1059 Alberni Street
Vancouver, BC
Taste of Vietnam - Hot chocolate made with Li Chu 64% chocolate (a single origin chocolate from Vietnam); served with a coffee madeleine and a chocolate dipped, bay leaf-infused ganache
I originally wasn't going to try Thierry's hot chocolate but at the insistence of K-chan, I gave it a shot. Thierry was offering their "Taste of Vietnam" hot chocolate for the first half the festival. Their other hot chocolate flavour would be available during the second half of the fest.
Although the drink was nice and smooth with a good chocolate taste, it seemed kind of plain. The dark chocolate ganache piece was a nice touch, giving my taste buds another hit of smooth rich chocolate.
Thomas Haas
2539 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC
Studying all the participants' menu, I knew I really wanted to go to Thomas Haas. Having never been to the West Broadway location (I've only been to the North Shore one), I was pretty excited to visit this shop!
Home Run (Black Forest in a Cup) - Dark (67%) hot chocolate flavoured with Black Forest kirsch Chantilly and brandied cherries; served with a baked chocolate truffle
Thomas Haas had two flavours available all throughout the festival. I knew W was not a fan of cherry so I went for the Home Run. I was definitely wowed by this hot chocolate! I, myself, am actually not a big cherry fan either but I really loved this drink!! It was more of an adult hot-chocolate though because of the boozy kirsch and brandied cherries hehe...
Hasselnuss - Milk (49%) hot chocolate infused with caramelized hazelnuts and lemon zest; served with orange madeleines
This chocolatey drink was more up W's alley. The hot chocolate was strongly infused with blitzed caramelized hazelnuts and the taste was lighter since it used milk chocolate.
Swiss Bakery
143 East 3rd Avenue
Vancouver, BC
On another snowy, wintery day, I had W take me out to Swiss Bakery so I could try their hot chocolate offering.
Winter's Harvest - a decadent Belgian white chocolate with Genmaicha (Japanese matcha with roasted rice) paired with a leafy black sesame choux puff
Their white hot chocolate was melded with a green tea made of roasted rice and green tea powder. Although I liked the combination of tea and chocolate, the white chocolate was too sweet for my liking. Their description also noted that it came with a black sesame choux puff but it was more of a flaky shortbread cookie...
Earnest Ice Cream
1829 Quebec Street
Vancouver, BC
Just a short walk away was Earnest Ice Cream so of course I had to pay a visit! Even though I was a little full from the white hot chocolate at Swiss Bakery, it just seemed like a waste not to go!
Spiked Hot Chocolate - a drinking chocolate inspired by their "Milk Chocolate" ice cream, topped with Amaretto-flavoured whipped cream and served with a scoop of Amaretto ice cream; both topped with house made almond brittle
Like the Home Run hot chocolate from Thomas Haas, this was also a slightly boozy drink. The light milk chocolate drink wasn't anything extraordinary but the Amaretto whipped cream elevated this to an-adult only fancy-looking hot chocolate. I actually liked the Amaretto ice cream on the side more than the hot chocolate. But hey, this is Earnest Ice Cream after all! I guess that's kind of expected? Haha!
Out of the 5 different chocolatey drinks, my favourite was the Home Run since I'm a dark chocolate fan. Now I'm looking forward to the 8th annual hot chocolate festival!
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