A Chocolate-y Afternoon Tea Party

UPDATE: Cally herself will be in the shop with us for the afternoon! She is preparing 3 different tea blends, and will be selling some of her wares as well. This is a good chance to stock up and hear a bit about her future plans!

Rachel, in particular, has been waiting to host a chocolate-y tea party for quite some time now, and it’s finally here!

We hope you will join us on Sunday, October 23rd, to celebrate fall and chocolate at the shop. Three custom tea blends from Cally’s Teas will be served alongside our sweet and savoury menu:

Pear and walnut tarts with The Cheesiry’s Pecorino, Radish tartines with butter and sea salt and Pickled cucumber sandwiches with Smoky Valley chévre.

On the sweeter side there will be ginger scones with lemon-white chocolate cream, orange shortbread dipped in Valrhona’s 64% Manjari and an assortment of our bark and confections.

Tea will be served at 1pm, and again at 2:30pm. We will have a few tables in the shop for those who would like to take seats, but please note that (due to the size of our space) we encourage mingling amongst other chocophiles.

Tickets may be purchased online, by phone or in shop for $12. All guests will receive a 10% discount off of any purchase.

Thoughts: Escazú Roasted Pumpkin Seed and Guajillo Chili

The recent Escazú shipment was long anticipated, and happily, the bars I’ve sampled have been living up to expectations. Thoughts on their EZCA Goat’s Milk bar coming soon, but first up is the pumpkin seed and chili.

Of all this bar’s notable aspects, the smell is quite something to behold, and I encourage you to linger a bit. The roasted pumpkin seeds come through beautifully, giving a slightly smoky depth. And the chile is right at the surface, hinting at the spicy notes you are bound to find in this blended bar.

As you snap the bar, its pale pumpkin seeds are immediately revealed amongst the smooth chocolate. Although subtler than expected, fruity, nutty notes given by the pumpkin seeds are the dominant first impressions with this one. Next is cinnamon and a welcome sweetness that holds through to the subtle heat of the Guajillo chile at the end.

A beautiful, nutty spiciness is the lasting note in this bar, leaving the pallet refreshed (and in my case, ready for more). The crunchiness expected from the pumpkin seeds is, like other aspects of this bar, subtle – not quite as delicate as crystals of sea salt, yet far less intense than cocoa nibs. The time, care and passion Escazú puts into their bars and relationships with cacao producers (similar to Amano) certainly comes through in this bar, and I encourage to give it a try.

Combined with their flavourful single origin EZCA line, featuring beans from Venezuela and Costa Rica, Escazú is certainly ready to step up with the likes of Theo, Amano, Patric, and other bean to bar makers coming out of the U.S. And we are happy to give them a shelf in the Shop.

Full Again

The Shop is fully stocked once again in anticipation of our expanded hours beginning November 9th. All four Bonnat bars are back, as well as Cluizel, Pralus, Valrhona Manjari Orange, and Corallo. Our Chocophilia section is fully stocked once again (including the Fleur de Sel milk and Hot Chocolate bars), and there are lots of Coconut, Dulce de Leche and Peanut Butter cups waiting for you in the truffle case. And now on to some new treats.

We’ve just received a brand new shipment of Coppeneur of Germany. Single Origin Ecuador, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and a Trinidadian with Habanero and Lavender are all waiting for tasting. We also received some of their truffle bars (think Zotter style with these ones). Flavours include Saffron and Orange, Panna Cotta and Red Berries, and one which is certainly my favourite – Black Beer (notes of coffee and toasted malt balance Coppeneur’s beautiful chocolate incredibly well here).

We also received a much anticipated shipment of Escazú blended bars, as well as their EZCA single origin bars. The talk of the Shop has certainly been the hand-crafted Venezuelan 60% with Goat’s Milk – a dark bar with the creaminess of milk and a slight goat’s milk tang just towards the end.

More fall truffle flavours are certainly making their way into the Shop, but the S’more Cup has been the hit of the week, flying out of the truffle case all day today. Home-made vanilla marshmallow in a dark chocolate cup, with crunchy graham wafer at the base and top makes for a perfectly decadent fall treat.

Also back by popular demand, is chocolate dipped ginger. We’ve also added chocolate dipped apricots to the collection for a bit of fall sweetness.

Speaking of truffles, we have recently started carrying Jacqueline Jacek‘s truffle collection. Based in Sherwood Park, she has gained quite the reputation this past year for her beautiful fashion inspired collections. Currently in the truffle case is the LouLou Belle collection (picture below: Pink Grapefruit Sherbet).

And finally, Rachel is still whipping up fresh flourless chocolate cakes and brownies throughout the week and we’ve received many excellent comments (and sometimes just strange moaning noises) on their deliciousness when sampling them in the Shop. But we’ve recently given the packaging a makeover, so these little treats are now perfect for fall gift giving, or taking home yourself to unwrap and enjoy.

I hope you enjoy the last little bit of warm fall weather this week. And keep in mind that snow means two excellent things – more drinking chocolate evenings, which are absolutely essential for keeping warm, and our Christmas collection in the next month or so. We’ll keep you posted. Until then, enjoy your chocolate.