York’s Chocolate Story: I took a tour of a chocolate museum in the city of York and it felt like a crossover between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Harry Potter
Last week, I was invited on behalf of The Yorkshire Post to try the new adult-only chocolate and gin tour at York’s Chocolate Story on King’s Square.
A group of us were led by tour guide and theatre student, Lizzie, who walked us through five rooms, each with their own special theme and story.
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Hide AdThe first room was like stepping into a time machine back to the city centre of York in the 1890s when Rowntree’s factory was first opened.


Lizzie introduced the Rowntree family and served us a glass of Hooting Owl Signature Gin along with Rowntree’s first chocolate.
I’m on an alcohol detox, so the organisers provided me with non-alcoholic versions of each gin on the tour. I was pleasantly surprised by how they accommodated my needs as it was an odd request to go alcohol-free on a gin tour.
We were advised to take a sip of the gin and a bite of the chocolate to experience the flavours together. I really enjoyed the first pairing - and my gin didn’t taste very different to the regular kind.
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Hide AdThe chocolate was quite bitter, although the mixture of flavours between the chocolate and gin sweetened the overall notes.


Lizzie’s enthusiasm as she talked through the origins of Yorkshire’s famous chocolate connoisseurs and creators elevated the experience. It was also very clear to me from the beginning that she had theatre experience which made it feel like more than just a tour, but a stage production.
When we walked into the second room it was like stepping into the Amazon Forest, with trees all around us, a huge rectangular screen that covered the entire wall and chopped tree trunks dotted around where we would sit.
The video showed how chocolate was first discovered in the depths of the forest in the form of cocoa beans and we were handed a small cup of dark chocolate before any sugar or milk was added, so it was very bitter.
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Not my cup of tea - or chocolate - if I’m being honest, but it was interesting to see how the sweet had evolved over time.
I really liked the next room; it was quite big and had photos hung on the walls all around us with fancy, old-fashioned frames.
We learned more about the Rowntree family and how they built their chocolate empire but what amused me about this room was the presentation; each frame featured a historic Rowntree family member who suddenly came to life and told their stories one by one.
It reminded me of scenes from the Harry Potter film franchise including the one where Dawn French’s character ‘the Fat Lady’ moves around in the photo frames in the Prisoner of Askaban.
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This was my favourite gin and chocolate pairing as we were introduced to Terry’s Chocolate Orange. Each glass filled with Chocolate Orange Gin had a Terry’s segment on top and the chocolate brought out the delicious citrus sweetness flavour of the gin.
The elaborate and intricate designs of the rooms and especially the last room reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory films.
The next pairing was a Sicilian Lemon Gin and a square piece of white chocolate and dark chocolate. I’m not normally a fan of dark chocolate but on this occasion, I preferred it to the white. There was enough sweetness to break up the bitterness and it brought out the citrus notes of the gin, which I liked.
We were then led through to the chocolate factory part of the tour where we stood around a circular table where we were given an interactive lesson about how chocolate is made.
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Hide AdA few of us volunteered to operate the virtual machine - I did so eagerly, I felt like a child wanting to press the button on a traffic light - and Lizzie passed around containers filled with a variety of spices that are often used to make chocolate. I liked the cinnamon and aniseed aromas.
Lizzie introduced us to the mystery gin tasting wheel that had descriptions of different flavours from Fruity: grape, banana, citrus, to Earthy; rubber, wood, leather.


She handed us each a glass of Mystery Gin and she asked us what flavours we could guess from the taste, which was very autumnal.
We were then got to shape our own chocolate bars. I attempted to create a flower with mine, but it didn’t go to plan. Everyone else’s chocolate bars looked amazing and we were shown how the chocolate is prepared.
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Hide AdAt the end of the tour we were given four vials of the gin to take home as well as the chocolate bars we made and I spoke to Lizzie about what the tour guide role means for her.
“It’s really amazing because this adheres to my degree; I’m a theatre student and I can do so many things in my job,” she said.
“It’s also broadened theatre for me because it’s a performance but it’s also so interactive and you get to meet so many different people. It’s just amazing that places like this give students opportunities to be able to do things like this.”
York’s Chocolate Story’s Chocolate and Gin Tour takes place every Friday from 5pm to 6.30pm for adults only and tickets cost £29.95 each.
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