Welcome to our very first 5 Canadian Brands We Love, the November edition.
Each month we are going to try and highlight 5 Local Canadian food and beverage brands that we are just obsessed with.
I think it’s important to show off our Canadian small businesses and some of the delicious and authentically original products that have emerged into our consumer markets because of these brands.
Keep in mind that we are not paid to promote any of the brands featured in this post and or any future 5 Canadian Brands We Love posts. Everything we say comes from the HEART.
1) Eatable Inc. Alcohol Infused Popcorn
Alcohol infused popcorn. Yes you read that correctly. It’s like taking a trip down memory lane, with an adult twist. Eatable Popcorn comes in 6 unique flavours including:
Whisky On The Pops Flavour Notes:
Rich and smoky with subtle hints of sweetness with a slight saltiness from Eatable signature caramel.
We Paired Whisky On The Pops With:
Used as Breadcrumb Coating Overtop Chicken Tenders
Used as Garnish Overtop Pancakes
Used within a Charcuterie Board
Used as a Garnish for a Whisky Cocktail
Pop The Champagne Flavour Notes:
Rich in white chocolate with subtle, toasty almond like flavour notes. Be sure to pause for a moment and feel the rush of sugar crystals that literally POP in your mouth.
We Paired Pop The Champagne With:
Used to Coat White Chocolate Covered Strawberries Rolled In Popcorn
Used as a Garnish Overtop Pink Champagne Infused Cake
Pop The Salt & Tequila Flavour Notes:
Rich in buttery notes from the caramel, paired with the smooth and peppery taste of an aged Añejo tequila complimented by the saltiness of lemon and salt.
We Paired Pop The Salt & Tequila With:
Used as a Garnish Overtop Brûléd Peaches With Vanilla Ice Cream
Used as Breadcrumb Coating Overtop Salmon
Poppin’ Rosé All Day Flavour Notes:
Light on the palate, the crisp candied covering infused with rosé wine hints subtle citrusy and tart notes that nod to the watermelon and strawberry ingredients that are infused.
We Paired Poppin’ Rosé All Day With:
Garnish overtop Watermelon & Feta Fruit Salad
Used as a Confection in our Fruit Skewers
Poppy Caesar Flavour Notes:
Lightly coated in a sweet and spicy crisp tomato based purée gives the perfect savory twist to Canada's most beloved cocktail. Topped off with a splash of vodka and a blend of zesty peppery rim spices.
We Paired Poppy Caesar With:
Used as a Garnish for a Caesar Cocktail
Used as a Breadcrumb Coating Overtop Chicken Wings
Pop Goes Sangria Flavour Notes:
Candied Merlot wine infused kernels with fruity notes of apple, blood orange and a light coating of cinnamon and spices. Slow-baked to perfection.
We Paired Pop Goes Sangria With:
Used as a Garnish for an Autumn Sangria
Used within our Charcuterie Board
Used to make a Red Wine Infused Dark Chocolate Bark
Eatable has made entertaining so much easier. They have taken the thought out of stressing what snacks to buy when having friends and family over. Their popcorn has replaced the mundane bag of potato chips and gives our guests an elevated experience bite after bite, handful after handful.
Want To Give Eatable Inc Popcorn A Try?
We recommend starting with our personal favourite Pop The Champagne. From the taste of the rich white chocolate coating, to the rush of sugar crystals (like pop rocks) popping in your mouth, this dessert-like popcorn should be treated like a delicacy (if you can control yourself).
ALXEATS Top Recommended Eatable Inc Popcorn Flavours:
2) Cup of Té
What if I told you, you could enter one store (virtually) and find a collection of loose leaf teas, curated from across the globe ready to be delivered straight to your doorstep?
Too good to be true? Think again.
But before I spill the tea on Cup Of Té and the brand's journey to Canadian retail success, I have to stress Cup Of Té’s packaging, one of the key visual elements that sets the brand apart from their competitors.
We are a sucker for beautiful packaging and trust me...we know great packaging when we see it (speaking from 10 years of experience as a graphic designer). We were reeled in right away by the dark and moody black packaging paired with stunning gold foil embellishments.
The look and feel of the airtight metal tins down to the luxe matching teaware accessories - the experience of shopping for tea is like none other when comparing it to Cup Of Té. Before we could even take a sip, we were already in love. We had never come across a more luxurious collection of teas before and we could not have been more proud to know the brand was birthed in Toronto Ontario.
The brand takes pride in their quality of unique tea blends ensuring that each and every tea available is hand selected and organically and ethically sourced. (We LOVE knowing that the owner herself hand selects all of their tea blends.)
The brand is extremely transparent about this and to us - knowing that the owner herself has sourced, touched, tried and curated these blends, gives something like a simple bag of loose leaf tea, just that much more meaning.
A Tea Too Good To Spill:
If we could pick up one of everything from Cup of Té’s store we would. But I’ve learned to control my addictions for the greater good and let’s face it, my tea and coffee cupboards can barely close as it is.
But that doesn’t stop us from stocking up on some of the most unique tea blends in the Canadian market. Here’s a list of some of the MUST haves from Cup Of Té’s range of teas:
ALXEATS Top Recommended Cup Of Té Flavours:
Did we forget to mention that Cup Of Té made it to Oprah’s Favourite Things List 2020? And you and I both know that Oprah knows tea.
Want to give back this year while doing your holiday shopping? When you purchase any of the Cup Of Té’s Luxe Silver Starter Kit and Luxe Gold Starter Kit * $1 from each starter kit will be donated to The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
3) Cedar Valley Selections
Have you ever consumed an entire bag of pita chips despite not having anything to dip it in? If so then we must be talking about the same brand. That’s right, we can consume an entire bag of Cedar Valley Selections Pita Chips in one sitting (it’s happened multiple times) WITHOUT adding a spread or sauce. It’s honestly THAT good.
Last week Anya and I had a few guests over for dinner. We started the night off with a bottle of wine and a medium size charcuterie board. We made sure to add all of our favourite things including: cheese, fruits, vegetables, some spreads and of course our Cedar Valley Selection Pita Chips.
After literally one or two handfuls of pita chips, the questions started to flood from our guests.
What kind of chip is this? Where did you buy it? What is it called? What does the bag look like? Our friends and I literally had a 10 minute conversation over a bag of pita chips. Now if that doesn’t speak volumes - what does?
Our friends were intrigued to know that Cedar Valley Selections is a Canadian brand (made with love in Ontario). The part that got everyone hooked besides the delicious spices and seasoning generously and evenly coated on top of each chip was the fact that Cedar Valley Selections chips are made in coconut oil.
For us, that’s the secret ingredient that takes these delicious crunchy chips from good to GREAT! Coconut oil when incorporated into food, gives off a buttery smooth feeling followed by a sweet but subtle after-taste. Who would have thought that coconut oil pairs well with pita?
With every bite, you find yourself saying “just one more” until you realize soon after you're scraping the crumbs out of the inside corners of the bag (shamelessly speaking from experience).
We loved that our friends were so excited to find out about a brand like Cedar Valley. In our next post maybe I’ll share the story of how we introduced Cedar Valley’s dressings to our friends and family. Since then...let’s just say we are in everyone’s good books!
ALXEATS Top Recommended Cedar Valley Selections Products:
4) More Granola
Does size matter? When it comes to these granola chunks, you better believe it does. I'm going to be extremely candid here; after trying More's selection of delicious crunchy granola, we stopped looking elsewhere.
More Granola is literally the only granola company we have come across that offers the most glorious large slab like chunks of granola. Before More Granola, there was a time where we thought that a saw-dust like consistency granola was acceptable, maybe because it was the only type of product available in market.
That is until More Granola disrupted the industry for the greater good. Owner Sarah Davies has changed the way we eat and develop recipes that contain granola. First of all, before you even try creating a recipe with any of More's 5 delicious flavours - you have to just rip open the bag and bite into a chunk.
When we would think of granola we would normally picture a yogurt smoothie bowl with a handful of granola overtop. But that's not the way More Granola has intended for you to indulge. I mean it's still totally acceptable to include in a yogurt smoothie bowl - but that's no fun. More Granola is more of a treat you should be able to eat at any given point and time of the day.
It's not JUST a healthy breakfast ingredient or a more conscious alternative to cereal. Treat it like a chip, carry it with you in the car, on your next long drive with the family. Dip it in your coffee to replace that brittle leftover biscotti from your local bakery. Even add it to a seasonal grazing board as a surprise dessert option.
In short what we are trying to say is if you treat More Granola just like any other granola brand, you might as well suffice to the saw-dust-like consistency of granola products that are already out in the market. More Granola just deserves...more.
ALXEATS Top Recommended More Granola Flavours:
More Granola is now available in store at Sobeys across Canada. Some of our favourite flavours of More include:
5) Drizzle Honey
Honey is a staple food item that can be found in most pantry's across the globe. It's fuss free, provides a ton of health benefits, does not expire and replaces those fortified sugars we consume in our food and drinks each and every day.
People around the world even use honey as natural lozenges to help soothe sore and inflamed throats. But if honey is so versatile and so thought-after by the masses, why does it still seem to be considered as just an alternative or a secondary ingredient and rarely the star of the show?
Well thanks to Drizzle Honey, that has all changed. Drizzle has reinvented the way we think and use honey in our everyday lives. The brand offers some of the most unique honey and spice pairings in the Canadian consumer market, like our personal favourite: Drizzle Hot Honey - crushed chilis infused in a rich and thick honey. Now... that's HOT!
Drizzles Craft Honey has 8 options to choose from including:
Drizzles Honey Pairings:
Hot Honey:
Works well as a drizzle overtop pizza
Adds a kick to your salad dressing
Pairs well with chicken stir fry
Pairs well with seafood and fish
Add it to your baked cheese
Berry Bliss Honey:
Works as a sweetening agent for sorbets and ice creams
Pairs well with crepes, waffles and pancakes
Add as a base to fruit compotes and sauces
Delicious berry infused popsicles
Turmeric Gold Honey:
Makes for a delicious golden turmeric milk
Add over baked vegetables and potatoes
Add to iced teas and lemonades
Pairs well with roasted chicken and turkey
Mulled wines and hot ciders
Ginger Shine Honey:
Pairs well with baked chicken and seafood as a glaze
Add to your tea for healing health benefits
Add to your cocktail and elixirs (great for ginger beer)
Cacao Luxe Honey:
Pairs well with fruits (replaces chocolate)
Great for breads and cakes
Use as a filling in donuts, cupcakes and cookies
Used as a dip and spread in sweet and savoury grazing boards
Cinnamon Spiced Honey:
Perfect to glaze breads, pretzels, churros
Add to your cocktail for an extra kick
Great for apple pie and apple ciders
Used for glazing and baking cinnamon rolls
White & Golden Raw Honey:
Sweeten cereals, granola bowls, iced and hot teas
Drizzle overtop cakes, dessert breads and muffins
Add to your dish of choice for a naturally sweetened experience
We hope you enjoyed our list of 5 Canadian Brands We Love. Let us know if you have tried any of the brands we have highlighted in this post and let us know your thoughts!
