As soon as your sweet tooth starts acting up, quiet it down with pure deliciousness from the Kauai Sweet Shoppe. At this Lihue confectionary, they specialize in small-batch caramels made using all the best local ingredients. If that’s not quite your style, you can count on their chocolate bark, cookie cakes, and the like to win you over. They even have freshly brewed coffee available whenever you need a quick pick-me-up.
When it comes to handcrafting their scrumptious candies and more, all the magic happens daily at their Lihue shop on the Kilohana Plantation. Since 2012, they’ve spent every day creating, cutting, and wrapping all their caramel varieties by hand. Additional batches come down the pipeline as well to create their caramel apples, caramel sauce, chocolate-covered caramels, and so much more.
Sometimes, their caramels even land in their ultra-big cookie cakes. More often than not, however, macadamia nuts and chocolate chips steal the show as they create each cookie creation. The same goes for their chocolate bark, which almost always features roasted mac nuts. Despite that, you can expect tons of imagination going into the creation of their truffles, brownies, cookies, and other delicacies.
They’re always creating something new, too, so you never truly know what you’ll find when you walk through the doors. What you can count on every time, however, is the highest quality of service around. Their shop always has a chill vibe as well, especially when you get to watch in awe at the candy being made before your very eyes.
So, while you can definitely order many of their items online, a trip into the shop is the way to go, for sure. If you do want to shop online, expect caramel, chocolate bark, and not a whole lot more. Many of their items simply don’t ship well, after all, making it difficult to send you a product that meets their high standards.
Their most popular sweets include:
Mocha
Whenever you need to put a little pep in your step, treat yourself to a Mocha. Available hot or iced, they start this drink by freshly brewing their coffee beans to order. Then, they mix it all up with cream and chocolate syrup to create the perfect flavor profile.
Caramel Sampler
If you want to get all their top caramel flavors in one easy purchase, get a Caramel Sampler. Available in three configurations, their samplers come with flavors like Li Hing Mui, Guava, Toasted Coconut, Hawaiian Sea Salt, and Earl Gray. You can buy them all separately, of course, but the sampler will save you a little cash to spend on even more candy.
Movie Night Bark
When you want to enjoy all your favorite movie night snacks on the go, you’ll need Movie Night Chocolate Bark on your side. This wonderful snack starts with 65% dark chocolate and then gets caramel popcorn, peanuts, and rice crackers poured inside. The whole lot spreads out onto a sheet to cool before they crack it into bite-sized pieces for your enjoyment.
If you simply cannot decide what to get, ask for a sample. They’re always giving out a small taste of their caramels, cookies, and other items upon request. Barring that, you really cannot go wrong no matter what you pick. So, even if you closed your eyes and picked out your items at random, you’re sure to walk away wholly impressed with your candies.
Insider Tips:
-Want icy coffee without it getting watered down? Ask for their coffee cubes.
-Their candy makes great gifts for your friends and family back home. But you’d better buy extras just in case you get a hankering for sweets before handing them out.
-Expect long lines as the train around the plantation comes back around and stops at the shop.