But what you're here for is White's chocolate prowess. In collaboration with Penfold and Macdonald, the three of them sought out the perfect flavour pairings, sitting through oh-so-brutal chocolate tastings where they sampled up to 50 flavours at a time. What they came to were 25 options which fall into the dark, milk, and white chocolate range. With the idea of creating their own chocolate periodic table (certainly one we would have had an easier time memorizing in high school), Macdonald devised a system which labels each chocolate a two-letter combination of the 5 letters which comprise the name of the place. This creates room for 25 types of chocolate- 5 for each category of Savoury, Spanish, Wild, Exotic, and Classic. The chocolates are each the exact same size and shape- perfect squares, so until they get the appropriate stamps (to go on the bottom of the squares), you may need some assistance to distinguish that ambiguous mushroom flavour from birch. Think you're biting into a deliciously salted and creamy Salted Caramel? You may be shocked to find the overwhelming flavour of pork in the Chorizo flavoured truffle, the only one we found disappointing in the dozen that we tried. Olive on the other hand, is a surprising and unlikely satisfying combination of white chocolate and tangy black olives.
It is clear a lot of attention has been paid to sourcing fair trade, organic, or the best and freshest possible ingredients. This includes coffee- Macdonald is an award winning barista. While the Belgium chocolate is the base of all the chocolates, many of the Ontarian options are from Forbes Wild Foods; like the cedar (described as the taste of sitting on a Muskoka chair at the lake), birch, and honey, while the Tea Emporium provided the flavouring for the Masala Chai.