Snorting chocolate: A Vancouver Halloween treat for the big kids?
'It's just a very light dusting of cacao that gets catapulted into your nose'
In the typical Halloween arrangement, the kids get to have the fun, and the adults get to make it happen.
Parents hand out candy and guide costumed youngsters around the neighbourhood, while tiny Jedi and Captain Americas fill their pillow cases with high fructose corn syrup.
So what's an adult to do if they're looking to enjoy the sweeter parts of Halloween without raiding their kid's stash? How about snorting chocolate?
"You immediately experience the very pleasant sensation of chocolate all over your body," said Mary Jean Dunsdon, known to some locals as Watermelon, who provides chocolate snorting experiences at her Commercial Drive sweet shop, The Licorice Parlour.
The process involves specially-refined, dried cacao powder and a small contraption designed specifically to catapult small amounts of it into each nostril, around one/16th of a teaspoon.
"You just need these tiny little particulates to get in the membrane [of your nose]. That's how it sends all the information to your brain," said Dunsdon.
She says chocolate shooters, as they're called, were invented in Europe as a tongue-in-cheek dessert for a Rolling Stones party. The trend has since spread around the world and Dunsdon claims hers is the only shop in North America providing the experience.
If you're thinking of skipping the trip for a home made version though, CBC food columnist Gail Johnson cautioned against it while speaking with CBC's On the Coast.
"Don't go grinding up your own Smarties, because you don't want to get fine particulate in your lungs. You have to do it properly."