In a Tizzy

Category: adventures

  • 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 24: Brunette Bangle

    Today was a hot chocolate festival day marked with both high and low moments.


    First, the low (because then we can move on from them): Really there is only one, and it is having made the discovery that Thierry Chocolaterie stopped participating in the festival as of yesterday – I do not know why, but this means there will be one location that I do not get to attend while it participates in the festival – perhaps I will go visit anyways!

    The highs: I was able to enjoy a very unique and delicious hot chocolate with three lovely people! The four of us ventured to Koko Monk this afternoon.

    Having done a bit of research ahead of time, I learned that all of their creations are preservative and chemical free! All of the flavours come from their natural sources. A novelty that I appreciate, and a point of pride in their establishment made clear by the chocolatiers that served us today.

    Brunette Bangle: Hot chocolate with the exotic hint of curry.
    Served with your choice of cookie.
    ($6.75)
    I was hesitant in approaching this unique flavour combination, as I do not generally like curries because the majority I try are spicy and have caused me to avoid them. However, this soy-milk beverage was a surprise to me: It was a really nice balance of real, homemade dark chocolate, and curry flavours! The curry flavours were not spicy, but added a unique dimension to the drink and paired well with the dark chocolate, which was bitter and full of flavour. 

    Halfway through the drink, we stirred it with the spoon provided and whew! Curry flavour was in abundance. After more mixing and including the chocolate drizzled along the sides of the glass mug, the flavours seemed to balance again and reach a very happy place.

    As for the cookie.. There is not much to say, and not much needs to be said: It is a cookie filled with delicious jam and covered in soft and powdery sweetness. It had the soft, chewy texture that I so love in my cookies.



    This spot is a definite need-to-try if you’re ever in the Kitsilano area! I want to sample all of their yummy chocolate confections and take a stab at that chocolate fondue fountain… Droooooooling.


  • HoCho Fest Day 23: Monkey’s Uncle

    Happy B.C. Family Day!

    To celebrate the day, some of the folks I love came out to my end and we all went for “Italian soul food” at the restaurant Incendio. My pasta was delectable, and the crusts of my family members’ pizzas were as well.

    S and N’s pizza.
    My rotini pomodoro pasta.
    Mom and J’s pizza.



     












    After our lunch, we made the journey over to the hot chocolate location for the day – the second trip to Bella Gelatería! I thought it would be a good spot to showcase some of the festival’s creativity and unique locations to my family.

    Monkey’s Uncle: gBAR made from banana liquer and swirls of “To Die For”
    banana bread crumb. Served with a slice of Erin Ireland’s “To Die For”
    Banana Bread.


    The gelato gBAR for this drink tasted SO GOOD! It tasted exactly like banana bread, except it was in a popcicle form. S and N tried this as well, but tried it instead in a cone and dipped it in their white hot chocolate (with moderate success). 

    Dipping our banana bread gBAR into the dark almond milk hot chocolate made it melt, and the oozing flavours tasted oh-so-yummy. The hot chocolate was dark and nutty from the almond milk, and was quite filling. Similarly to my last experience at BG, the gBAR did not flavour the hot chocolate very strongly, and the flavours of it were hardly present until the last quarter of the drink, where it became thicker with the gelato and hints of banana crept up.

    As was the case last time, the “To Die For” banana bread was delectable, and I think that everyone enjoyed their hot chocolate experiences as well. 



    I personally think that last year’s hot chocolate at BG was superior because of how strong the flavours were. However, this year’s is very unique in how you come to have the specialty drinks – to make this year’s top last year’s, I think the drinks should be smaller so that the gBARs can flavour the hot chocolate more effectively (maybe 12oz drink cups instead of what appear to be 16oz ones would help).

  • HoCho Fest Day 21: Winter Citrus


    Today(yesterday)’s festival item was truly a blessing in how it soothed my very fragile mind from today (yesterday)! The day had felt overwhelming for no identifiable reason, so a kind offer to accompany me to my location for the day was very welcomed. Location of choice: The Last Crumb Cafe.

    According to their website, The Last Crumb was started by two sisters who were/are “obsessed with food” – and it shows! It has an atmosphere that, to me, showed an expression of fun-loving passion for what they do. Evidence to further their food obsession claim is found in the pastry cabinets, full of scones and cookies and cookie sandwiches and pies and cakes that all look homemade. While I did not buy one, I would very much like to at some point.

    Take a trip to Seville with this hot chocolate flavoured with orange blossom.
    Served with a orange vanilla marshmallow.
    ($7.91)

     Note: Cost may be increased due to getting it with almond milk!
    I was firstly impressed by the wonderful foam on this drink – almond milk is tough to get foamy sometimes! It immediately reminded me of a Christmas chocolate orange (the kind that you “whack and unwrap”)! I personally enjoy those flavours together, so it was delicious for me. Not everyone is a fan of fruit and chocolate, though. 

    Beyond the foam, the orange-chocolate flavour became more clearly its orange blossom-chocolate flavour – there was an added aroma to the flavour, as the milk was much more heavily infused with it than was the foam of the drink. It took a few sips to get used to, but once I did, it was lovely! A welcomed aftertaste that warmed me up on what was another very chilly day.

    It was thicker and creamier than I had expected, perhaps this came from the type of chocolate used to make the drink; regardless, the almond milk turned out to be a nice choice. The nutty, chocolaty, and citrusy flavours all meshed well together for my liking! Personally, I believe it would make a good chocolate bar flavour.



    The orange vanilla marshmallow was gigantic and covered in vanilla powder that blew across the table every time we took a breath near the cup, ha ha. It added a slight vanilla sweetness to the drink.

    I loved the decorations inside the shop – plates and elegant tea cups all over the walls made it dainty and reminded me of a grandmother’s collection, but presented in a younger and more modern way. Definitely inspiring for future decorating ideas!










  • HoCho Fest Day 17: Chartreuse Milkshake

    This evening’s hot chocolate festival stop called for an upscale, classy establishment with an unassuming exterior offering a hot chocolate “inspired” cocktail. CC and I headed down to Uva Wine Bar and Bittered Sling to meet my fellow later and to get a head-start on checking out the location for ourselves.

    The interior was very warm, with red designs trimmed with silver decorating the walls around us. Red furniture and interior reflected warm red light throughout the wine bar. It felt very relaxing, but in a way that sort of demanded you relax while wearing your business-casual clothes – not that I’m complaining, it is nice (in my opinion) to find a unique place to go and dress up for!

     While we waited for the fellow to arrive so we could order our selected festival item, we examined the menu and found many tasty-sounding appetizers and decided upon the daily special of $2 bruschettas. The daily bruschetta was mostly squash, and was absolutely ah-MAZING – definitely inspiring to try and make my own squash spread with some yummy herbs and perhaps Daiya cheese if it cooperated?

    Uva’s HC-inspired cocktail: Citadelle gin, Green Chartreuse, cacao beans, lime
    and orange juice, Bittered Sling Malagasy chocolate bitters, egg white.
    Served with zeppoli (Italian donuts!) *Only served after 11A.M.
    ($12)

     I researched the Green Chartreuse ahead of time, as I was curious what this aspect of the beverage had in store – I would recommend anyone else looking into it as well! It is said to be made with 130 different herbs and is perhaps the only naturally green liqueur.

    Zeppoli (Italian donut)

     There were a lot of herbal flavours in it that became evident on the first sip – initially I thought that it was the standard potent alcohol flavour that surprised me, but upon inspecting my tastebuds, it was actually a party of herbs and citrus flavours dancing on my tongue! The lime and orange juice mixed really well with the herbs of the Chartreuse, and the gin added an extra kick that brought it to life. Each rest between sips was characterized by a nice aftertaste. AT first, it was tough to detect the cacao taste, but as we (since everyone shared) continued to sip, the tastes all became more present.

    As for the zeppoli? Well, we split it between the three of us, but I have never tried a treat with quite that texture and taste! The most accurate word I could think to describe its texture is “squishy”, somewhat like a marshmallow, I suppose, and it had strawberry preserve in the centre to bring a bit more of a tartness to the very sweet dough which was covered in cinnamon sugar. All-in-all, a lovely treat with lovely people at a new-found location for high-end snacking and socializing! Not too far from home, either.

  • HoCho Fest Day 15: Aloha Sweetie

    Another lovely day in the homeland – very chilly, but bright and sunny. It was a nice day to go have brunch with the first year family, and then go home for a few hours to celebrate the birthdays of more family!


    JA’s brunch.
    My brunch! Oatmeal cooked in apple juice. 

     As I was very tight on time, I went to snag a hot chocolate I had been dodging because of its white chocolate content (despite how sweet I once knew that flavour to be); however, today I returned to Terra Breads for their “Aloha Sweetie” festival item.

    Barry Callebaut White Hot Chocolate with hibiscus flower.
    Served with mountain berry marshmallow and lemon sugar cookie.

    I was disappointed to learn that this item on their menu had no dairy-free milk option, as it is pre-mixed for heating and aerating I suppose! Since I had no time to change plans if I wanted to get home in time, my fellow and I decided to share a few sips of this one and then be on our way (with two small and very delicious vanilla raspberry Valentine’s cookies in hand).

    “Aloha Sweetie” was exciting as it was pink, rather than any expected shade of chocolaty brown. Hibiscus sounded interesting as well, and I considered how it may compare to my only other notable experience with hibiscus – The Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher from Starbucks. 



    I was surprised by how strong the hibiscus flavour was! It was potent, but not bitter. The flavour was stronger than that of the Starbucks Refresher, but kept sweet and smooth because of the white chocolate. It was also interesting to have the flavour warm, as I had only ever tried it ice-cold before. The marshmallow it came with was huge! It was “mountain berry” flavoured; I did try a bite, out of curiosity, and if I still ate gelatin I imagine it would have been a filling and fruity and yummy treat to indulge in. There was also a sugar cookie included; nothing noteworthy to say about it, other than it was cute and standard and enjoyable! I enjoy the ambience of this Kitsilano location and their selection of foods and other items beyond bread (who knew?)


    This one was not left empty; 
    but if you don’t mind dairy, I imagine
    you’ll have a good time!

     

  • HoCho Fest Day 13: Twisted Romance

    What a sunny day we had here!

    With good company at my side, today’s hot chocolate festival visit took me to a spot I visited during last year’s festival: Gem Chocolates. To the unprimed eye, one may mistake the location for a small Bell outlet, based on its simplistic white and blue exterior – but when you walk inside, you are greeted with not the latest cell phones, but the delicious aroma of chocolates crafted by the store’s visionary, Glenn.

    Uncertain about the flavour, I ordered my Twisted Romance with soy milk rather than almond (slight uncertainty on Glenn’s face as he took my run-on-sentence order); you see, the second of three drinks offered at Gem’s is flavoured with Aussie black licorice (that’s how they’ve spelled it online, at least). As it has been some time since I indulged in anything of this flavour due to my acquired childhood aversion to it, I thought that the soy milk would cause less of a fuss flavour-wise.

    You’ll go gaga over hot chocolate made with Aussie natural black licorice. 
    Served with chocolate-dipped natural black licorice. 
    Available: January 25 – February 2


    I was surprised by my fondness of the drink – perhaps it was because I was being inducted into the black licorice world by way of creamy soy milk absorbing the stronger taste and not being shocked by it. AA and I both agreed that it was a very nice surprise! And beautifully topped with, what we eventually discovered was, chocolate dipped licorice (I couldn’t get a hold of it until I got to the bottom of the drink!).


    Alongside the drink, I was expecting the item listed online: chocolate-dipped natural black licorice. Out of kindness I’d like to think, Glenn acknowledged that A and I shared one beverage, and he gave us two types of treats: One, the chocolate-dipped licorice, and the other his “Zebra” creation. The Zebra (he pronounces it “zeh-bra” not “zee-bra”) is a “natural Australian black licorice infusion in dark ganache”… and it is delicious.

    The beverage was consumed with slight haste, as the sun was shining directly into the store window and was melting our chocolate and making it feel quite like summer time. Once complete, we turned our attention to Glenn, and I asked how he creates a black licorice-flavoured hot chocolate; his response was lengthy and sounded very impressive. Though I do not recall the process, I do know that he expressed his wishes for me to have tried it with almond milk, because it would have been a lighter milk and may have showcased the flavour a bit more. Kindly, again, he shared the raw ganache with us – prior to being added to a drink – and I think it would have been very good with almond milk!


    Amidst all of the enlightening conversation, I also learned why the shop is named as it is! But perhaps you should go speak to Glenn about that yourself, as it will give you a good excuse to enjoy a treat.




    Their next flavour has cherry and fig, so that should be fun!





  • Third Time’s the Charm? Interviewed Again

    Tuesday night marked my third round of the carousel interview process of becoming a residence advisor. It is not part of the process that occurs once you KNOW you are an advisor, but rather part of the process leading up to one of the following three points of contact:

    1. The phone call: You’ve got it! You will hear from the Residence Life Manager of the residence area that you have been assigned to, and will be informed that you’ve been offered a position to be an advisor the following academic year.
    2. The “who knows what might happen” e-mail: You have been placed on the alternate list; it is not a “no”, but it is not a “yes”. Based on others accepting their offers, and the retraction of some of those offers throughout the next several months, you may be hired later on. This will be dependent upon how your conveyed personality and attributes (during the interview process), along with perhaps your schedule, will complement a tentative team of advisors that has lost one of its members through one of the aforementioned processes.
    3. The e-mail: You have not been offered a position as a residence advisor. There were many applicants and many strong contenders, but unfortunately what was collected through the decision-making process did not leave you competitive above those who were hired.
    This year’s interview felt different than the two before it, as I went into it without expectations about what was going to happen after. I was not trying hard to impress anyone with my bouncy personality and peppy, cheery tone; I was simply being me, and presenting my honest assets and what I felt were the contributions I could bring to a team. Additionally, I had gone in without 100% commitment to the idea of being an advisor – a large part of me wants to, because I think it is a path that would fulfill me and lead me towards something I could really enjoy doing for the first part of my life (whatever it is); another part of me is resistant to the moderate control over my schedule (required to be “in” 4 nights every week). That is the biggest concern, I think, which goes hand-in-hand with being placed where they think I am suited which will most definitely be far from that guy I’m fond of.

    I have several other opportunities: Peer Wellness Coach, Wellness Peer, UBC REC, Residence Hall Association (take 3), amongst other things that may arise; more feedback and interviews still lie ahead.

    The usual order of events goes like this:
    – Apply for residence lottery
    – Apply for advising
    – Get placed around 2,500 on the residence waitlist
    – Hear that I have been “alternate listed” for advising
    – Go for council instead
    – Get council position

    In less than two weeks I will hear about residency, and advising by the end of February. In the beginning of February I will hear about interviews and more applications to fill out.

    The next couple of months will be full of craziness and elections and tests and fun times and frustrating times, I am sure. I look forward to finding out what may happen.

    —


    As a celebration for my third interview being completed, we decided to go out for dinner – I wasn’t wanting super filling food, but I was hungry and had not eaten very much, so I thought of a place I had been wanting to share with my fella: Nūba!

    Halloumi Cheese, pita, Garden Falafel
    Not pictured: Najib’s Special (crispy cauliflower tossed with lemon and sea salt)

    Dessert: Various baklava – vegan varieties!

  • 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.