Kyya Chocolate
Sporting my Uganda (origin of chocolate) orange and hazelnut shake with Kyya’s owner, Rick.
The glass door swung open and a burst of air warmed my face and the deep, earthy, fruity sweet smell of chocolate healed the soul. Smell is the most powerful of all senses and I was instantly transported to one of my favorite hangouts in Santa Fe, a sipping chocolate house. I knew this trip to Kyya was about to get real.
After a quick handshake with Rick, the engineer turned chocolateer and founder of Kyya, Greek for simple and pure, instantly said “come on back”. My heart skipped a couple beats because it’s nothing like going into someone’s working kitchen.
After a brief stop in the shipping room, he brought out a bottle and asked if we were ok with alcohol. He gave us a pour of their chocolate liquor that is in the research and development phase.
Boozy cocoa nibs.
Oh!!! We get tastes of stuff that hasn’t even hit the market yet. What a treat! If you’re wondering, it tastes like a smoother, more flavorful chocolate version of Kalua. This chocolate version was made with vodka and we washed it down with a second version made from whisky. The whisky one had a tad bit of a whisky bite that smoothed out to luxurious chocolate. I’m not a whisky girl but I definitely enjoyed it. Which one is better? Well, they’re different things so no need to compare them. But I will say the vodka version would make an incredible boozy snow ball and the whisky one be a great ice cream topping.
Coating dragees during the research and development phase.
Rick sent me an email last week with this photo of their new chocolate coater. “Look what we got yesterday. This is 70KG model. Here come the dragees!!!” Rick said. The excitement was popping off the screen!
An early stage of grinding cocoa nibs which releases cocoa butter that will create silky chocolate.
As the grinding process continues, the cocoa nibs turn into silky chocolate from the grinding processes that releases cocoa butter from the nibs.
We received the full tour with each room opening to another set of delights. There was the research and development room, the room where cacao nibs became the silky ribbons that become the shiny chocolate with a snap, the packaging room, and the room with all of the syrups. In the syrup room they happened to be bottling “Kyya Joy” syrup. Without knowing what it was, it instantly caught my eye because my theory is any product that contains a namesake in the title has to be special.
They gave me a taste and the warm flavors of vanilla bean, cinnamon, and honey filled my senses. While cinnamon is at the forefront, the vanilla and honey are standing in the back elevating the cinnamon while they are still shining. It’s a masterful balancing act.
By this time in the tour we’ve had chocolate drinks, boozy turtles, caramel bon bons, and a chocolate strawberry tart. We couldn’t leave before washing the deliciousness down with a shake, one of the things locals love.
Releasing caramel bon bons from the mold.
Kyya starts their shakes with vanilla ice cream and you choose two flavors. There are 10,638 milkshake flavor options. We are in a chocolate shop, so one of the flavors has to be … chocolate (in my opinion). I chose Uganda orange (Uganda is the chocolate source and leans earthy in flavor) and hazelnut. See what I did? I actually got three flavors in two. Uganda orange stood out to me because chocolate orange is probably my number one chocolate flavor combination and hazelnuts is another classic flavor that pairs well with chocolate and orange. In case you were wondering, I forwent Kyya Joy only because I was taking a whole bottle home with me.
The shake was the perfect consistency. It was thick, yet drinkable and had a delightful punch of flavor. The orange was bright and prominent with chocolate and hazelnut grounding the shake to bring an earthy complexity.
Customers can choose up to two flavors to add to their shake or latte.
After I got home, I had some fun with Kyya Joy and developed an Orange Pecan Cake with Kyya Joy Crème Anglaise. I’ll post the recipe next week. Until then, snag yourself a bottle at their shop in Springdale, AR or at kyyachocolate.com/ . While you wait for the recipe post, pour some Kyya Joy into a cold glass of milk.
Sneak peak to Orange Pecan Cake with Kyya Joy Crème Anglaise.
