Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
As a Canadian, I’m always on the lookout for the best chocolate in various parts of our vast country. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Ginette Ahier, the skilled chocolatier who previously made her handcrafted artisan chocolate creations from her home in Cocagne, New Brunswick, under the name Choco-Cocagne. You will have seen them listed in the A-Z Guide in the first volume of Chocolatour.
I’d tasted Ginette’s chocolates back in 2012 and had her earmarked as someone I just had to meet. The stars aligned when the Professional Writers Association of Canada decided to have its 2017 conference in Fredericton. (More on Fredericton and other great places of New Brunswick in future posts.)
what makes adorable chocolat so special?
In November, 2013, Ginette merged her chocolate creativity with Frédéric Desclos of Adorable Chocolat (pronounced in the French vernacular) of Shediac, New Brunswick, a short 30-minute drive from Cocagne. This collaboration has resulted in the best chocolate I’ve tasted east of Quebec.
For those of you who don’t know Canada well, what’s east of Quebec are the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. If you include Newfoundland and Labrador, the region becomes Atlantic Canada. All four provinces are east of the province of Quebec, a province known for its Parisian-style cuisine and superb French-style chocolate.
New Brunswick is a fully bilingual province, with more than 30% of the population declaring French as their primary language. Ginette is a French-speaking Canadian and Frédéric worked in the chocolate industry in Paris, France, moving to Canada in 2011 and opening Adorable Chocolat in Shediac where French is the prevalent language spoken.
Ginette’s strengths are in marketing, and so she handles the front of the store public relations and marketing for the shop, while Frédéric creates chocolate masterpieces in the kitchen with the assistance of two staff who are both also from France.
While chocolate bonbons, truffles, and confections were the primary focus of Adorable Chocolat for the first three years, in February, 2017, the new Scorpion Bars were launched elevating Adorable Chocolat to the category of hybrid chocolatier, and one step closer to bean-to-bar.
“We created a private blend of cacao beans used to make our 72.7% dark chocolate bars,” says Frédéric, who tasted a total of 30 blends of Cacao Barry couverture in Paris before pinning down their own custom Or Noir blend of Peruvian, Madagascan, and Tanzanian cocoa that he and Ginette chose to make their signature bars. “We’re both Scorpio’s, so choosing the name Scorpion for our bars seemed to represent both of us equally well.”
Taste, quality, and ethics are the three guiding principles that guide everything at Adorable Chocolat. “We source only products where we can trace the origin and the chain, so that we can maintain the sustainability of our products,” says Ginette, who says that Adorable Chocolat is working toward achieving USDA EcoCert approval.
Adorable Chocolat is an excellent chocolate shop focusing on the sustainability of chocolate that has successfully been able to create a fusion of old world and new world chocolate products to please the most discerning customer–whether they are local patrons, or visitors who have travelled thousands of miles the region to find this lovely little shop and cafe in the town best known for its giant lobster.
The hotel I stayed at inn Moncton provided a small package of Adorable Chocolat as a guest gift. One bite and I was smitten! It’s wonderful. I drove out to Shediac to make a larger purchase for myself and friends. I highly recommend this product.
Hi Sylvia. So glad you’ve discovered Adorable Chocolat. They’re certainly one of my favourites.
I am totally craving for some chocolates after reading your post! I wish I could try the chocolate creation of Adorable Chocolat, they sound delicious! i love your post. wonderful pictures
I love the way you have caught that frothy chocolate. Absolute drool value. I love the way you bring out the sustainable aspect of this business. Kudos to you,
Thanks, Ami. Adorable Chocolat is definitely a company I feel good in endorsing.
Had to check my photos, but the one you are drooling over is actually bubbling caramel! Adorable Chocolat makes amazing caramels, in addition to their Rum Dark Chocolate Truffles. Those really get me drooling! 🙂
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…exploring Shediac, New Brunswick
Well, I love that you can taste the notes in the chocolate… I don’t eat many chocolates since most of them are sugary and not having that flavour…but flavourful chocolate I love to savour and I believe people should be choosy about the chocolates. I like it that Adorable chocolate sources their ingrediates from sources where they can trace the quality of ingrediants…sounds super!! …
Hi Stefinia. Good quality chocolate does not have much sugar at all. I encourage you to start shopping for chocolate that shows cacao or cocoa mass/cocoa solids/cocoa liquor as the primary ingredient and you will taste quite a difference from chocolate candy where sugar is indeed the top ingredient.
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
I am totally craving some chocolates after reading your post! I wish I could try the chocolate creation of Adorable Chocolat, they sound delicious! Unfortunately, I live nowhere near Canada..
Thanks, Rosary. Don’t worry. I’ll be covering every part of the world — eventually! 🙂
Be it Switzerland, Australia, France, or any part of the world, Chocolate casts its spell far and wide. The heady blend of Chocolate and your words sure weave magic and keep the reader riveted. Always love reading about your chocolate experiences.
Thank you SO much for the wonderful comment, Sandy. I am grateful that you are enjoying my posts about the enticing world of chocolate travel. 🙂
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
You’ve got a true recurring theme in your blogs about the collaboration of talents into unique small businesses. It’s very inspiring. This shop sounds like a wonderful place to visit and nibble. Chocolate, caramel…and a giant lobster? You crazy Canadians have it all going on!
Rose, I could really see you enjoying yourself in the Maritime Provinces! The music, the smiles, the fun, and the flavours. ALL GOOD!
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
Very interesting post.
Since you brought this topic up, I often wanted to ask a question. Does Quebec have different chocolate, from rest of Canada, and if so, is it because of the French influence and past there?
Thanks for your question, William. Yes, I think that a good deal of the chocolate in Quebec bears the French influence, so much of it is similar to what you would find in Paris: silky smooth and rich in flavour. There is an increasing number of chocolate artisans in Quebec who are making bean-to-bar chocolate and are more focused on the pure integrity of the chocolate flavour versus the silkiness of the chocolate. Either way, it’s all good!
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
The giant lobster is what would make me come here, but the chocolate sounds like it’s worth sticking around for! I envy your chocolate explorations!
Tracie, Shediac is a perfect destination for photogs. I think you would love it for the beach, lighthouse and marina as well.
I was charmed by Quebec but the only area I’ve on the east coast of Canada is Toronto and I would love to go back and explore this area. The giant lobster is definitely a charmer. 🙂
Hi Marty. Toronto is a long way from the east coast. It is in Ontario, which is considered the western part of the Eastern Time Zone. It’s also a terrific Canadian chocolate destination. I do hope you get to visit Canada’s Maritime Provinces at some point in time as they are incredible, as is Newfoundland–situated closer to Ireland the it is to central Canada!
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
It’s so amazing how one can find superb chocolate production in nooks and crannies all over our Country. Who knew? Thanks, Doreen, for enlightening again us to the fact that you don’t have to visit a big urban centre to discover and indulge in our chocolate passions.
I am hoping to travel to the Atlantic Provinces one day (it’s on ‘the list’) – hope that Giant Lobster is still standing when I reach Shediac!
Indeed, Renee. That is part of the mission of Chocolatour. To get people off the beaten path in larger cities and encourage them to explore some of the more obscure locations that are every bit as interesting and enticing. 🙂
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
I wonder if I can find this in Quebec City. I’m there right now, so maybe I should try.
I don’t think you’ll find Adorable Chocolat in QC, Anda. But if you bounce back to my home page, you’ll find the recent post that was done on great chocolate in Quebec City. Enjoy! 🙂
Oh Doreen! You always make my chocolate cravings worse! This time, paired with the handcrafted caramel! Sounds amazing! I love New Brunswick and it looks like Adorable Chocolat gives me another reason to get back there one day soon. Great article!
Thanks, Sandy! It was exactly 15 years since my last visit to New Brunswick, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go back and continue exploring. It’s a wonderful province!
Oh Boy! you have just added a new stop on our travels in the Eastern part of our Canada. Thank You for such tasty information.
Betty, you will LOVE Shediac! Wait until I post the travel post(s) about New Brunswick. I feel it’s like our sister province!
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
I was so fortunate to be able to accompany you on your visit to Adorable Chocolat. Thanks for letting me be your ‘tour guide’ in New Brunswick. I had no idea that such delectable delights existed in Shediac, but needless to say, I’ll be back! Ginette and Frédéric have created something very special there – both in their unique products and their business partnership and commitment to quality.
Ceci, I was SO fortunate that you offered to take me around. That visit to Adorable Chocolat (and meeting you!) was one of the highlights of my trip to NB.
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
Doreen, you are so lucky to be able to meet people like Ginette Ahier. No matter what a person does for a living, it’s amazing to meet those with true passion for what they do. It’s very inspiring.
Thx so much, Jeri. I do feel blessed to get to know so many passionate people of chocolate. I didn’t even mention that Ginette hosted my friend and I at her home and we met her super-cute family!
Doreen Pendgracs recently posted…Adorable Chocolat, best chocolate east of Quebec
As per usual Doreen, you have me craving for chocolate – rich, dark chocolate!
Interesting to see behind the scenes – much more work than one would imagine.
Hi Phoenicia. Yes, that’s what I hope to illustrate in my posts. That’s why fine artisanal chocolate has a higher price. But it’s SO worth it!
I’m hoping to do an East Coast trip in the next two or three year. I will have to stop in Shediac and visit Adorable Chocolat.
You won’t be sorry, Donna!