Touring the Candy Company in St. Augustine, Florida, with J.Q. Rose

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Hello and welcome to the BWL Insiders Blog.

Touring the Candy Company in St. Augustine, Florida, with J.Q. Rose

Traveling is actually a working holiday for me because, as a writer, I am always studying the people and places where we go. I may catch a name or an idea for a character or a unique setting for my next novel. Snippets of dialogue form in my head as I listen to the regional dialects. But of course, I love seeing new places and all the experiences that go along with that.

I'm sharing a place I fell in love with in St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest European continuously occupied city in the USA. Please join me for an armchair travel tour of the Whetstone Candy Co. in beautiful downSt. Augustine.

The story of the establishment of this chocolate company reads like the American dream. A hard-working, dedicated couple, Henry and Esther Whetstone, first opened their small ice cream store on St. George Street in the historic business district of St. Augustine in 1966. Henry and Esther entered the chocolate market when they created a home-made fudge recipe in the family’s small kitchen. The kitchen was the original Whetstone Chocolate factory and the production crew was two hard-working people. You can read more about their amazing growth at the Whetstone Chocolate website.

The ticket for the tour, $8.00, is worth every penny of it, especially when Ty was our guide. He was an elementary school teacher for 36 years!  He brings all the energy and enthusiasm he used to teach kids to the tour presentation. Kudos to Ty for his fun tour of the factory. (Of course, how can you NOT have fun when eating samples of delicious chocolate?? We were pretty wired by the end of the tour!!)

Ty begins the tour on the factory floor. Information on the fine ingredients in this artisanal chocolate and the method used to turn cocoa beans into heavenly flavors of chocolate were explained in an adjoining room.

The factory. Yes, I was expecting conveyor belts, clanging bells, a frenzy of machinery, and lots of workers. But no, only about three people working at quiet machines that you will see below.

Ty introduced us to Miss Nan. She is bagging their delicious foil-wrapped candy shells and placing them in the boxes.

The machine is making white chocolate. Stirring is an important aspect of making delicious candy. I learned white chocolate does not have cocoa powder as an ingredient, but does contain the cocoa butter.

Milk chocolate machine. The difference between Whetstone's fine chocolates and the Over the Counter kind, as Ty referred to the cheaper manufactured chocolate, is the amount of lecithin, an emulsifier. Cheaper chocolates use none or less lecithin in the product.

Dark chocolate.
Yes, they push the health benefits of eating DARK chocolate.

Ty demonstrates how the hollow chocolate football is made. A measured amount of chocolate is added to the plastic mold he is holding.
A worker continually turns the liquid chocolate leaving a thin layer on the mold. To make it evenly shaped, it takes 35 minutes of hand turning to do it right!

The mold and the finished product, a hollow football complete with white chocolate laces!
Beautiful! No, Ty did not make this one...

Miss Nan revs up the machine that wraps foil around the chocolate shells.

Miss Nan loads the shells into the machine. Ty explained the path the candy took through the gears and belts with a patter that a rap star couldn't have done better! 

Success! Look at the parade of red foil-wrapped candy which Miss Nan will bag later.

Yes, we re-enacted the candy wrapping scene from the I Love Lucy Show.
You can't tell I have the candy stuffed in my mouth and down my bra, just like Lucy. LOL!!

The real actors in I Love Lucy. Have you seen this episode? It's a classic.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Are you hungry for chocolate now? Do you like dark chocolate?

I bet with the holidays upon us, you'll get many chocolate treats whether candy or desserts. Take time to really taste them and feel the joy this small morsel can bring to us.

Happy Hanukah and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate this special season of the year!

Wishing you joy, peace, hope, and love this season and throughout the 

Happy New Year 2020!

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Click here to keep in touch with J.Q. Rose at the Focused on Story Blog. Thank you!