Beta 5

The Oven Wall went on a field trip! And by field trip I mean, I got cabin fever and decided in the Vancouver drizzle to venture out of Yogapant-land (aka Kitsilano) and out into the land of some of the best coffee you will EVER HAVE, the art of finding beauty in concrete and a chocolate shop holy grail (aka EastVan). Next time I'll bring a good camera. 

When we were learning about chocolate in Foundations, Chef mentioned a chocolate shop that had started up in Vancouver by a buddy of his. Then he mentioned that they had a tobacco-flavored truffle. I think at that moment my brain kind of shorted out. Definitely didn't hear anything he said after that. I don't think he realized how dangerous it was to throw out such a mind blowing concept in such an off-handed way. The whole idea -nay- the INTENTION of combining those two glorious things into a TRUFFLE?! Mind blown. I knew that I had to have one. And I had to buy AT LEAST one for my scotch-lovin', Johnny Cash-quotin', corn cob pipe smokin' man aka The Moozh.

The moral of this story, preemptively of course because no one ever likes to wait for the moral, is when you feel these compulsions, act on them. Tobacco being the flavor of the month, and me having discovered it's existence on the 28th of February -even with a leap year on my side- I missed the February flavors.

The shop is called Beta 5. The name is very clever because the stablest formation of crystals in chocolate making and tempering is called Form V or Beta 5. That is the crystallization that is responsible for shiny chocolate, chocolate that isn't grainy and a bar of chocolate that has that great 'snap' when you break it. Nestled just off of Main St on Industrial Ave in a building a color somewhere between Pepto Bismol and flesh tone, Beta 5 Chocolates specializes in chocolate, marmalade, and other confections like caramels and marshmallows. 

*Why I felt compelled to take pictures with the awful camera on my phone, I don't know. It was all I had. Apologies. 

Despite having only the window on their door to work with, the shop has an open, brightness to it. The decor is industrial in a very cool way with exposed lightbulbs, metal shelving, wooden boards and cool cardboard packaging. 

 

 The people there are freaking awesome, even though all Vit D deprivation considered, we should all be feral and snarling at each other.

Beta 5's Chocolate Union is the version of chocolate of the month if Jesus had come up with it. Utter perfection. (Or Christopher Nolan. That guy's got a great track record.) It will redeem any negative connotations you have with the word 'union'. You can purchase a three-, six- or twelve-month membership. On the first Saturday of every month, you pick up your union package. Inside you will find an assortment of treats associated with a monthly theme. March's theme, because they're awesome and they GET IT, is Legends, Leprechauns and Libations. Within this theme you will find treats like Guinness truffles, green apple shamrock fruit jellies, chocolate covered potato chips among other things. *They have a 'crunch' category every month. Can't wait. 

Understandably this month's memberships are all old out.

 I picked up a six-piece Monthly chocolate, even though I was POSITIVE it wouldn't live up to the mythical tobacco truffles that I had hoped for. Wrong again. Sometimes our instincts, when clouded by our emotions, just aren't that reliable. The monthly flavors this month were Spanish olive oil, lime, pistachio, wasabi and genmai cha. The olive oil chocolate was smoooooooth.  Like Marvin Gaye smooth. The wasabi was good if not as pungent as I was expecting. I need to try another one in order to feel truly informed. You know, in order to give constructive feedback. My favorite out of the six, by far, was the lime. All of a sudden I felt like Mexico was in my mouth. (In the good way not in the hep-B, bad beef kind of way.) I associate Mexican cooking with that really intense, clear lime flavor. This truffle had that. I didn't share that one. My wifely dedication only extends so far. Mea culpa, Mea culpa.

I also went intending to buy a jar of their Bergamot Orange marmalade. *I feel marmalade is misunderstood and I appreciate that Beta 5 is working at a kind of renaissance. Beta 5 placed Second and third at the World Marmalde Awards (because there IS such a thing) for their Seville Orange marmalade and their Rangpur Lime marmalade respectively. They were out of the Bergamot orange (I'm seeing a pattern here) so I came home with the Blood Orange marmalade instead. The Blood Orange isn't as tangy as I assume the Seville Orange would be but its got this subtle deep pink to it. So preee-tay. I'll be hassling them until they get some more Bergamot in but I will also take what I can get in the meantime. By any account, their tactics to get me to come back are totally working. 

 So the moral of this story, yes there are two, is that if you are ever in Vancouver, you must make a stop at Beta 5. Tell 'em Chef sent you. You might get a deal. Don't tell them I sent you. They be like 'huh?'

Eat chocolate. Be happy. Repeat.