacao. Every cacao tree produces fruit called a pod between 20-30 times each year, with each pod containing between 20 and 40 beans.
During production, the cocoa beans are turned into chocolate liquor before additional ingredients are added. The chocolate is finally tempered to give it that satisfying snap and sheen.
10. A – Microwave
In 1945, engineer Percy Spencer was researching radar. He stopped to have a look at a magnetron (which generates high-frequency radio waves) and suddenly found the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted!
Realising that it must have been the magnetron that melted it, he tried putting other food in, too. He and his team went on to create the first microwave in 1947. It weighed 350 kilograms and stood nearly two metres high, but thanks to Japanese engineering, the microwave became compact and commercially available by 1967.
11. A – 70% Dark
Although most dark chocolates typically has less sugar to preserve the deep, nuanced notes of cacao, our 65% Supermilk chocolate has managed to break the mould. This revolutionary recipe contains nearly as much cocoa as dark – but with even less sugar.
A dash of milk adds natural sweetness without the need for additional sugar. The result? Effortlessly creamy chocolate packed with cacao depth.
12. C – Brazil
Brigadeiros are a traditional Brazilian dessert. Made from sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder, and butter, these little treats are rolled into balls and covered with chocolate sprinkles. People usually serve them in paper cupcake cases.
If you fancy making some of these bitesize delights, why not take a look at our Brigadeiro recipe?
13. C – Switzerland
According to a 2017 survey, the Swiss consume the most chocolate, eating an average of 8.8 kg each per year!
14. A – Ruby chocolate
Barry Callebaut had been working on this recipe for over 12 years before finally perfecting it in 2017. Ruby chocolate has a unique flavour profile that’s unlike milk, dark, or white chocolate. The difference lies in the fermentation process. For ruby chocolate, cacao beans are only fermented for a couple of days. In contrast, cacao beans for dark chocolate are left to ferment for at least a week.
15. A – 1993
In terms of ‘e-tailers’, we’re relatively prehistoric, predating the likes of Amazon and eBay with our online store. It wasn’t until 11 years later that we opened our first Hotel Chocolat shop, finally enabling our customers to see and sample the chocolates for themselves before purchasing.
Now, we have our very own cacao farm in Saint Lucia, along with cafes, hotels and restaurants all over the world!
How did you do?
We hope you’ve learned something from our chocolate quiz! Feel free to use these questions in your own family quiz, or to show off your chocolate trivia in conversation over a box of luxury chocolates with friends.
Feel free to eat your way through the questions. Why not try our high-quality creamy white chocolate or our cacao-rich Supermilk chocolate? Pop them in the microwave for a melted chocolate dip, or attempt to lure people to buy your used books by wafting irresistible hot chocolate under their noses.
