Extreme Coffee Freak

The Raspberry Charmer

“The Charmer is a raspberry and salted caramel hot chocolate made with freeze dried raspberry powder, dehydrated marshmallows, a drizzle of salted caramel syrup on a dark chocolate base. It was inspired by the stale marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal. Instead of artificially flavoured stale marshmallows we decided to liven things up using the brightness of freeze dried raspberries paired with the crunch of plain marshmallows. Sipping on this hot chocolate will bring you on a journey from sweet to fruity to bitter ending up in total hot chocolate bliss.”

Price: $7.50

This hot chocolate is a very good tart hot chocolate because of the raspberry throughout the drink. The first few sips you get raspberry and chocolate which makes it taste like a chocolate covered raspberry. Near the middle of the drink you get a major fruity flavour which was awesome. The topper of the dehydrated marshmallows and raspberries with the caramel syrup was a great way to top off this hot chocolate.

I personally would have liked to see a salted caramel whip with the topping on top, it would have added another level to the hot chocolate. I think it would have been a nice addition.

Tres Leches Hot Chocolate

“Inspired by a traditional Colombian dessert, an indulgent white hot chocolate, combined with three different milks, creating a decadent dessert in a cup. Garnished with whipped cream and vanilla sponge cake.”

Price: $5.35

Let me start off by saying that we found this drink a little sweet for our liking, we also found that the nutmeg was a little strong on the top. If they had put cinnamon instead it might have been better, or less strong. Dipping the lady finger in the hot chocolate was a cool interactive way of adding flavour and enjoying the hot chocolate a different way. We had made a comment that the milks seemed to separate a little because the flavours didn’t blend as well as we had hoped. The drink had good flavour and used real whip which was awesome in our books. It really added a good vanilla flavour to the drink. Overall this was a good drink and we hope that if you are down in Kensington you will stop in and try this one.  

The Rosemary & Sea Salt Hot Chocolate

“4oz milk (can be made with alternatives), 1.5 oz syrup, whip cream (can be made without whipped cream), powder garnish. Add 1oz Forty Creek Bourbon for a boozy option.”

Price: Small $4.00, Medium $6.00, Large $8.00, Spirited $13.00

When you smell this hot chocolate you can smell the rosemary even before you take a sip. When you do take a sip you get the rosemary right away, then chocolate, we found it missing the salt a little. We don’t know where it was in the drink, but we didn’t the salt in either of the drinks we had purchased.

The flavours really blended together nicely and nothing overpowered the other which was great. We almost wondered if they would have made the hot chocolate more of a salted chocolate and then infused the whip with the rosemary, how would that have tasted. We both just really wondered where the salt was in the drink. We were missing the salt.

While our adventures started a couple weeks ago, we have listed our four that we think you should try in the following weeks. Both my wife and daughter have their own four 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;

Element – Element of Love $6.50

Cafe Jindo – Yuja White Hot Chocolate $6.75

Pixies Candy Parlour – Say Cheese… cake, Raspberry Cheesecake $6.50

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

Brekkie – Pina Colada $9.00

Cafe Jindo – Yuja White Hot Chocolate $6.75

Bike and Brew – Twisted Twix $6.75

And our honourable mentions are Higher Ground (Neapolitan $6.75) because we were very surprised that they were able to get all three flavours to blend yet taste the flavours separately. The second is Calgary Heritage Roasters (Fools Gold $6.50) because even though it was a basic hot chocolate, it tasted amazing with the flavour combinations of salted caramel and chocolate. 

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!

Alice in Wonderland Hot Chocolate

“White Raspberry Hot Chocolate served in a teacup with a sugar cookie. (can be made with milk chocolate).”

Price: $6.95

We know that this is not part of the YYC Hot Chocolate Fest but we had to head out to Okotoks and try this amazing creation by our friends at 94 Take the Cake. Every February for their Hot Chocolate Festival we always head out and support this amazing black and white café.  

This year we followed the white rabbit to Wonderland where Alice drinks the potion to become small to make it through the keyed door. This delicious white raspberry hot chocolate comes with a potion sugar cookie and a white chocolate lollipop designed in a Alice in Wonderland themed chocolate that you get to stir in your drink. As you stir it melts and that is the white chocolate for the drink.

We absolutely love the creativity that Sherry brings to each of her drinks every year. If you want to try a delicious hot chocolate or even grab yourself a coffee and a sweet treat, head to Okotoks and visit 94 Take the Cake. Trust me when I say that you will not be disappointed when you walk into this café.

Dark is Dark (I want my baby back)

“We called it “Dark is Dark” but we could as well have called it “Death by Chocolate” or “Chocolate Come”. Grab your friends, sit back and get ready for a trip to chocolateland you will never forget! “Dark is Dark” is THE hot chocolate: it has everything you could dream of: a smooth, thick hot chocolate, a chocolate whipped cream, a dark chocolate sauce, chocolate crispy pearls and a truffle just in case you think that’s not enough chocolate for you. The whole drink and the truffle is made with French Valrhona 70% chocolate. Dark is Dark cannot be made vegan or dairy free. Without the crispy pearl, Dark is Dark is gluten friendly.”

Price: $8.00

Oh my, I was given a spoon with this hot chocolate. It is a very chocolatey drink for sure, it is literally chocolate on chocolate on chocolate. The whip was my favourite part for sure, it was light and fluffy. The drink was thick, but it was still drinkable which was great to see that I didn’t have to use the spoon to eat this hot chocolate.

The truffle was fudgy and delicious, it was also ice cold which was a nice contrast with the hot chocolate. This is another hot chocolate that you should share with someone since it is a very filling hot chocolate as well.

I love chocolate and honestly I found this a little too chocolatey for me. Maybe if the hot chocolate was made with 40-50% Valrhona chocolate and then made the whip with the 70% Valrhona it might have been a little lighter.

Malted Hot Chocolate Shake

“Chocolate Ice Cream, Malted Chocolate Powder, Whipped Cream, Chocolate Sauce, Caramel Sauce, and Torched Marshmallow.”

Price: 10oz – $7.00, 16oz – $9.00

Let me first start off by saying that this is a completely vegan friendly drink and it really has great malted flavour for sure. The drink was very filling so I would suggest sharing this shake with someone. The shake has really good chocolate flavour.

Ours had a little whip and smaller marshmallows than the picture showed. But overall we really enjoyed this creation very much.

We know that in the past businesses that have done something other than a hot chocolate has had some negative feedback, but we want to make sure that those businesses know that we absolutely love when you stick with what you know and do something different. We absolutely love that you did a milkshake since that is what you make regularly.  

The Element of Love

“This gorgeous pink hot chocolate is a unique fusion between the berry-like flavour of ruby chocolate, the tropical sweetness of passionfruit, and the sweet peppery twist of pink peppercorn. To tie it all together, we top it with a raspberry infused whipped cream, a drizzle of raspberry coulee, ground pink sea salt and peppercorn blend, and a sugar cookie heart.”

Price: 12oz – $5.50, 16oz – $6.50

How can I describe this drink? Outstanding! Amazing! Delicious! Oh My! Yummy! Pink! Just to name a few. You really get the raspberry flavour throughout the whole drink, from first spoonful to last sip. It is not too strong or overpowering which is absolutely amazing. The little touch of the pink peppercorn really gave the drink a nice peppery taste. The little heart sugar cookie was a perfect addition to this drink for sure.

I also want to give a shout out to Braeden for really making this drink picture perfect and making it perfectly. He is so personable and it’s always nice catching up with him as well.

Well done Element!

Strawberry Hot Chocolate

“This drink will remind you of delicious chocolate-covered strawberries but in the form of a hot chocolate that warms your heart and soul. JusFruit is known for using fresh fruits so you can sure we are using real strawberries and top-grade hot chocolate.”

Price: $6.50

The cool thing about this hot chocolate is that you can choose to customize this drink when you order it. You have the choice between white and dark chocolate and then whip or cream cheese foam. So I decided to do white chocolate and cream cheese foam which I believed would make the drink taste like a strawberry cheesecake.

The drink was very good and for sure you can really taste the strawberries because there are chunks of real strawberry throughout the drink. At times it was hard to drink because the chunks of strawberries couldn’t come up through the lid. Otherwise the drink is very good and I would think that if you were to get the dark chocolate and whip it would taste like a chocolate covered strawberry for sure.

If you are down in Kensington and wanted to try a delicious strawberry drink, I would definitely head here and try this one for sure.