The scene on Saturday at the Burlington Waterfront.

We take beer and chocolate pairings very seriously here at LCC.  Long nights of hard work, tasting, pouring, tasting, pouring some more, it can go on and on.  Someone has to put in the hours, right?

Well, we can finally share all that hard work with you!  This year’s pairings at the VT Brewer’s Festival did not disappoint.  In fact, it seems to get better and better every year.  And the rest of you must think so too since we had a standing room only for both sessions! 

Without further ado, here is the first pairing: 
Zero Gravity ,a local brewer located at American Flatbread, collaborated with Otter Creek to create the Berliner Weisse (3.0%ABV) paired with our Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel.
This sour wheat beer, with traditional brew relevance to Northern Germany, is very light with a tartness resembling champagne. The sea salt caramel has complex cooked dairy and caramelized sugar flavors. A touch of sea salt highlights the dairy and lactic sour. When tasted together, the beer’s high sour lifts the cooked dairy flavors of the caramel.

Give it a try! 
Look for the rest of the pairings in the next few days.

While we are missing the sweet and soulful sounds of the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, it is still a time to celebrate!  Our limited edition spicy chocolate bar, BOOM! BAM! Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Experience Bar, created to raise funds for the FlynnArts “LCC Youth in Jazz Scholarship,” was an incredible success!

Festival goers and chocolate fans helped sell 1,361 bars, which raised over $3000 towards the scholarship fund.  The funds will go towards creating more opportunities in performing arts education for young musicians in Vermont. 

We are so proud, not only to be a sponsor of the Jazz Festival for 15 years running, but for the opportunity to give back to the community in such a meaningful way.

We had so much fun creating the BOOM! BAM! bar and are already looking forward to next year.

Any ideas of a new and crazy flavor that reflects the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival?  Let us know!!

Our small batch premium ice cream just got better.

I know, we didn’t think it was possible either. 

We’re now using 100% Vermont dairy from our new friends at Kingdom Creamery, a third generation dairy farm in East Hardwick, VT.

It’s not summer without enjoying an ice cream cone, a milk shake, a sundae— or all three!

We have the perfect recipe for cooling off with flavors like Almond Butter Crunch, Chocolate Hazelnut and Mocha Chocolate Chip; chocolate-dipped waffle cones, malted milk shakes, sundaes with Tanzania dark chocolate sauce, sorbets…..should we go on?

Just stop by one of our three stores-
Church St and Pine St in Burlington and Route 100 in Waterbury Center.

We promise, you won’t be disappointed!

Since hot chocolate isn’t exactly in season right now (it’s 95 today in Burlington!), we are thrilled to officially announce a new offering to our summer line up- ice pops!  

Now that sounds like summer. 

Freshly-made frozen pops using local ingredients, it’s as simple as that.
And our first ice pop is Strawberry Ice Wine.

Using strawberries from Sam Mazza’s Farm and La Crescent ice wine from East Shore Vineyard in Grand Isle, the concept behind the pop was to highlight strawberry season, happening right now in Vermont! The wine adds complexity and heightens the flavor of the berries—it also cuts down on the amount of sugar added to the pop, always a good thing.

So where can one find this amazing frozen delight?
 
The Burlington Food & Wine Festival, happening this Saturday, June 23 at the Burlington Waterfront.  In addition to the pop, we’ll also being scooping our ice cream.  So save some room for dessert!

LCC owner & founder tending to bees at the Intervale Center

Did you know honey bees help grow over a third of the world’s food? 

And did you know that Vermont honey is one of our secret ingredients in the Caramel Five Star Bar?  
It’s one of the reasons it’s so incredibly delicious.

Bees pollinate over 100 types of crops in the US every year, and increasingly, they are endangered.  Since the mid-1990’s, bees have been dying at abnormal rates.  Colonies have been mysteriously collapsing with adult bees disappearing, seemingly abandoning their hives.  This phenomenon — known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD — is likely caused by a variety of interacting factors, including pathogens, loss of habitat and increased exposure to systemic and other pesticides.
 
Lake Champlain Chocolates is thrilled to be sponsoring Whole Foods Markets’ “Share the Buzz” campaign, supporting the The Xerces Society’s, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring pollination habitats across the US. 

We also keep our own bees at Burlington’s Intervale Center, a progressive organization committed to strengthening community food systems through sustainable agriculture.  It’s our goal to eventually use our own honey to make the best-selling Honey Caramels and Caramel Five Star Bars! 

Through our collaboration with 19 other brands you may recognize − Stonyfield Yogurt, Amy’s Kitchen, Annie’s Homegrown, Evian Water, Blue Diamond, and Honest Tea − more than $100,000 will be raised to help save the bees.

Bee part of the solution! Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Pinterest from June 13-July 17, and check out the campaign at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/sharethebuzz

(Photos courtesy of the Church Street Marketplace)

One more day until the 29th Burlington Discover Jazz Festival descends on our home city of Burlington, VT—and we could not be more excited!  The energy and positive vibe that flows through the city for 10 days is unlike anything else that happens here. 

We like to think of the Jazz Fest as the official kick-off to summer.  And so you’ll start seeing our ice cream cart popping up all over town— City Hall Park, Waterfront Park, Church Street and who knows where else…. (There may be some surprise appearances- follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more).  

And we are also thrilled to present the BOOM BAM Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Experience Bar.  This limited-edition bar, whose flavor celebrates the heritage of jazz, is available during the festival to support a newly established Youth in Jazz Scholarship.  Everyone needs at least one BOOM! BAM!  And you only have until June 10 to get one.

Ice cream.  Chocolate. Live music. June in Vermont.  Life doesn’t get much better.

See you out there!

Give your mom as gift as sweet as she is- luxurious, gourmet chocolates!  Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 13 so stop by one of our three retail stores and we’d be happy to help you select the perfect gift for Mom. We have clusters, caramels, truffles, chocolate flowers, gift baskets— everything to show mom how special she is.

LCC Retail Stores

750 Pine Street
Burlington, VT
Monday-Saturday 9-6pm
Sunday 12-5pm

802-864-1807
65 Church Street
Burlington, VT
Monday-Thursday 10-8pm
Friday-Saturday 10-9pm
Sunday 11-7pm
802-862-5185

Route 100 – Cabot Annex
Waterbury, VT
Monday-Sunday 9-6pm
802-241-4150


PS- Don’t forget to enter our Chocolates for Mom Contest!

Sending Mother's Day Chocolate is the sweetest way to show someone you care.  Mother’s Day is May 13th and to help you celebrate, we’re selecting a winner for our Spring Selection Gift Box every day until May 8th!   This all-natural chocolate gift box is filled with gourmet truffles, chocolate creams, chocolate caramels, peanut butter cups and more and is valued at $30.    You can come back and enter each day to increase your chances of winning our Grand Prize- $500 in chocolate!

What would you do with $500 in chocolate? 

Visit our Facebook page to enter!

Cars are honking.  No, not in a bad, “I’m so annoyed” kind of way (this is Vermont after all). These honks sound happy.   Yes, even honks can have personality.  Ok, so why are all these cars honking so much?  I’ll give you one guess.  The Easter Bunny!

Everyone loves the Easter Bunny.  He dances. He waves.  He wears a bowtie.  Ok, sometimes kids may want to keep their distance, but absolutely everyone loves what the Easter Bunny brings in his basket each year.  A chocolate bunny, some chocolate Easter eggs, jelly beans, and some green grass and you’ve got yourself a perfectly filled Easter basket.

And then there’s the Easter egg hunt.  Even though it can be cold, and even snowing some years, there are some great easter egg hunts to choose from in Vermont.  One of our favorites is down the street from us at Oakledge Park, on the shores of Lake Champlain.  It’s the Eggstravaganza!    The LCC Bunny is there along with 10,000 eggs, food, activities, music— you name it, this Easter egg hunt has got it.

What sort of Easter egg hunts happen in your neck of the woods?

Our stores have everything you need to fill your Easter basket—chocolate bunnies, cream-filled eggs, all-natural jelly beans and even chocolate carrots!

Stop by one of our three retail stores and be sure to say hello to the LCC Bunny!

LCC Retail Stores

750 Pine Street
Burlington, VT
Monday-Saturday 9-6pm
Sunday 12-5pm
802-864-1807

65 Church Street
Burlington, VT
Monday-Thursday 10-7pm
Friday-Saturday 10-9pm
Sunday 11-6pm
802-862-5185

Route 100 – Cabot Annex
Waterbury, VT
Monday-Sunday 9-6pm
802-241-4150