The sign out front is a standard wooden affair, complete with carved and painted blue sugar drop, over which the name of the store is painted in a lovely contrasting green.
The shop is not open to the public 24/7. Should one attempt entry before 8 AM in the morning or after 9 PM (FST - to find out what time it is, `time is a handy command.) in the evening, the doors will be found to be firmly locked. Additionally, the shop is locked at all times on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Inside, on the central desk rests a sign, penned in a neat feminine hand and under glass, angled for easy reading.
Miroir, Proprietress
Vuori, General Manager
Hours of Operation: 8 AM to 9 PM (FST).
CLOSED TUESDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS.
Thank you for your patience; I am deaf. If I do not see you at first, please attract my attention! It is not rude! I can read lips!
We are more than happy to take custom orders! Please inquire.
The interior of the shop is something of a controlled chaos, with kettles of hot boiling sugar, the cooling tables and the flashing lights of the soundless alarms - a somewhat unfortunate necessity for a deaf cook.
A sign over the central desk boasted the menu for the store, along with seasonal items and limited-run batches.
There is a small basket just outside the door always kept full to the brim with rainbowed, unflavored sugar glass for children without the means of purchase, or for the children of customers who need to be distracted. The candy there is free to take, and left out on the honor system.
Sugar Glass
Poured sugar, in a variety of colors, which is flavored and left to cool in sheets is then broken with a mallet and to resemble broken stained glass.
2c per piece.
Molded Candy
The same as Sugar Glass candy, but these come in delicate, intricately-molded shapes that change with the seasons. Candy comes in the form of coin-sized, three-dimensional rabbits in the spring, roses during the summer, leaves in the fall and snowflakes in the winter.
5c per.
Annually, during the third week of April, the Sugarsmiths offers palm-sized minotaur candies sold in black fabric bags, flavored with hot, hot cinnamon, in honor of their investor, Dergo. Should the eater not have horns or antlers already, the candy will cause the consumer to grow two small bull horns for 30 minutes. Consumers who DO have horns and antlers will find themselves with slightly larger head-adornments for the same amount of time. Small hand-whittled hammers are sold with the candies so they can be broken and shared with family and friends.
1s per - each candy breaks into about three portions to share.
Year-round flavors/colors include: clove (deep orange), cinnamon ( bright red), vanilla (uncolored amber, which yields a slightly caramelized flavor as well), lemon (bright yellow), black currant (deep, dark red-violet), unflavored (made in a rainbow of solid colors, which are broken and placed all mixed together in one jar), rose (clear, with pale pink veining), coffee (it looks like coffee. Duh.)
Spring flavors include: Strawberry-Rhubarb (colored a faint pink, naturally from the juices of either ingredient), pineapple-chili (bright yellow-orange with red flecks) and vanilla-lavender (uncolored with real crushed lavender flowers sprinkled throughout).
Summer flavors include: Blackberry, kiwi and cherry; a rich purple, light green and vibrant red, respectively. All manner of candied citrus fruit and peel are also available during this season.
Fall flavors include: Maple, which is a very rich and creamy brown, apple-cinnamon, creamy white with brown flecks and rosemary-thyme, similarly uncovered as the vanilla-lavender flavor in spring, and decorated with the herbs.
Winter flavors include: Unflavored ribbon candy - Winter holidays only - Solid white ribbons. Cinnamon-nutmeg-ginger blend, a rich spicy warm reddish brown, Spearmint - a vivid, soft off-white pearlescent green.
Chocolates come in the form of cooking chocolate, which is a large molded brick to be boiled in a water boiler for use in customer cooking or for chocolate fondue. They also come in standard chocolate pieces, truffles filled each of the seasonal flavors as well as salted, caramel, and percentile dark chocolates - these are available in 30%, 50% and 70%
1c per chocolate, 1s per box of 12, customer choice of variety for simple or percentile chocolates; 3c per truffle, 15c per box of 12 truffles/specialty chocolates. 2 silver per 1lb brick.
Sugar lozenges are also available in standard flavors as well as licorice and salted licorice.
3c per, or 12c for five.
Cocoa butter is sold by the pound for customer use in cooking or for home health and beauty use. It is available in 1lb boxes.
1.5s per lb.