AreaCacao Docs

How a panelist responds to a tasting from their phone: open the link, select the sample by code or QR, fill in the sheet, and submit.

What it is

This is the guide for the evaluator (the panelist who tastes). It covers the public evaluation screen, the one that opens when you tap the link the tasting leader sends you. You don't need to install anything or create an account: everything happens in your phone's browser, at https://app.areacacao.com/evaluate/<token>.

If you are the one who creates and configures the tasting, this isn't your guide: go to Create a tasting.

The three perspectives

The sensory module distinguishes three roles around a tasting. This page describes the perspective of the evaluator.

Lead panelist. Creates the tasting, configures the samples and the panel, and shares the invitations. Works from the app with their account. See Digital evaluation.
Panel panelists. Taste and fill in their sheet from their phone using the link they receive. This is the perspective of this guide.
Guest / consumer mode. People without an account (external guests or consumers) whom the leader assigns as panelists. They use exactly the same screen; the only difference is the panelist type the leader chose when assigning them.

Access route

You receive a unique link or a QR code from the tasting leader (by email, messaging, or printed on the panel sheet). Opening it takes you to https://app.areacacao.com/evaluate/<token> without asking for a username or password.

If the leader generated your invitation with an old link of the form https://app.areacacao.com/invitado/evaluacion/<token>, don't worry: it redirects you automatically to the current screen. The link is still valid.

Screen-by-screen walkthrough

Welcome

When you open the link you see "Hi, <your name>" and the message "You've been invited to take part in a sensory evaluation with <n> sample(s).", adjusted to the number of samples (singular, "with 1 sample"; plural, "with <n> samples"). Below it the context details appear: the Tasting name, the responsible Leader, and the Deadline ("Until <date>").

Tap Start evaluation.

If the leader enabled the privacy notice, before starting you'll see a "Before you start: how we handle your data" block with a link to the privacy notice and a required checkbox ("I have read the notice and consent to the processing of my data for this evaluation."). The Start evaluation button stays disabled until you check it.

Select the sample

You'll see the question "Which sample are you going to evaluate?" and the instruction "Enter the 3-digit code shown on the sample label." You have two ways to choose a sample:

By code: type the 3-digit code shown on the cup label.
By QR: tap Scan QR code and point the camera at the label (if your browser allows it).

Below the selector, the "Your samples" list shows which ones are Completed and which are Pending.

Fill in the sample sheet

The tasting sheet captures, depending on the test type:

Intensity per attribute. A 0–10 point scale for each protocol attribute. The reference is "0 = absent, 10 = maximum".
Defects detected. Check the defects you perceive.
Overall rating. Your overall rating of the sample.
Free notes. Optional text (up to 2000 characters) for any observation.

In hedonic tastings the sheet uses instead the vertical 1–9 scale ("Overall hedonic rating"), from "I dislike it extremely" to "I like it extremely".

When you finish a sample, tap Save and back to selector to move on to the next one.

Review before sending

Once you've evaluated all your samples, tap Review and send. The "Review before sending" screen lets you Edit any response before confirming.

The notice makes it clear: "Once sent, you won't be able to change it." If you need to make changes afterward, contact the tasting leader.

Confirm and send

Tap Confirm and send. You'll see the "Thank you, <your name>" screen with the "Sent on <date> — <time>" stamp.

In descriptive and hedonic tastings, once you've given an overall rating to 2 or more samples, this screen also shows "Your ranking by overall rating". You can now close the window.

Tests answered all at once

Not all tests are evaluated sample by sample. In the triangle, paired comparison, duo-trio, and ranking tests, there is no code selector: you taste all the samples and answer on a single screen, with one final submission. Each one has its own question:

Triangle test. You read "Taste the 3 samples in order. Two are the same, one is different. Which one is different?" and you mark "It's the different one". The screen always shows a palate-cleansing instruction ("Warm water 60°C + wait 60 seconds between each sample") and, for high-cocoa chocolates, an additional notice to use plain bread or unsalted cracker and wait 90 s (citing ISO 4120:2021).
Paired comparison. You taste two coded samples and pick one by answering the attribute question (by default "Which of the two samples stands out more in the evaluated attribute?").
Duo-trio. First you taste the reference (R) and then you choose, between the two coded samples, the one that is the same as R (or the different one, depending on how the question is framed).
Ranking (and its scales variant). You rank all the samples from lowest to highest intensity of the attribute. In the scales variant ("Ranking with scales") you also assign a 0–10 intensity value to each sample before sending; if the order and the intensities don't match, the screen warns you of the inconsistency so you can review it.

In the discriminative tests (triangle, paired comparison, and duo-trio) you can enable the "I guessed" control if you chose without perceiving any difference: it's part of the forced-choice record and carries no penalty.

Before the final submission of these tests you'll see a confirmation box ("Confirm your choice?" in triangle, paired comparison, and duo-trio; "Confirm your ranking?" in ranking; and its equivalent in thresholds) summarizing what you're about to send. You can go back (Change) or confirm.

The remaining tests (descriptive, hedonic, time-intensity, aroma release, basic tastes, and thresholds) are evaluated sample by sample with the 3-digit code selector.

Special sheets by test type

The sample sheet changes shape depending on the tasting type. These are the variants you may come across:

Time-intensity. After entering the sample, tap Start and move a continuous slider (from "Absent" to maximum) while 60 seconds run; you can stop it early with Stop early. The system records the curve automatically. When you finish you'll see a preview of your curve ("Your curve — review it before saving") with its duration, and you can Record again before saving. If your browser doesn't support automatic screen lock, you'll see a notice asking you not to lock it during capture.
Aroma release. You score the intensity 0–10 at each marked interval: 0s (start), 10s (attack), 20s (development), 40s (plateau), 60s (decline), and 120s (aftersmell). A timer marks the progress (with a progress bar and "next interval in …") and a beep sounds when each interval is reached; you can pause, resume, and reset it. If the tasting evaluates two or more aroma attributes, there are tabs to score each attribute separately.
Basic taste recognition. For each solution you identify the taste on the "Which basic taste is it?" sheet (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami, or metallic). It's a forced choice: even if you're unsure, mark the one that comes closest. Optionally you mark your confidence on a 1–5 scale (1 = not sure at all · 5 = completely sure) and add notes. The screen cites the ISO 3972:2011 standard.
Threshold detection. At each level you see three coded cups (labeled Cup 1/2/3 in the grid); only one contains the compound under test, the other two are the plain medium. The sheet ("Which cup has <compound>?") asks you to choose the cup you think contains it. It's forced-choice: even if you detect nothing, guess. It's normal to miss the more diluted levels; the goal is to locate the concentration from which you detect it consistently. The calculation is resolved by the server.

It works offline

The evaluator screen is an offline-first PWA: once opened, it keeps working even if you lose the workshop's coverage. A badge in the header appears only when there's something to report; when everything is synced, the badge disappears (it shows no "saved" stamp). The states you may see are:

Saving… — your changes are being saved.
Syncing… / Syncing N pending… — the responses you had queued are being uploaded to the server.
Offline (or "Offline · N saved locally" if there are responses queued) — you keep evaluating as normal; the data is saved on the device and synced as soon as the network returns.
Sync error — something failed during upload; retry or make sure you have a connection before sending.

To avoid losing data, finish the evaluation on the same device and browser where you started it and make sure you have a connection when you send. More detail in Offline-first PWA.

If something goes wrong

"Couldn't open" / "The link is invalid or has expired." Tap Retry; if it persists, ask the leader to resend the invitation.
"Code not valid for this evaluation." The 3-digit code doesn't match this tasting; check that you're reading the correct label.
After sending, if you return to the link you'll see a summary of what you submitted: "You can close this window. If you return to the link, you'll see a summary of what you submitted."

Evaluator guide