I Love Panama Chocolate: My Tasting Experience

When visiting Panamá City, Panamá, one very popular neighborhood in the city is the old historic part of the city, Casco Viejo. It’s known for it’s fun, colorful architecture, but there are many unique finds throughout the area, making Casco Viejo an absolute must during anyone’s travels to the city. One such gem in the neighborhood is I Love Panama Chocolate, which was one of my favorite experiences during my trip to Panamá City!

Walking throughout Casco Viejo, we stumbled upon a sign for a chocolate tasting and were escorted down the road to the storefront for I Love Panama Chocolate by one of the shop workers. Upon entry, we were greeted with a lovely display of various types of chocolate; all, of course, made in Panamá. I was literally a kid in a candy store, excited to try the variety of flavors they had in stock (we were told many were not in stock, so, naturally I’ll have to go back next time I visit).

*A lot of these flavors were out of stock, and sell very quickly. If you get the chance to try them, let me know how it is lol.*

Jessie, the shop worker we met outside, provided descriptions of each type of chocolate that was on display on the main table as we tried the small pieces laid out for tasting. We were able to try the original chocolate, sea salt, lemon, Chombo chili, flavored white chocolate, caramel malt, coffee, and salted cashew flavors during our tasting. The flavored white chocolate does come in a few different flavors that you can find on I Love Panama Chocolate’s online shop via their Instagram along with many other flavors we didn’t get to try as they were out of stock. Throughout the tasting, Jessie also talked us through the histories of the company and how chocolate is sourced in Panamá; if you can read Spanish, there is more information you can find online through I Love Panama Chocolate’s website. That being said, I highly recommend heading over to their storefront and doing a tasting in person as the experience was phenomenal! Aside from being able to try the chocolate’s in person, which is the real draw, Jessie was able to talk us through everything in English, which was obviously extremely helpful and added so much to the experience.

After tasting everything, we decided on the flavors we wanted to purchase and take home; the salted cashew was an incredibly obvious winner for me. Others in my party took home the coffee flavor as well as the multipack, which includes a variety of chocolates that come in slightly smaller sizes than the individual bars. The mulitpack is definitely a great option if you want to purchase multiple flavors, or if you plan to bring any chocolate home as a gift. I’d like to note for anyone that may visit I Love Panama Chocolate and make a purchase, that the store offers a few options to keep your chocolate protected in the Panamanian heat. First, if you’re going to be in the area for a while longer, you can make your purchase, then return to the store before they close that day to pick up your chocolate. Second, if you’re staying close by (likely somewhere in Casco Viejo as well) Jessie let us know she makes deliveries at the end of the day to those staying nearby. Both options are great to take advantage of as it keeps the chocolate from melting, and leaves you with one less item to carry throughout your exploration of the neighborhood.

Last but not least, Jessie took us to a smaller room off of the main tasting area where there are gorgeous sculptures made entirely out of chocolate! We were all stunned at the intricacies of the sculptures, and I’d never seen anything like them in person. So, if the chocolate itself isn’t a compelling enough reason to visit I Love Panama Chocolate, perhaps the sculptures will be the added cherry on top to warrant a visit to the store. Overall, I clearly had an amazing time, and again, I highly recommend the stop to anyone visiting Panamá City, especially those who are already staying in Casco Viejo.