The Brief
- Tallahassee’s Lofty Pursuits handcrafts more than 10,000 candy canes each Christmas season, in dozens of flavors.
- The shop preserves century-old techniques, from folding sugar by hand to using antique equipment dating back to the 1890s.
- Owners say their candy canes are thicker, more flavorful, and shipped worldwide.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Lofty Pursuits in Tallahassee is one of the few candy shops in the U.S. that still makes candy canes by hand.
Owners Greg Cohen and Uri Gottschalk use century-old techniques and equipment to produce seasonal batches, each totaling around 300 canes at a time.
What we know:
The process begins with peppermint oil mixed into boiling sugar until the water evaporates. The candy is then poured onto an antique cooling table. Red food coloring is carefully added to one side, and a drop of another color for effect.
The sugar is folded repeatedly — about 70 times — trapping air bubbles that create the iconic white stripes naturally.…