Burlington Discover Jazz Festival — Chocolate Bar Hall of Fame

Amid early-summer breezes and cool tunes, a new tradition was born during the 2012 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. That year marked our 15th as Jazz Fest sponsors, and it was only fitting to mark this milestone with chocolate.

So we created a unique, jazz-inspired bar: the Boom! Bam! Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Experience. This limited-edition bar would be available only during the festival, with all profits supporting a music scholarship for Vermont youth.

Boom! Bam! was a smash hit, and we decided to reprise with a new limited-run bar every year. Summer 2013 debuted the Bebop Hop Chocolate Bar, a soulful blend of milk chocolate with hop-infused caramel. And 2014 delighted Jazz Fest audiences with the tropical notes and Latin-inspired flavors of our Cocoa Con Brío Chocolate Bar.

Jazz Fest bars are true limited editions — which means once they sell out, that’s it. End of tune, no repeats! This page is our hall of fame, where you can learn a bit about the inspiration behind past years’ bars, and get a sneak peek at this summer’s bar.

Enjoy, and see you at Jazz Fest!

2012

Boom! Bam! Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Experience:

Created for Jazz Fest 2012, this spicy milk chocolate bar found inspiration in the sweet rhythm and spice of New Orleans. With every taste there came first the crunch — boom! — of roasted bourbon-soaked pecans in smooth milk chocolate, then a warming kick — bam! — of cayenne pepper.

100% of profits from the Boom Bam bar went to support the FlynnArts LCC Youth in Jazz Scholarship, providing year-round music classes and workshops for all students, regardless of ability to pay. What a delicious way to match community spirit with a celebration of great jazz music . . . Boom, BAM! Strike up the band!

2013

Bebop Hop Chocolate Bar:

How did we dream up a milk chocolate bar packed with hoppy, malted caramel? In the spirit of jazz, it’s a story of improvisation and collaboration between the BDJF’s top two sponsors. We traveled down to Bridgewater Corners to brainstorm with our friends at Long Trail Brewing Co., and an idea was born to use the raw materials for beer-making in a finished chocolate bar.

Infused with Cascade hops and sweetened with Long Trail Brewery’s house-made barley malt, the caramel in this bar featured a heady blend of herbal, citrus fruit, and tea notes. A virtuoso performance of chocolate and beer, the Bebop Hop had audiences shouting “Encore!” at Jazz Fest 2013. All proceeds went to support the FlynnArts LCC Youth in Jazz Scholarship.

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2014

Cocoa Con Brío Chocolate Bar:

‘Con brío’ — with energy, spirit, verve. The best way to experience jazz . . . and chocolate, too! For Summer 2015, we concocted an homage to Latin jazz. With mole-inspired flavors of lime, spice, and cocoa and a tropical wrapper design, Cocoa Con Brío featured bold 72% dark chocolate studded with raisins, pepitas, and a trio of guajillo, ancho, and pasilla negro peppers.

All profits from the sale of this bar went to support the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival’s Artist-in-Residence Program, which invites a celebrated jazz musician to explore his or her practice within the Burlington community, lead performance workshops, and spread the importance of jazz history through schools and social service agencies.

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2015: STAY TUNED!