Scoot a Doot note: Hey gang! Meet Kimberly and Kyle.
Kimberly was the winner of our Philadelphia Chocolate Tour giveaway and chose Kyle to join her on the excursion. We asked if they’d like to blog their experience and Kyle jumped on the task. (And now I’m singing Sugarhill Gang.)
Last weekend, before we joined Team Scoot a Doot for Jog ‘n Hog shenanigans, Kimberly and I embarked upon a voyage of gastronomic delight throughout the streets of Philadelphia (quiet, Springsteen). That’s right, folks, we jumped on the chocolate bandwagon!
Kimberly had the good fortune to win the Philadelphia Chocolate Tours giveaway a few months back, and we decided that since we were already planning to head up to Philly for some ice cream-fueled nonsense, we might as well make a weekend of it.
Things kicked off at the Reading Terminal Market. Our tour guide, Jeffery, lead us inside the Terminal to the Famous 4th Street Cookie Company.
Of course the first thing we sampled was the classic chocolate chip cookie. What else would you expect? And you know what? It was delightful.
You simply cannot go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie. It can’t be done.
From the terminal, we hauled our cookies (pun intended) over to Verde, a small boutique that houses Marcie Blaine Artisanal Chocolates. Literally. In the back of the shop, amongst all of the way-too-cute purses, and jewelry, and dresses, is a small kitchen where the confections are made.
This shop features a ton of great flavors and uses organic, locally-sourced cream and butter, as well as honey and produce, to create their confections.
There was even a bacon-flavored truffle. Bacon. Amazing.
We sampled two kinds of chocolate bark: Pub Crawl (with pretzels, smoked almonds and cashews) and Cherry Ginger. Both were very good, but my penchant for anything ginger made the latter my fave.
It’s a good thing the samples were small, because I’m about 98% sure I could have eaten A LOT more of that noise.
After evading the temptations of the chocolate and the absolutely adorable merchandise throughout the store, we continued on our trek. The next stop? Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland. Yup. That’s right kids. Fancy European chocolate.
All of the fancy chocolate.
Our sample? Heaven. Wait. I mean, the Dom Perignon Gold Crème Champagne Truffle.
Yeah, like I said. Heaven.
Basically, that little ball of chocolate was probably the most decadent thing I’ve had. Ever. In my life. I don’t know what that says about my life… except that it’s pretty awesome.
Leaving Teuscher was tough, because basically, I wanted to eat everything in that store. So much delicious chocolate. But, we had to make our way to the next stop. A stop I was most intrigued by. A stop where we would sample chocolate hummus.
Before you get all weird and freaked out about it, let’s preface this by saying that Kimberly, who has a strong dislike for traditional hummus, loved this stop. It’s fair to say that I did, too.
FreshaPeel Hummus creates a number of sweet and savory hummus flavors, from lemon kale to pumpkin (which legitimately tasted like pumpkin pie). We sampled all of these, but the best, the best, flavor was Chocolate Cherry. The proprietor mentioned that you could enjoy this hummus on a cracker or on fruit… I immediately jumped in and said “also on a spoon.” Because, quite frankly, that’s all I’d need. It was that good. Trust me.
You could even feel good about pigging out on this particular chocolate treat, because it’s hummus and it’s generally pretty healthy. Or at least that’s how I rationalize it. I have no qualms about this.
Following the hummus magic, we stopped at John & Kira’s, a small, innovative company that combines delicious treats with promoting positive social change. Their French-style chocolates are created with ingredients from family farms and urban gardens. Which I think is pretty cool.
We were fortunate enough to sample quite a few confections at this stop, but my favorite was probably the Mighty Urban Garden Mint bar. Mint and chocolate is always a favorite flavor combination, but this sort of transcended all other mint-chocolate situations. This was aromatic and the mint was really, really fresh. I wanted more of it. That small little chunk was not nearly enough.
Our last stop was probably the perfect way to end the tour. It was a hot day and we’d been walking a lot, so gelato? Yeah. Perfect.
Capogiro is home to the number 1 gelato in the world. According to some (probably) arbitrary contest, but I digress. Regardless, this gelato is the best I’ve ever had, so the title is relevant.
We sampled four flavors of chocolate gelato: Moka, Cioccolato Scuro (rich, dark and serious), Ciaccolato con Caramello (chocolate with caramel), and Cioccolato.
Of the four flavors we sampled, my favorite was probably the Cioccolato Scuro, because in my book, the darker, the better.
Basically, there are few things better in life than frozen chocolate treats. Gelato is no exception. Especially not this stuff. Out. Of. Control.
All in all? The tour was a delight. Kimberly and I were so happy to have been afforded the opportunity to indulge in such a tasty treat thanks to the benevolence of our favorite Scoot chicks. We second the motion: if you’re ever in Philadelphia, do a chocolate tour. Do it! You won’t be sorry.
