This Tallahassee Candymaker Still Twists Candy Canes By Hand

Gregory Cohen finds himself in an elite group: He is one of the few candymakers across the country who still make their treats by hand. At this time of year, candy canes are the stars of the show. Cohen and his team churn out over 20,000 each holiday season at Lofty Pursuits, his toy shop and old-fashioned soda fountain in Tallahassee that’s celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Thirteen years ago, Cohen was inspired by the rock candy that was common in England in the late-1800s and began making hard candies with images in the centers using a cooling table from 1891. He has gone on to acquire a large collection of vintage equipment and considers himself a caretaker of these machines.

Lofty Pursuits begins making candy canes around Thanksgiving each year. Every batch, which yields about 300 pieces and weighs nearly 25 pounds, takes approximately two hours from start to finish, including pulling and layering the hot, malleable sugar by hand before rolling and cutting it. Cohen uses a pair of scissors from Ernest Wright, a company that has been hand-crafting shears in Sheffield, England, since 1902. The hardening sugar is then carefully twisted into oversize cane shapes. Once packaged, they’re ready to be eaten.

Although his confections are traditional in their production and appearance, they go well beyond the typical peppermint kind. In a Willy Wonka-like fashion, Cohen’s pigmented treats come in a wide variety of flavors to please his patrons’ palates, like tutti-frutti, cherry, blackberry, spearmint, root beer, blue raspberry, cinnamon, chocolate orange, and citrus mix. He follows customary practices, so the eggnog version features garnet and gold hues, which also happen to be a certain local university’s school colors.

When asked what led him to these creations, Cohen says it was “sort of expected” after he developed his image candy, and he appreciates the history of this Christmas standby.

“The Swedish version, called polkagris, dates back to 1859. ‘Gris’ was slang for candy, and ‘polka’ referred to the style of dancing, which was pretty popular at the time,” says Cohen. “I love the name and that previous makers thought the stripes looked like two people twirling around together.”

One thing is for certain: Cohen’s imaginative flavors and his old-school process are Christmas traditions worth keeping.

Around Town

Tallahassee has embraced the holiday spirit for centuries. Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and members of his expedition are believed to have held a Christmas Mass on the site of their winter encampment in the Apalachee capital of Anhaica (in the location of present-day Tallahassee) in 1539. Today, there are plenty of celebrations throughout the city, including a brilliant array of more than 250,000 lights at Dorothy B. Oven Park and family-friendly festivities at Tallahassee Nurseries. The creative window display at Hearth and Soul Boutique is always worth a visit. Inside, the store is designed like a home, with a beautifully curated collection of gifts, clothing, furniture, kitchenware, and books.