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This past Sunday we headed to Southcentre Mall to support the kickoff to this year’s YYC Hot Chocolate Fest. The set up this year was very different, instead of being able to walk around and talk with the vendors, instead you had to wait in line and visit the five vendors that were present. We got there before the kickoff and talked to a couple people then headed to Analog for a morning beverage. At five to ten we headed back and there was already a line up formed. So we got into line.
While waiting in line, one of the people from Meals on Wheels talked a little about the event and what they do. It was cool learning a little. After his informational session we got to finally learn which vendors were participating into today’s kickoff. There was Analog, Boxcar Cafe, The Chocolate Lab, Waves, and Family Squeezed Lemonade. Each vendor brought a totally different hot chocolate to the table.
The Thai Chili Chelada from Analog was delicious. They used chilies in their hot chocolate and it was not as spicy as what we thought it would be. We only wished that the hot chocolate was hotter (temperature) since it seemed to be a little colder than we thought it should be. Overall they had amazing flavour.
The Gingerbread Hot Chocolate from Boxcar was interesting. The Hot chocolate really smelled like gingerbread, but when you tasted it, the flavouring was subtle and not overwhelming and they had combined the flavours nicely. Again we wished it was hotter (temperature) though. Overall it was a nice balance of flavour.
The Midnight Casanova from The Chocolate Lab. This was a true hot chocolate since they used four different kinds of chocolate in their hot chocolate. We thought it was going to be so different than it was, instead the hot chocolate was very smooth and delicious. Overall the hot chocolate was the smoothest of all the vendors.
The Peach Melba Hot Chocolate from Waves. This was a very interesting hot chocolate since it tasted like peaches. I think if it had been hotter it would have tasted a lot better than it did. We also felt like it was a little strange placing peach flavouring into hot chocolate since those are two flavours that you really don’t see together. In this case, it works nicely together.
The Root Beer Hot Chocolate from Family Squeezed Lemonade. This was a strange hot chocolate since there is root beer in the hot chocolate as well as root beer cotton candy on the top. It was a little to sweet for our liking. My opinion on this is that is might be better as a cold chocolate drink as when I think of root beer I think of a large frosted glass at A&W. Nevertheless I applaud their creativity on this beverage.
As we finished going through sampling the hot chocolates the line had already reached The Bay. We waited in line one hour and ten minutes and were guests number 110. So there was still quite a few people still in line. We went back around noon just to see how things were progressing and the line was still extremely long. It was a great launch event for them!
Extreme Coffee Freak 
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