Snow cones going artisanal with small batch syrups is the subject of my latest USA Character Approved Blog post. And Marion and I are asked to judge chocolate. Lots of it.
Snow cones are a primal summer pleasure. I remember staring at the spouted bottles of colorful syrup at the snow cone stand as a kid, agonizing over my flavor choice. If the stand allowed you two flavors (or sometimes even three! three!), the decision became exponentially harder.
Now a former Chicago restaurateur is making the decision a lot more interesting. Melissa Yen used to run one of our favorite weekend breakfast haunts, Vella Café. Frustrated by the limited choices in syrups for flavoring coffee for the café, she started experimenting with her own. Out of those caffeine-fueled adventures, Jo Snow Syrups was born.
Melissa gravitates toward exotic flavors and unusual combinations—hibiscus basil orange blossom, for instance—all beautifully balanced. You can add Jo Snow Syrups to your coffee or tea, drizzle them over pancakes, shake them up in a cocktail… or make snow cones that are nothing like your childhood memories, but every bit as memorable. For more on these not-so-simple syrups—including where to buy them and links to recipes on Melissa’s website—check out my latest post on the USA Character Approved Blog.
The rough life of a pair of chocolate judges
Food blogging will be the death of me. The luxuriously slow, delicious death of me. When I accepted an invitation from TasteTV to help judge the 2011 Chicago Luxury Chocolate Salon, I was not prepared for the seven-pound FedEx package that would arrive at my office. And when Marion and I tore into the impressively hefty box that night, we were like kids in a—oh, I don’t know—someplace fun, though.
But it was serious work too. Well, as serious as you can be when seven or so pounds of chocolate are involved. There was a list of 20 categories we had to consider, with a certain amount of ambiguous overlap. After a few days of tentatively nibbling at various artisanal bars and sampling little bits of heaven from beautifully packaged samplers (and dutifully scribbling notes on the judging form scratch sheets we’d printed out), we geared up for a night of serious, organized chocolate eating.
With multiple samples from nearly 20 chocolatiers and confectioners from across the US (plus entries from Vancouver, BC and Emu Heights, New South Wales), we were in for a long, delicious night. We spread everything out, grouping them when possible, and got started.
Mae West once said, “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.” Well, I have another quote for her: “Be careful what you wish for.” You know how they have buckets at wine tastings for emptying glasses after you’ve had a little taste so you don’t get totally hammered? We quickly realized we needed something similar or else we’d wake up days later with wrappers in our hair and short-term memory loss.
As the evening wore on, our sample bites got smaller and smaller. Some of the chocolates were transcendent. Some were merely okay—surprising, given the competition they faced. And a few were, well, bizarre—overwrought, overthought or just plain strange in their choices of flavor combinations.
But yeah, judging was fun. Big fun. Among the transcendent finds for us was a boxed gift set from William Dean Chocolates in Largo, Florida. Luxurious presentation, exquisitely designed handmade chocolates and inventive, amazing flavors. We were gratified to see that they took six golds and five silvers in the competition. To see all the results, check out the Chicago Luxury Chocolate Salon website.
Wow, thanks for the kind words about our chocolates. I’ve been called a lot of things but this is the first time for “transcendent” ….you made my day! Bill (William Dean) Brown
Thanks so much Terry for featuring me on your blog & on The USA Character Approved Blog. I appreciate your support going all the way back to the cafe. Inside scoop: half cherry thyme & half cardamom rose water is an excellent combo. Done! No decisions needed!
Terry I envy you even more after reading this. I can barely eat the corner store chocolate anymore as my taste for it has become so sophisticated. A seven pound box of of fine chocolate arriving at my door would be a dream come true.
And thank you for posting about the syrup. After writing this I’m going over to your other post to finish reading and find out if they are available in Canada or if I can order them. It hasn’t been easy for me to find syrup that doesn’t taste like koolaid. I still have my kids snowcone maker from when they were younger. Works like a charm.
This is great. I see she has recipes for cocktails using the syrups on her site. I am so useless in that department. Thanks again for posting
And thank you, William, for making such amazing chocolates!
Glad to do it, Melissa. We still miss Vella Café when we’re along that stretch of Western. Or when we’re hungry for a great weekend breakfast.
Randi, I have to tell you, I can still happily dig into corner store chocolate, but the artisanal stuff is just a whole other level. And yeah, I want to raid Melissa’s cocktail recipes too.
Thanks Terry, the snow cone piece brought back such pleasant memories of summer. I can still feel the anticipation when I picture the cherry syrup running over the ice. It’s right up there with the excitement of seeing the yellow lights of the watermelon stands and hearing the bell of the bomb pop man.
We met her and her hubby at a Pop up Market in Logan Square in May… great Stuff! the Fig Vanilla Black Pepper is awesome – for Italian Soda buffs, it’s one of the best we’ve had.
Sheer summer poetry, Susie. Thanks!
The Logan Square Farmers Market on Sundays is where we run into Melissa and her husband most often these days. Still haven’t tried an Italian soda made with Jo Snow Syrup yet, blakeArt—will have to give that a shot.
Terry I am extremely envious of you. Judging luxurious chocolates sounds like a dream gig! However, I wonder if they didn’t all taste very similar after a short time. 7 lbs. !? Envious, jealous and sympathetic all at once. I mean how much time was spent on the stairmaster after this? 😉 I just stumbled upon your blog while looking for chocolate related events and I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ll be coming back to read more. Great job!
Thanks so much, Bethany! We received seven pounds of chocolate, but we didn’t consume all of it. After sampling, we shared some with friends. We also just abandoned some after tasting them—which probably answers your question about whether they all tasted similar after a while. I’m glad you found Blue Kitchen—do come back!