Extreme Coffee Freak

Deconstructed Italian Cioccolato – $5.75

Have it your way! Mix all the amazing components together at once, or enjoy it detail by detail.. mixing it in your mouth, just the way you want it: Thick Italian hot chocolate next to deep fried ice cream in a Nutella rimmed cup, followed by a decadent thick orange whipped cream and 1.5oz of Brandy to complement the creation (Non-alcoholic option available),  and a delicious chocolate covered cookie straw. Find your unique mixing taste and indulge in our deconstructed creation.

We really liked the aspect that you could try the elements separately or mix them all together. We tried each of the elements and they were amazing by themselves and when we mixed them all together the flavour was delicious. Unfortunately we could not taste orange in the whip, we could really taste the cinnamon more than anything else. The thick chocolate was warm and decadent, and when poured over the ice cream it was really good.

The homemade ice cream was deep fried with cornflakes and chip pieces which was a nice addition. The only sad part was that when we mixed the melted chocolate with the ice cream it was really good, but there were chunks. Don’t like having chunks that we have to chew when we are having a hot chocolate.

Their spirited option is $11 and it is not outrageous since $2 gets donated to Meals on Wheels.

White Chocolate Raspberry – $6.00

Premium raspberry black tea swirled with succulent white chocolate sauce. Topped with whipped cream and sparkling pink sprinkles. It is divine! Alternative milks available for a small fee. It will be made with Dairy, but can be made with Almond, Soy or Coconut milk for an additional charge of 50 Cents per cup.

We were very excited to try this hot chocolate since their one last year was absolutely amazing as well. We decided to get two, one made the regular way and one made with coconut milk. We were excited to see that they are donating $2 from every drink to Meals on Wheels, the most we have seen on a regular hot chocolate. Unfortunately we were unable to have whip since she ran out, but honestly the drink doesn’t need the whip, it was delicious without it.

Both drinks were full of flavour and absolutely amazing. The Coconut milk added a creamy aspect to the drink and the regular one was just as creamy. It was amazing. We could really “taste all the organic love” that the girl put into making our drinks today.

We have to say that Totalitea has really mastered the tea based hot chocolates and those making that kind of beverage should take note.

While our adventures started a couple weeks ago, we have listed our six that we think you should try in the following weeks. Both my wife and daughter have their own six that they would like to let people know about. There is a slight disclaimer that my daughter tried some that my wife did not, and vis versa. Know that these lists are not in any specific order. Without further ado here are the lists.

My wife’s list that she hopes everyone will try;

Black Sheep – Holy Smokes – $8

The Nash – Dark Cocoa with Toasted Banana Merigne – $7

The Block (spirited) – Coconut Bliss – $9

Sawa – Spice It Up – $6

Calgary Heritage – Chicken Bones – $6.30

Bite – Raspberry Beret – $7

 

My daughter’s list that she hopes everyone will try;

Sought and Found – Milk x Chocolate x Marshmallow – $8

Bike and Brew – Tofifee – $6

Hexagon – PB and J – $6.50

Ollia – Rocher Hot Chocolate – $6

Bite (without the chocolate bite) – Raspberry Beret – $7

Sawa – Spice It Up – $6

And our honourable mentions are Bridgeland (Nuts About You – $6.49) because they have an amazing marshmallow and the process of creating the ganache ball and melting with the steamed milk is absolutely amazing. The second is Linas Italian Market (Sapporo di Sicilia – $5.99) because even though I don’t consider this a hot chocolate and we think outside the box, it was very decadent and the pistachio whip was delicious.

We hope that you can get out in the next two weeks and try any of the above or even some of the other creations from YYC Hot Chocolate Fest.

Happy Chocolating!

Dark Chocolate Strawberry – $9.45

Hand blended dark chocolate with a hint of fresh strawberries, topped with whipped cream, freeze dried strawberry pieces and a marshmallow heart skewer.

We were nervous to try either of there offered hot chocolates from what we have read from some of our followers. So we decided to try the Dark Chocolate Strawberry Hot Chocolate and it was kind of disappointing. First the price, we were shocked to see how much this hot chocolate was and we are wondering how they justify the high price point with only a dollar going to Meals on Wheels?

Second the flavour, we were shocked that they were using Monin Strawberry syrup, whip from a can and we were happy to see the freeze dried strawberries until they were in the hot chocolate. We have stated so many times before that we don’t like chunks in our hot chocolates and this one had chunks. We found out that the dark chocolate was hand designed and melted down into the milk.

Overall we would not be spending almost ten dollars on a hot chocolate unless we know that they are using high quality ingredients and that they can tell us exactly what is in it. Also they should be donating $2 to Meals on Wheels for this beverage.

We expected more for the price point that this hot chocolate was.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Hot Chocolate – $7.00

A dark chocolate and cookie infused hot chocolate with a cheesecake whipped cream topping. finished with a cookie crumble!

It’s Extreme Coffee Freaks daughter and today me and two friends headed to Monki Bistro for Friday brunch and it worked out that she could try their hot chocolate. It was sweet since the whip is flavoured with cheesecake but when you had a drink of all of the components together it was really good. We were happy at how delicious it was.

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It’s Extreme Coffee Freak’s daughter and today me and two of my best friends are down in Inglewood at Monki Bistro for brunch. We decided to try a new place including the YYC Hot Chocolate while we were there.

The Interior

It was very busy and we were happy that we booked a reservation. The space was spacious and the one wall had open brick which was nice. They have seating in the window with tables on the right side with a big family style table in the middle with more tables on the left. The space feels very big and spacious with the windows at the front of the cafe. At the back there is a window so you can see into the kitchen, it is always nice to see your food come to the window.

The Food

I ordered the Monki Fondue for $18 and it was nice that you could customize with the different kinds of chocolate to dip your waffle pieces in. Today I ordered pink, earl grey, and matcha chocolate for dipping. The pink chocolate was creamy and smooth, the matcha was sweet but good, and the earl grey was amazing and delicious. It was a nice option for a sweet brunch.

Taylor ordered the French Toast for $17 and it was a banana and frangelico cream cheese stuffed french toast with hazelnut chocolate and condensed milk. She said it a great combination and balance of flavours. She said that if it didn’t have the condensed milk it would be very sweet. After she finished her French Toast she also ordered a side of Bacon for $5 and she got 7 pieces of thick cut bacon. You have the choice of crispy or extra crispy for the bacon and it was perfectly cooked.

Jonathan ordered the Brisket Hash for $18 and it was slow braised spiced brisket with valbella sausage topped with 2 poached eggs and hollandaise, it also had some potatoes which were seasoned perfectly. The brisket was tender and flaky and well seasoned and the eggs were perfectly poached to medium so that the yolk covered the other components.

The Service

Everyone was very friendly and our waitress was nice and answered all our questions. They brought the food quickly and it was hot. Even for how busy it was our waitress still checked up on us a couple time to refill our waters.

The Hours

Monday to Friday: 8:30am – 3:00pm

Saturday and Sunday: 8:00am – 4:00pm

Parking

There is parking all along the street that is two hours for free near the restaurant. Anywhere else is paid parking and it’s not crazy expensive if you are only there for an hour or so.

Last words

For sure my friends and I will be visiting again sometime in the future to try some of their other amazing menu options that we looked at.

Chocolate Fog – $5.72 small, $6.05 medium, $6.67 large

When chocolate meets tea. Velvety smooth hot chocolate with our robust earl grey tea topped with vanilla whipped cream and an earl grey cookie. How can you say no?

We were quite nervous about trying this Hot Chocolate since last year their lavender Hot Chocolate was not my favourite. We had read some of the other reviews of this drink and we knew exactly how we wanted to get the drink made.

The vanilla whip had great flavour, the shortbread cookie had really good as well, and we made sure to eat it before it fell into the Hot Chocolate. The drink itself had really good earl grey flavouring, but we couldn’t taste the Chocolate at all. When asked what kind of Chocolate they use, they replied chocolate milk, that is why you don’t get any Chocolate, the tea over powers the milk and you get no Chocolate.

Just know that this is a huge improvement from last year, but there is still work that needs to be done to get this to be a better Hot chocolate.

The Ned – $5.50

Inspired by Ned Flanders’ creation in The Simpsons Movie, we recreated the fanciest hot chocolate ever. In the movie, Bart is fed up with his relationship with his father Homer, and wishes he had a fatherly relationship like Ned does with his sons Rod & Todd. Ned tries to cheer up Bart by offering him an over the top hot cocoa through the window sill. Starting with our classic drinking chocolate, topped with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, a mini house made waffle cone, and a blow torched mallow! You won’t regret treating yourself to this decadent treat. Guaranteed to cheer up Bart Simpson or anyone else that comes to visit the Fiasco Gelato Headquarters.

When I ordered the barista said that they didn’t have any marshmallows because the batch came out too sticky (above picture is from a friend). Which I was slightly said, I wanted to try the whole hot chocolate the way they expected it to be. The whip was from a can and not homemade which was sad as well, I wish they would have made their own whip.

Overall the hot chocolate was good, the waffle cone melted into the chocolate and left chunks in the drink, which is always not a pleasant mouth feel. The chocolate part of the hot chocolate was good, very plain which is sometime nice when you have tried a bunch of crazy ones.

Over I was slightly disappointed since they have had better hot chocolates in the past.