HoCho Fest Day 12: The Jamaican Kiss

A field trip downtown for myp hot took me nearer to some of the farther off locations of the festival, so I took advantage of this spare time and went to the Vancouver Convention Centre - such a beautiful place! I went in the wrong entrance, so I got to detour through a lower level to return to the West Plaza, and there is lovely art and design throughout, and I was all by myself to enjoy it. Eventually, with the help of an eager guide, I found Leonidas Chocolates.

I had not realized how many options they offered for the festival, and was greeted with six when I walked in! This is two more than what is currently listed online. Tempted by the two darker chocolate options, I decided to resist and go with my decision made ahead of time: The Jamaican Kiss. There were also a handful of treats to choose from to accompany it (so many decisions...), these included: a small cheesecake, ice cream, a liege waffle, two pieces of fancy chocolate, or a macaroon flavour of my choice. I vouched for a dark chocolate ganache macaroon and sat down while I admired the quaint shop and looked over the ocean, where the mountains sat so close and wrapped in a sash of banner clouds in the dimming evening.

When my drink arrived, I was immediately excited. I already knew the major components I would be tasting: Chocolate, coconut milk (with soy milk), and rum-infused pineapple purée (what?!), but it just LOOKED good - there was chocolate drizzled down the inside walls of the glass mug and they had decorated it with a cursive "L" for Leonidas! 

Belgian Milk Chocolate flavoured with coconut, pineapple and rum. 
Served with customer's choice of liege waffle, cheesecake, chocolate, or a scoop of Italian ice cream.

($7.15)

The first sip was very smooth, and all of the flavours were immediately evident and delicious! The strongest flavours were the chocolate mixed with soy and coconut milk, as they made up the body of the drink, but the pineapple purée made its way to the front of the drink, and the citrus taste of the pineapple was muted by the rum and the creamy milks.

It was a full flavour, and nothing was overwhelmed or overwhelming - it tasted perfectly balanced. Perhaps important to note: I am a fan of pulp in juices. For this reason, I quite enjoyed that the pineapple purée was very much from real pineapple and added texture throughout the entire consumption experience.

Leonidas is worth returning to. This conclusion is worth reaching based solely on the fact that drinking my beverage resembled drinking a warm, chocolaty piña colada! While that may sound unappealing at first, I can assure you... It is not.