If you love the taste of beer but your partner prefers something sweet, there might be the perfect compromise waiting for you right here on Bowen Island. Cocoa West Chocolatier, in collaboration with the Bowen Island Beer and Wine Cellar, has produced a truffle that combines the taste of ale with chocolate: the Lucky Brew.
Lucky Brew chocolates come out just in time for celebrating St. Patrick's Day and are marked with a small shamrock for good luck. The shamrocks are the creation of Kelly Miller who works at Cocoa West and wanted to put beer and chocolate together for a long time. She said, "I thought it was an interesting mix of flavours and wanted to see if it was possible and what it would taste like."
Joanne Mogridge, the owner of Cocoa West, said, "Kelly's been talking about it for years and we wanted to do something special for St. Patrick's Day this year. This is the first time we mixed those two [ingredients]." Mogridge says that the recipe comes out of her head. Not only did she create it on the spot, she also got it right on the first try. This ability to successfully experiment comes with experience, says Mogridge, who is looking forward to celebrating Cocoa West's 10th anniversary this July.
"We went to the Beer and Wine Store, met with Paul Rickett and asked what he would suggest for a beer," Mogridge explained. "He also carries a chocolate beer but we decided to go with something different." Mogridge and Miller chose a beer that is brewed in Mission: Mashing Pumpkin Winter Ale. Mogridge said, "We liked the idea of the winter ale with the added pumpkin spices like nutmeg and cloves."
Mogridge created a small batch first to see if it would work. She said, "Most truffles have cream in them but this one doesn't. It only has the beer as the emulsifier. It worked fine." After the trial batch, Cocoa West produced 144 piece of Lucky Brew. They are sold in the Bowen Island shop and a few are on the way to Mission to show the Mission Springs brew master what can be done with his ale.
"The beer taste has been getting stronger in the seven days," Mogridge said. "We don't know about the perishability of this truffle. Since is has liqueur in it, it has a longer shelf life. We have tests set up for the next eight weeks."
But don't wait too long to stock up for St. Patrick's Day, there are less than 144 Lucky Brew chocolates up for grabs.
