February is time for YYC Hot Chocolate Fest! Restaurants and cafes throughout the city sport a signature hot chocolate, and proceeds from the sales go to Calgary Meals on Wheels. There's nothing better than spending a day sampling hot chocolate all around Calgary! Good for us, and for a good cause!
We took on the challenge of trying five drinks around Calgary. We say 'challenge' only because... have you ever tried drinking 5 hot chocolates in a day?! Fine, there's two of us so we shared them, but that's plenty. Like we said, it's for a good cause!
It was not easy selecting from the extensive list of hot chocolate options in the city. We wanted to visit different neighborhoods, and pop by a few places we hadn't been before. And of course, we were heavily swayed by the pictures on the YYC Hot Chocolate Fest website.
We started off our day at Fiasco Gelato, tucked away near Memorial and Barlow. Their creation was a decadent Red Velvet Hot Chocolate. It had red velvet cake crusted marshmallows, and cake crumbs throughout. It was sweet, rich and the chocolate flavour packed a punch! It literally felt like drinking a warm, mug of red velvet cake. Very convincing, very creative, and oh so good! What an outstanding way to kick off our hot chocolate adventure!
Next up was Luke's Drug Mart. With our hands on our hearts, we can safely say there is nothing more hipster in Calgary than Luke's Drug Mart in Bridgeland. With that in mind, their hot chocolate creation met our lofty expectations. Technically a drinking chocolate, this is a purist's dream come true. It had deep chocolate flavour, not too sweet with a toasted finish. It came paired with a spoon of goat cheese. The idea was to take a bite of the cheese and a sip of the drinking chocolate. The salty cheese really brought out the complex flavours of the chocolate. A unique way to experience hot chocolate.
We then headed to Deane House in Inglewood. This was our first time at this historic venue, and we can't wait to be back for a full meal. On their menu was Bergamot & Sea Salt Hot Chocolate with Smoked Marshmallows. It had a strong profile of Earl Grey (V's favourite tea!), coupled with a deep, rich chocolate flavour. The smoked marshmallow was brûléed, reminiscent of a high brow glamping experience. It was just the right amount of sweet, with the sea salt bringing it all together. Absolutely divine!
Our penultimate stop was at Analog on 17th Avenue. They offered The Corbeaux Hot Chocolate, made with Lindt white chocolate flavoured with basil. It was topped with delicious vanilla marshmallows, and served with a white chocolate chip cookie. It was fabulous! Basil and white chocolate, though unconventional together, were a dynamic duo. The white chocolate was sweet, the basil was fresh and the cookie was an excellent dipping companion. Talk about a flavour party - what a treat!
We ended our Hot Chocolate pilgrimage at Sauce in Killarney. One of our favourite summer activities is camping while eating an inordinate amount of s'mores. We just had to try this S'mores Hot Chocolate. It looked amazing, with a giant marshmallow topped with graham cracker crumbs and espresso drizzle. The topping was the highlight of this treat. We chipped away at the giant marshmallow with the help of our forks. It certainly satisfied our winter s'mores craving. The hot chocolate was good, but didn't have the same depth or decadence as our previous four stops. What really intrigued us about Sauce was the Italian market and restaurant. P even picked up a bag of their house roasted coffee.
All in all, we had some amazing hot chocolates, supported a great cause, and got huge a sugar rush! YYC Hot Chocolate Fest runs until the end of February - don't miss out!
V's Final Word: My favourite was the hot chocolate from Deane House. The complex bergamot flavours, the rich chocolate texture and the smoked marshmallow did me in. Combining Earl Grey and chocolate is genius! If I had unlimited money, and the propensity to burn unlimited calories, I would drink this all day, every day!
P's Final Word: I appreciate it when challenges like this inspire creativity, innovation, and thinking outside the box. With that in mind, I really liked the drinking chocolate from Luke's Drug Mart. Goat cheese and pure chocolate was a unique experience. My favourite, however, was the Corbeaux from Analog. The combination of white chocolate and basil was unconventional, delicious, and dipping the cookie was an awesome bonus!