Chocolate & Beer Festival 2013--Richmond (various vendors)

This event was a great way to end beer week for me. An afternoon of sampling artisan chocolates and enjoying craft beers is my kind of afternoon. This was the 4th annual Chocolate & Beer Festival at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, and even though there were a modest number of vendors this year, compared to last year, I still enjoyed it. With my $29 ticket, I got VIP parking, a commemorative pint glass, a poster by a local artist, two tokens for chocolate samples and two tokens for two full pours of beer. Here are some of the vendors I discovered there and will continue to patronize.

Toffeeology
www.toffeeology.com
Candy is one thing I don't tend to make myself. Mostly because you have to babysit it while it cooks and you have to have the right finesse to make it right. One wrong turn and you're left with a burnt mess, something grainy or something that's just inedible. At least there are people who can do it right. I love a good toffee that's not too sweet and doesn't break your teeth when you bite into it. Toffeeology gets it right. This batch of English toffee had the right balance of texture and taste. They also come in very nice packaging.



Bridge Brands Chocolate

www.bridgebrandschocolate.com

I love dark chocolate and Bridge Brands Chocolate's dark chocolate was probably the smoothest chocolate I sampled at this event. This reminded me of the chocolate I tasted in Spain, with no weird aftertaste, graininess, or bitterness. So of course, I had to support them. They have reusable packaging that can be customized for any event or occasion and they've also teamed up with California's Milk Processor Board, so they're (legally) able to use the "got milk?" tagline on their products. As someone who used to work in Marketing, I can appreciate this.



One of their reusable, customizable tins.

Neo Cocoa
http://www.neococoa.com/

Neo Cocoa offers shell-less, handcrafted truffles. Each one was a perfect little treat. Not an overwhelming amount of sweetness, smooth, creamy and enough variety to satisfy any craving. Their Salted Caramel was divine.

Elevation 66 Brewing Co.
http://www.elevation66.com/
This was probably my favorite beer vendor at this event. They were offering a Stout and a Red Ale. I believe they were the Ramble Tamble Red Ale and Esthers Vanilla Stout. The Red Ale was mildly hoppy with a clean finish. Highly drinkable. The Stout had very nice chocolate and coffee tones with excellent body. Very delicious.

This is one event that I will definitely be looking for next year as well.