Chocolate
Retired2008-2011 · Color No. 331
Introducing Chocolate, made by The Fiesta Tableware Company from 2008 to 2011. It's a rich and decadent shade of brown, reminiscent of velvety smooth chocolate. Chocolate adds a warm and inviting touch to any tablescape. Mix and match Chocolate with colors like Ivory and Sunflower for a cozy and rustic table setting, or pair it with Plum and Slate for a more refined and sophisticated combination.
Production
Chocolate was retired in 2011, so it is a hunt for secondhand pieces now. Fiesta Factory Direct is where the colors still being made are, if you are filling a set.
Shop Fiesta Factory Direct (opens in a new tab)Notes on Chocolate
Chocolate was Fiesta's first brown, arriving in 2008 as one of three colors introduced that year - the first time the company had ever done three at once, for its 75th anniversary push. It ran three years. It's a genuinely dark brown with red in it, close enough to Cinnabar that the two are easy to confuse in a photograph. Brown is the shortest chapter in Fiesta's palette: only two colors ever, and neither is still made. It arrived during the move into bakeware, where a warm dark neutral made more sense than it did on a dinner plate.
Using Chocolate on a table
Chocolate has enough color to be noticed without taking over, which makes it a good second or third piece - a salad plate or a serving bowl rather than the whole setting. At L* 17 it is a genuinely dark plate, so pale food stands out on it and dark food disappears. It separates strongly from a white cloth (14.5:1) and less so from dark wood.
Below, 5 combinations built only from colors Fiesta has actually produced. Each says which rule it follows, and which pieces you can still buy today.
The pairing in its own description
Named in the descriptionThese colors are named alongside Chocolate in this guide's description of it.
Buy these to go with it
Chocolate was retired in 2011, but these are all in production now - the set you can actually finish buying.
Opposite on the wheel
Sky sits roughly opposite Chocolate in hue, which is the highest-contrast pairing the palette offers. The neutrals keep it from shouting.
- Sky
- Sapphire
- Green (Light)
-
Your color Chocolate
Three-way split
Jade and Lilac sit about a third of the way around the color wheel from Chocolate in each direction. Evenly spaced hues stay lively without any one taking over.
Next-door hues
These sit within about 55° of Chocolate on the color wheel. Neighboring hues blend instead of competing, which suits a table you want to feel warm rather than sharp.
- Ivory
- Peony
- Turf Green
-
Your color Chocolate
Where Chocolate sits in the line
Chocolate was the first brown Fiesta made; 1 more have followed it. It lasted 3 years where the median for its era is 7, which is why it turns up so rarely. In 2008 it arrived alongside Ivory and Marigold and took the place of Persimmon and Heather on the shelf. What else happened in 2008 →
Closest colors in the palette
Ranked by CIEDE2000 (ΔE) against Chocolate. Under about ΔE 5 two colors are hard to tell apart side by side - useful when you are identifying an unmarked piece.
On the table alongside Chocolate
18 colors were in production at the same time. The 10 nearest in the timeline: