Like crayons, chocolate comes in many varieties and tastes better when unwrapped before consuming. Scribble out cocoa cravings with today’s Groupon: for $19, you get a drinking-chocolate tasting package at CocoaNymph Chocolates & Confections (a $40 total value). The package includes:
- A tasting of six drinking chocolates inspired by the history of chocolate (a $30 value)
- A take-home package of drinking chocolate (a $10 value)
The master chocolatiers at CocoaNymph Chocolates & Confections lead tasters on a historical journey of drinking chocolates, sampling six quaffs representing the 11th–18th centuries and the present day. Participants begin by tasting chocolate’s first foray into drinkable form, an Aztec beverage of ground roasted cocoa beans blended with water, corn, spices, and powdered sunbeams. Jumping ahead six centuries and crossing to another continent, imbibers also sip French drinking chocolate enlivened by vanilla and flower petals. After dazzling taste buds and feeding the brain, tasters take home one package of drinking chocolate and a sample bag of marshmallows.
CocoaNymph
No wider than a postage stamp, the Elphaba truffle’s small size belies its complexity. Beneath its chocolate shell, layers of white and dark chocolate alternate between pistachio-and-cardamom ganache, creating a symphony of unexpected flavours. Inspired sweets such as these have earned CocoaNymph accolades from the Vancouver Observer, which praises the treats as “exotic creations that push the boundaries of a chocolate truffle.”
Chocolatiers pass on their expertise during chocolate-making classes that allow each student to decorate their own batches. All classes take place in the shop, whose romantic atmosphere complements its chocolatey aromas. Punched-tin lanterns illuminate mauve and violet walls and the baby grand piano where staffers belt out ballads about their love for truffles.