by David Ball
Staff Writer
A trend sweeping across major cities in Europe and the U.S. has landed in Jacksonville, and it’s pretty sweet.
David and Beverly Brinn of 3 Sisters Chocolate in Mandarin have recently opened their new chocolate bar, where they serve up gourmet chocolate drinks from the typical to the downright exotic. Think hot chocolate for sophisticated tastes.
“We’re constantly researching new and exciting trends in chocolate,” said David Brinn, who leads product development at 3 Sisters and is the first to admit his passion for chocolate. “We noticed this trend in some major cities that were taking chocolate to the next step, and we wanted to be the first to bring it to Jacksonville.”
Actually, Brinn concedes, the trend is more correctly taking chocolate back to its roots, when the cocoa bean was first cultivated more than 2,000 years ago by Central American cultures and served as a bitter, frothy drink to royalty and during important ceremonies.
“It was only in the 19th century that we learned how to extract the cocoa butter and turn it into the chocolate people are familiar with,” said Brinn. “Now, we’ve taken the concept back to its original form.”
The 3 Sisters Chocolate bar offers an extensive menu of hot drinks and cold drinks, including “Chocolate Chillys” blended with ice and chocolate shakes made with three huge scoops of ice cream, and all are created using 3 Sisters own house chocolate recipe.
“Americans traditionally have enjoyed a blander milk chocolate,” said Brinn, “while Europeans enjoy a very richly-flavored milk chocolate, almost with a caramely profile, and that’s the kind of flavor profile we looked for.”
Flavors for the cool drinks include classic chocolate, the “Juan Valdez” (with added espresso), pina colada and turtle with homemade caramel. Five-year-old Aiden Carlisle sipped on a classic chocolate chilly, a treat from his grandparents, before a soccer game, and he said he could tell that this wasn’t made with the regular powdered chocolate mix he was used to.
“This has chocolate in it. I love chocolate,” the child exclaimed, obviously feeling some of the natural effects of the sweet treat. “I like the whipped cream, and I like that it’s cold.”
Brinn said his cool drinks are more popular now during the summer, although he said the hot drinks should start selling faster as the temperature drops. It’s also the hot drinks that offer a truly unique tasting experience that has gained popularity across the globe.
A recent report in the Washington Business Journal detailed an explosion in chocolate cafes over the past four years in cities like New York, Chicago, Seattle and across the West Coast, according to Kara Nielsen, a trendologist at the Center for Culinary Development in San Francisco.
“This is an emerging trend, so I don’t think anyone is measuring this,” said Nielsen.
The Washington Business Journal reported that three years ago, Belgium-based Confiserie Leonidas S.A. opened two chocolate cafes in Santa Monica and Pasadena, Calif. Over the last year and a half, the Mars Co. has opened a chain of 10 chocolate bars called Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge in the Chicago and Las Vegas areas.
Last August, the owner of the Chocolate Bar in Manhattan, Alison Nelson, signed a licensing agreement with United Arab Emirates-based NewCo to open 30 Chocolate Bars over the next 10 years in the Middle East, including locations in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Brinn said gourmet liquid chocolate is experiencing a wave of popularity similar to the martini and wine-bar booms over the last decade, and he said Jacksonville is ready to indulge in this new trend.
“There is little doubt in my mind that Jacksonville is following the trends of other cities,” he said. “People are looking for better quality chocolate, and they are able to appreciate the more sophisticated tastes we offer.”
Some of those tastes include the “buzzed” with shots of espresso and the “wicked,” which adds a dash of ancho and cayenne pepper that hits the back of the throat and cleans the palate after every sweet sip.
Brinn, who has owned and operated 3 Sisters for seven years, said the chocolate bar started slow when it opened inside of his store two weeks ago, but business started to pick up last weekend.
“On Tuesday and Wednesday, we saw it building with our regular customers,” said Brinn. “I think the word got out, because Thursday night was our first really busy night and Friday and Saturday night people were waiting in line.”
Brinn has expanded his hours for the chocolate bar to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. He said he expects to grow the bar and offer the space for group and organization meetings and even office Christmas parties. And look for new and even more creative flavor combinations in the near future.
“In our chocolate pieces, we combine more complex flavors like fresh basil and mint, and that could move into the drinks,” said Brinn. “It’s a real chocolate experience.”