Dear Fellow Chocophiliacs,
It may not feel like winter yet, but the holidays will be soon upon us, and we would like to tell you about our offerings for the season. As you may have noticed, there was no newsletter last month, so please excuse the length of this month's newsletter. We have a lot of interesting news to report!
December Challenge: Name That Origin!
After the big response to our city-wide Easter Egg Hunt this spring, we decided to create another fun event that you can participate in. This one will be a challenging task that will push your knowledge of chocolate to the limit. Do you know your cacao? Are you ready to prove it? Like with fine wine, each cacao growing region in the world produces beans with a distinctive flavor. With practice, almost anybody can learn to tell the difference between chocolates made from beans from different countries. We want to find the people with the greatest palates in the city. We call this contest the "Name That Origin" game. It will run from Dec 1st to Dec 22nd. The rules are simple, and there is no fee to play! Here is how you do it:
a) Come in to Kerstin's Chocolates (10139 112th St.), and fill out an entry form. You will then be given 4 small pieces of chocolate to taste.
b) You will have to figure out the country of origin of the cacao used in each of the chocolates (all chocolates will have a single country of origin for the cacao.) and write you answers on the entry form.
c)If you don't name the correct countries of origin you will receive a 20% discount card and will be entered in the wildcard draw to compete in the Chocolate Tasting Challenge.
d) If you do get them all correct, you will instantly win one container of our Chocophilia drinking chocolate (Spicy or Dark, an $18.95 value). You will also be invited to a special a Chocolate Tasting Challenge event on Dec 22nd. At this event, there will an extreme chocolate identification challenge for all the winners of the first tasting and the wildcard entries. The person who prevails at this event will win a $400 gift certificate from Kerstin's Chocolates and the title of "The Top Taster".
For more details and updates on the contest, please see the contest web page.
We hope many of you will take on this challenge and increase your knowledge of chocolate at the same time.
Christmas Line-up
A lot of people have been asking what our seasonal line-up will be this month. Here is what we will be offering in our store starting on Dec 1st. If you would like to put in a request for a large order, please call us or e-mail us before Dec 5th, as we cannot guarantee availability after that date.
We will be bringing backour selection of molded chocolate Santas using the finest Valrhona milk or dark chocolate.
Will you be needing any truffles? Here are some of our seasonal specials that will be available through Xmas:
-Tiramasu You.
-It's a bit Nibby out there!
-To Rum With Love
-A Nod To Eggnog
and more!
We also have gift baskets of many sizes and arrangements and custom baskets are also available. You can build your own in the store.
We will also bring back our Christmas Chocolate Trio in either milk or dark chocolate bark. Three delicious, Christmas inspired barks packaged beautifully in a box that won a design award! Also returning are our Christmas Towers, a 4 tiered box filled with truffles, melt-aways, spiced nuts and dipped fruit. Perfect for holiday parties and gift-giving.
Coming back soon to the Store: Domori
It's been a long wait, but we have finally found a new supplier of Domori chocolate! Famous for their prized "Porcelana" bar (thought to be the best bar in the world) and other gorgeous chocolate. We also have their amazing chocolate and hazelnut spread and a white chocolate bar with licorice!
A new shipment of Zotter bars are also arriving shortly. These truffle based bars from Austria combine great fair trade chocolate with imaginative ingredients such as "Black Beer", "Sour Cherry and Sesame" and "Walnut and Cheese"!
Finally, we have some incredible salted caramels from France, seen here!
Ten more places to find our Chocophilia Line of products around Western Canada!
We are announcing the following new partners in BC, SK and AB! Please tell your friends about these places where you can now buy great chocolate!
Vancouver/Lower Mainland: Nuestra Familia Cigar, Pacific Cigar, Casa Dolce Coal Harbour, Petra's Arts Kafe
Vancouver Island: Creekmore's Coffee (Coombs), Fresh Cup Sidney, Cargo & James (Victoria)
BC Rockies: Meet on Higher Ground Coffee House (Radium)
Alberta: The Orchard House (Edberg, Camrose County),
Saskachewan: Great Western Coffee (Prince Albert)
For addresses and maps to all these locations, please see our locations page.
January/February Tastings and Chocolate Making Classes announced
We have opened ticket sales for our first 2010 workshops. Our next chocolate tastings workshops will be on Jan 20th (Wed) and Feb 12th (Romantic Chocolate and Wine Tasting). Our next chocolate making workshops will be on Jan 29th and Feb 10th and 11th. Please get your tickets early as these events sell out quickly, particularly the pre-Valentine's Day classes (You get to take home all the chocolates you make!) Purchase your tickets securely on our web site.
Congrats to our Contest Winners
Thanks to all the people who visited our booths at the Edmonton Home Show and Rocky Mountain Wine and Food festival. The two winners of our contests were Amanda A. and Deborah D. Congrats, and we hope you enjoyed the Grand Chocolate Lover's Box!
Twitter usage and New Fan Page on Facebook
We have been trying to use Twitter regularly to announce timely info (such as this weeks feature items and other news). If you would like to follow us, just click here!
Also, we have moved our Facebook page now that we have renamed the shop. It is now "Kerstin's Chocolates" rather than "The Cocoa Room". Please make sure to join this new group on Facebook!
Have a great November,
Kerstin and the Team
Kerstin's Chocolates Monthly Newsletter
From: Kerstin's Chocolates
10139 112th St.
Edmonton, AB, T5K 1M1
780-990-0011
http://www.KerstinsChocolates.com/
FALL STORE HOURS for The Cocoa Room:
Mon: closed
Tue, Wed, Fri: 11am - 5pm
2 comments:
Thanks a lot for the support!
-Kerstin's Chocolates
you are so welcome- THANK YOU for making such terrific chocolates-I have to keep in touch as I am coveting some of the pepper/chili ?? ones you make.I want to use them as an abuse bouche for the starter of a meal with a lovely winter dish and serve a Chateau de neuf Rothschild on a very cold snowy winter day!
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