Dear Friend,

Happy New Year! The holidays might be over, but we have plenty of events planned to keep you going through the cold winter months.

This month we're excited to launch our monthly Chocolate and Tea Pairing Class with Teance. And we're proud to continue our Local Speaker Series with Alice Medrich.

Also, effective immediately, the Charles Chocolates Store will be open for its Winter Hours, 10am-6pm, 7 days a week.

CHARLES CHOCOLATES BOOK SIGNING WITH ALICE MEDRICH

Co-presented by Cooking with Amy January 17th, 6pm (FREE) As part of our local speaker series, we're thrilled to welcome chocolatier and local culinary legend Alice Medrich. In the 1970s, Alice's Berkeley-based dessert shop Cocolat set new standards of excellence. She has been learning, teaching, and sharing what she loves about dessert making for thirty years. She brings to us an obsessive approach to recipes (meticulously written and tested), a commitment to quality ingredients, and a profound understanding of technique.

Join us as Alice signs copies of her newest book Pure Dessert: True Flavors, Inspiring Ingredients and Simple Recipes and discusses her experience with chocolate. This event is being presented in partnership with Cooking with Amy, a Bay area food blog that specializes in original food writing providing recipes, restaurant and product reviews, contests, essays and insight into culinary news.

Cost: Free. Space is limited, so please RSVP.
Date: Thursday, January 17th, 6-8pm.
Tickets: RSVP now at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/26175.

TEA AND CHOCOLATE PAIRINGS WITH TEANCE

Co-presented by Tea Time Meetup January 31st, 7pm ($20/person) While tea and chocolate have both been important culinary indulgences throughout the ages, they have typically been savored individually. The combination of tea and chocolates, particularly Asian teas, has never been fully explored in the chocolate world - until now. After months of tea and chocolate selection pairings and tastings, a special collaboration between Charles Chocolates and Teance Fine Teas resulted in the creation of our exclusive collection of tea infused chocolates.

Now you can join us in exploring the pairing of chocolate and tea in our monthly Tea and Chocolate Pairing classes. In partnership with Teance Fine Teas, we will sample a variety of hand crafted chocolates by Charles Chocolates and pair them with teas sourced and selected by Teance Fine Teas. We will discuss the techniques and nuances of selecting pairings to create a harmonious balance between chocolate and tea.

In January we'll be partnering with the Tea Time Meetup Group of San Francisco, dedicated to bringing together tea lovers from all over the Bay Area.

Cost: $20 per person. Space is limited so advance registration is recommended.
Date: Thursday, January 31st, 7pm
Tickets: RSVP now at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/24194.

PRE-VALENTINE'S CHOCOLATE & CHAMPAGNE TASTING

Saturday, February 9th, 1-5pm. FREE. We know that most of you will wait until the last minute to buy Valentine's gifts for that special someone, but we're here to get you excited about the big day. We'll be hosting a Chocolate and Champagne tasting the Saturday before Valentine's Day and we'll be open from extended hours during the week.

We'll also be offering some special items for Valentine's Day, including red velvet heart shaped boxes in both large and small sizes, and an edible chocolate box featuring a selection of our heart shaped truffles.

All events take place at the Charles Chocolates Store & Chocolate Bar located at 6529 Hollis St. Emeryville, CA 94608. For more information, please contact us at 510-652-4412 ext. 311, email events@charleschocolates.com or visit www.charleschocolates.com/store.