HoCho Fest Day 8: The Evita

Ah, the beautiful day arrived when it came time to go to Bella Gelatería! This was probably my favourite stop from last year's hot chocolate festival, and this year it seems they somehow stepped up their game.. In a couple of ways.

gBAR flavoured with salted caramel - Argentina style. 
Served with Erin Ireland's "To Die For" Banana Bread. 

(~$8.50)

The "gBAR" mentioned in the description is the frozen gelato bar; this is where the specific flavours of each of the 6 available hot chocolate festival items come from. The beverage comes as a more-or-less basic hot chocolate of varying darkness with soy and almond milk options available, and the gBAR is then stirred into the hot chocolate. My company and I each chose a different beverage flavour - Mine, the Evita; hers, Monkey's Uncle; his, the London Foggy.

The gBAR reminded me of a Fudgsicle in its texture - perfectly frozen and creamy and biteable without hurting the teeth! It was smooth with caramelly flavour, and it melted easily into the hot chocolate as I began to stir.

As for the almond milk hot chocolate on its own, it was not particularly smooth. This was not bad, though, as it was "rough" with almond, nutty flavour and dark chocolate. After I mixed in the gBAR, it seemed there was too much hot chocolate for the flavour to be strongly mixed - and part of my bar fell into the bottom! I figured this may serve me well later, but in the mean time I could not continue stirring it with my tiny gBAR stick. There was a subtle caramel flavour at this point, however.

3/4 of the way through the beverage, the lost and unstirrable chunk of gelato could be swirled into the hot chocolate with a couple swooshes of the cup. The caramel now became evident and cancelled the rough dark chocolate texture and the drink became smooth and creamy.

The hot chocolate was delectable, and my company seems to have similar sentiments - we were VERY satisfied when leaving! Partially due to satiation as well, I would recommend going without being too full beforehand (but have something nutritious to absorb the chocolate blow!).

There seemed to be a majority vote to return for gelato (a particularly strong vote from M to return for lavender gelato), so I imagine those photos will crop up one day. We ended our day with sushi and then headed back for football to make use of the deliciousness (it worked, we won).

For more information about the "To Die For" Banana Braed, check this link.

HoCho Fest Day 5: Put De Lime In De Coconut

After a hot chocolate hiatus involving career path searching, banana bread, and anxiety over what I am going to do with myself next year, I returned to my delicious trek today with a trip to Chocolate Arts.

It was tucked away on West 3rd in a location I would not have expected to find a chocolate artistry shop! However, I was pleasantly surprised when I entered and was greeted by a wave of chocolate aroma.

Then the decision: A Snowball's Chance in Hell or Put De Lime In De Coconut? One had ice cream, one had coconut milk blended with another milk of your choice... I went with the latter as I am always interested in trying new dairy-free creations. (Luckily my company chose the former option so I could sample both.)

Single origin Mexican chocolate with Mexican chili poured over house made chocolate ice cream. 
Accompanied by a flourless chocolate cookie.

Single origin Venezuela chocolate with organic coconut and kalamansi lime.
Accompanied by a toasted coconut shortbread. 

($6.25)

You read that first one correctly - there was chili in the hot chocolate that was poured over the ice cream. That sent a spicy flavour kicker right to the back of my throat when I tried a little sip of it!

As for my choice, it was laid out most elegantly with the kalamansi lime-vanilla mixture in a shot glass on the side, waiting to be added to the coconut-soy milk chocolate blend served in glass. The flavour of the hot chocolate (sans lime-vanilla) was surprisingly light - I had expected it to be thick from the coconut milk. The glass was rimmed with sugar and it dissolved ever so slightly as the drink passed over it - then I added the lime and my company added his chili to his ice cream.

The lime was quite tart - and I added more than I probably would have otherwise because I forgot to take a picture when I added the first touch (and neglected to sample the balance at that point). The vanilla with the lime helped bring some balance to its power, but the drink went from light and gently chocolaty to exotic and flavour-crazy very quickly! It was more than I would have liked on the lime side, but I enjoyed the interesting blend nonetheless - helped along by the sugar on the glass and the coconut shavings on the shot glass which I sprinkled into my drink. If you like citrusy lime flavours and the taste of coconut, this is a good one for you! The coconut shortbread on the side was delectable. I would return here for samples of all of their chocolate and the homemade cookies and other goodies behind the counter.

Until tomorrow,

HoCho Fest Day 1: Passionista

Today (actually, yesterday) marked the beginning of the 2014 Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival! I am very excited, and thusly decided to make my first stop Thomas Haas Chocolates. Here, they offered the "Campfire" and the "Passionista" - I tried the latter.

"Fresh passion fruit-infused hot chocolate with Grand Marnier Chantilly, served with passion fruit Pate de Fruit."

($5.95)

I ordered mine to be made with almond milk, while my friend Alex ordered the Campfire made regularly (my small taste yielded happy taste buds). The woman who took my order informed me that no one had ordered the Passionista with almond milk yet, and to return with a review for her. This, more or less, is what I said:

It was very unique! The passion fruit taste was very strong throughout the entire drink and was unlike any thing I had tried in a beverage before, particularly one with chocolate. I found that the almond milk offered a very clear nutty tone to the entire drink, which was not bad! However, I believe that if I had ordered it with soy milk, the greater creaminess of the soy milk would have better absorbed the fruit flavours. The fruit flavours are very unique (in my experience) to have with hot chocolate, and having the almond flavour remain slightly separate from the fruit flavours was slightly overwhelming.

Overall, I would love to try it again with soy milk, and am happy that I tried one with a sexy name to start off a delicious journey for the next four weeks! The passion fruit jellies served on the side were also delectable.