Create a tasting

Step 1 — Test type

Choose the test type. The options are organized in an accordion of four blocks:

• Most common (open by default): Descriptive tasting · Triangle test · Hedonic (consumer).
• Other comparative tests: Paired comparison (2-AFC) · Duo-trio · Simple ranking · Ranking with scales.
• Advanced tests: Time-intensity · Aroma release. (For a trained panel; they demand time and rigorous method.)
• Panel training: Basic taste recognition · Threshold detection. (Qualify your panelists per ISO 8586.)

There are 11 options, covering 10 test types (ranking comes in two variants: simple and with scales). Each one comes with its description. When you select a type, the wizard advances automatically to the next step.

Step 2 — Product and samples

Define what you're going to taste:

• Product category (required): Cocoa beans, mass and liquor · Finished chocolate · Bonbons and truffles · Fillings · Traditional pastes · Fruit jellies · Specialty products · Other / Generic.
• Filling subtype (optional, only if the category is Fillings): 13 subtypes available (Firm ganache, Soft ganache, Crunchy pralines, Liquid praline, Gianduja, Soft caramel, Hard caramel, Salted caramel, Fondant, Pastry cream, Buttercream, Chocolate mousse, Marshmallow) plus the Unspecified option. It's just a descriptive label for the sample.
• Evaluation name (required): the name of your product or sample. The tasting title is built automatically from the test type, the category (and subtype, if any), this name, and the date, for example Descriptive tasting — Finished chocolate — Dark 70% batch 2026 — 10/22/2026. That title is what you see in the list.
• Batch (purchase or lot) (optional): links the tasting to one of your batches (the specific purchase or lot you are tasting), so the consolidated dossier by batch and by supplier includes it. If you have no batches yet, the field offers to create one now.
• Client (optional): who the tasting is for. If you fill it in, you can produce a dossier with everything tasted for that client.
• Blind mode (checkbox): when enabled, each sample gets a random 3-digit code and the panel will see only that code, never the real name.

Then add the samples with the Add sample button. For each sample you enter an internal name (e.g. Río Caribe, varietal A, batch 0526) and, if you like, an internal note (batch, supplier, origin, cocoa %…) with the Add internal note button, which opens a small window. The panelist doesn't see that note.

In discriminative tests (triangle, paired comparison, duo-trio) mark the reference sample with each sample's Mark button (it then shows Correct): in the triangle test you mark the odd sample; in paired comparison and duo-trio, the correct sample. This mark is the ground truth for the statistical verdict and isn't shown to the panelist. For duo-trio, add 3 samples (the reference and the two coded ones): with fewer, the panelist's sheet shows a configuration error.

Step 3 — Protocol and attributes

Choose the protocol that defines which attributes the panel will rate and with which scales. The screen shows:

• Recommended for your product: protocols suggested based on the category you chose. If there's only one, it's preselected.
• Other available protocols: collapsible list with the rest of the catalog. Click View full list to open a protocol's detail (its attributes grouped by family: Base, Aromatics, Defects, Mouthfeel, Textures, Other).

If you chose the Other category, the wizard suggests the Master Chocolatier protocol as a base, since it's the most complete in the catalog.

Step 4 — Assessor panel

Assign who will evaluate the tasting:

• Add panelist: opens a window with two tabs, Create new and Select existing. The panelists you create here are saved to your workshop and you can reuse them in future tastings. Each assigned panelist appears as a chip; removing them from this tasting doesn't delete them from the catalog. From here you can also view and edit any panelist's record (their email helps you tell apart two panelists with the same name) and the wizard avoids duplicates: see Add a panelist.

• Sample presentation order: how they're served to each panelist to neutralize position bias.

  • Random (default): each panelist gets a different order.
  • Balanced (Williams): ideal for 5 samples or fewer; balances position and carryover once the panel completes the block of orders. If the number of panelists doesn't complete it, the wizard warns you that the balance will be approximate and tells you how many panelists would make it exact.
  • Cyclic Latin square: for multiple panel blocks; it balances position, but not carryover the way Williams does.
  • Manual: every panelist gets the samples in the same order, the order of the list in step 2.

  Depending on the test type, one of the options carries the Recommended badge: Balanced (Williams) for descriptive, hedonic, and ranking; Random for triangle, paired comparison, duo-trio, time-intensity, and aroma release.

• Mode: Synchronous (default, everyone tastes at the same time) or Asynchronous (open deadline; Pro plan only).

For more on ordering, see Presentation order.

Step 5 — Date, place, and instructions

Set up the session logistics:

• Start date and time (if the tasting is synchronous) or Closing deadline (if it's asynchronous).
• Place: where the tasting takes place (e.g. Main workshop, tasting room).
• Instructions for the panelist: the text the panel sees when starting (e.g. Cleanse your palate with water and a cracker between samples).
• Directed question: appears only in paired comparison, duo-trio, and the two ranking types. It's the question that guides the panel (e.g. Which of the two samples is sweeter?).
• More details (optional): collapsible block with Amount per panelist (g) and Presentation conditions (temperature, glass type, neutralizer between samples).
• Send email reminder (checkbox): before the deadline, it notifies panelists whose digital evaluation is still pending (they need an email on file). When you enable it you choose How far in advance?: 1 hour before, 1 day before (default), or 2 days before.

The date comes prefilled: for a synchronous tasting, with a suggested start time; for an asynchronous one, with a deadline 7 days out (at 6:00 p.m.). You can change it.

Step 6 — Confirmation and launch

Review the Tasting summary (test type, product, samples, panelists, mode, order, start or deadline, and place) and the blind codes preview that will be assigned to each sample.

Click Launch tasting. The server assigns the final blind codes and takes you to the tasting detail. Panel invitations aren't sent automatically: you generate or send them from the Digital evaluation section of the detail. With blind mode on, the panelist sees only the code, never the real sample name.