Ever wondered what Charlie’s visit to a Chocolate Factory was like? We tell you what it’s like to step into a Chocolate Museum in Kilchberg, Zurich at the at Lindt Home Of Chocolate. While you certainly won’t find Willy Wonka nor the Oompa Loompas, there’s much to learn, see, listen and taste!
7 Things We Loved About Lindt Home Of Chocolate Museum
Every visitor to Lindt Home Of Chocolate Museum will head on a tour of the museum either with an audio guide or a personal guide. We picked the usual tour with an audio guide which costs CHF15 for adults and CHF10 for children between 8 to 15.
1. Largest Chocolate Fountain
Who can resist the largest chocolate fountain in the world? Come and gawk at the 30-foot tall fountain with a whisk atop from which 1500litres of chocolate pours into a giant Lindor. Sorry, no dipping just pose with it!
2. The Story of Cocoa to Chocolate
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We were amazed how everything was automated and there was no staff around to usher us into the gallery. By scanning our ticket codes at the gantry after picking up the audio guide, we entered the first gallery dedicated to the making of chocolate. We learnt how the cocoa fruit was cultivated, then fermented to form chocolate. It takes a tedious process to make chocolate and we definitely appreciated the bean-to-bear process.
3. The History of Chocolate
Then we entered the next gallery on the history of chocolate. Did you know chocolate was seen as a gift from the gods? The Aztecs used chocolate as a drink to give victorious warriors after battle and it was something only the upper levels of society could consume. Cocoa beans were also used as trade and thought to be more valuable than gold.
The Spanish conquest then brought chocolate to Spain and the rest of Europe. At first it was not a popular food until the recipe was tweaked. And the rest was history!
4. Swiss Pioneers in Chocolate-making
Fans of Swiss chocolate would find out about how chocolate became such an important sector of the food industry. The ingenuity and creativity of the Swiss chocolate pioneers developed chocolate as a consumer-friendly product. In 1819, Francois-Louis Cailler invented the mechanized production of pressed chocolate and started producing chocolate in Vevey.
The silky, melts-in-mouth texture we taste today was courtesy of Rudolf Lindt!
5. Tasting Chocolate
The Lindt Home Of Chocolate experience doesn’t come complete without tasting chocolate and we could have as much chocolate as we wanted. Just don’t end up like Augustus! We used disposable spoons to taste the chocolate flowing out of the small chocolate fountains and could compare the different types: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate. Then we put our hands under different chambers which dropped chocolate bits onto our palm!
The tasting doesn’t end there as we could also try Lindor in various flavours.
6. Checking out the Production & Pilot Plant
We would also see the entire production process that transforms beans to liquid chocolate then bars and pralines. The pilot plant provided fascinating insight into what a factory would look like. Almost everything was automated, unlike the past when simple tasks like shaping chocolate would have been laborious.
7. Playing with the Chocolate vending machine
[08] videoWho can miss the chocolate vending machine activated by our ticket codes? Watch the chocolatier on the screen as he or she retrieves the chocolate ball and drops the sweet treat into the dispenser. How magical!
Find out more about Lindt Home To Chocolate.
Get your tickets to Lindt Home to Chocolate here.
If you enjoyed chocolate, you may also enjoy the York Chocolate Story attraction.
READ: Kid-friendly Things to Do in Zurich
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