HoCho Fest Day 26: Bacchu's Dream

The penultimate day of the hot chocolate festival is upon us! I took this opportunity to make a quick trip down to Cocoa Nymph before other evening obligations came upon me.

Bacchu's Dream: Made from 72% dark chocolate with red wine
reduction and apple ginger compote.
Served with walnut shortbread (vegan).
($6.65)

 This particular beverage was made with coconut milk (though I ordered almond - this works, too!), and I thought I could detect an aroma of red wine before I even took a sip of the drink. 

WHOA. I definitely could smell it before I sipped it - I realized this upon actually sipping it, and tasting what turned out to be a very strong red wine flavour. My expectation had been to experience more of a red wine undertone, rather than a half-wine half-chocolate drink. This was slightly distressing as I am not a fan of wine, so the taste was overwhelming, and I struggled to detect anything else about the drink for a few sips. Eventually, though, I was able to pick up on some of the apple ginger compote, as little pieces of apple made their way to my mouth as I sipped.

Now that walnut shortbread cookie - that was amazing! It was chewy and had texture from the walnuts in it, and would be perfect to dip in a less wine-y hot chocolate or some tea in the morning, I think.

It was a nice night with a big moon in the sky as I left, and it felt like the week would be ending on a good note. Valentine's Day, big birthday, and the beginning of our reading break - I would expect no less from such a day!

I just couldn't finish it...

HoCho Fest Day 19: Hera's Habit

Thursdays are long days, and long days call for a reward. Luckily, I can count on every day holding a reward of some sort during the hot chocolate festival! Today I reaped my day's prize at none other than Cocoa Nymph, who is into their third festival item introduced this week.

"Hera's Habit"
Made from 50% deep milk chocolate with malted milk balls.
Served with vanilla bean cinnamon shortbread.
($6.55)

As is usual, I ordered my beverage with a dairy-free alternative to reduce the effects of existing milk in the drink's components. It was delicious. The "deep milk chocolate" was smooth and added weight to the lighter almond milk's body. The chocolate's flavour was really excellent. 

Malted milk ball.

 The malt ball on its own was grainy - and good! Particularly with the hot chocolate becoming mixed in with it. I learned what malt is so that I would understand what I was consuming before I mixed it into the drink - and I suppose it is basically grain that has been "steeped, germinated, and dried", and reminded me of eating cereal that had been left for quite some time in a bowl of milk - which is DELICIOUS (personal taste). 

Once it was all mixed in, I found the malt added new texture and weight to the drink, and allowed the taste to settle and linger on my tongue for longer and really gave all of my tastebuds the opportunity to experience the drink.

As for the cookie, it was distinctly cinnamony - it was not moist (since it was a sugar cookie), and therefore begged to be dipped into the hot chocolate. This of course led to the blending of vanilla, cinnamon, and chocolate; all of which get along very well.

After a long Thursday, this full-bodied drink with gentle flavours that seemed to give my tongue a hug with every sip was just the ticket to carry me through the rest of the evening's obligations. As well, to celebrate the successful completion of the most tedious part of my academic week.

The shop is warm and cozy-feeling, and I hope to return to try their final item, which sounds amazing! I had actually hoped it had come out today, but I am by no means disappointed by what I had. Come Saturday, I may return. In the meantime, I will look fondly upon my solitary time spent in Cocoa Nymph today as their only customer at the time, as I enjoyed what was a delicious treat.

Hmm, I kind of like this font again...

HoCho Fest Day 4: Aphrodite's Delight

This, the fourth day of my hot chocolate adventures, marked the first day I was unable to finish my treat! However, the gained knowledge of this location will surely benefit my happiness in the future, and I will certainly be returning to try another of their Hot Chocolate Festival items in the weeks to come. Today I visited Cocoa Nymph!

I was instantly comfortable upon entering the tiny hideaway near the street corner: It was cozy, it felt like a grandma's house, and it was full of handmade chocolate.

The featured item today was Aphrodite's Delight, a vegan almond milk hot chocolate accented by a mango-rosemary blend and paired with vegan chocolate fudge (wow)! I had already started falling for the place itself, so I eagerly ordered the day's treat.

Made from 72% dark chocolate, with mango rosemary puree and almond milk
(vegan and dairy free).
Served with a side of rosemary anise fudge.

I started with the fudge - it was a thick and chewy texture (yum yum), and was strongly flavoured with the rosemary and anise combination. If you enjoy exotic flavours such as anise, it is a unique fudge in my limited fudge experience! I personally would have enjoyed more chocolate (heh heh).

Then, I moved forth to the hot chocolate. It was very thick and sat heavy on the tongue with its dark chocolate flavour. There were noticeable, but understated and not overwhelming, rosemary undertones to it. I struggled to pick out any of the mango flavour, and eventually resolved to just continue drinking it!

Unfortunately, the rosemary undertones in combination with the side of flavourful fudge (small, but fudge generally overwhelms me) saturated my taste buds quickly and rendered me feeling unable to complete the entire treat. 

While I fear the red wine reduction could leave me saturated again, I think my next Cocoa Nymph treat will be "Bacchu's Dream" in the last week of the festival! Or something else in between - yes, that sounds good...

Be back soon!