Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory

Let me help you out just a little bit. Yeah, Charles, don't go too far. I'm Anthony Palmer. We're visiting Assembling Lines all across the Commonwealth to see the creation of some of our nation's most iconic products that are made in Kentucky. We're in Frankfurt, the capital of Kentucky. This city is so easy to visit. The downtown is full of quaint little shops, but what brings most people here to visit is a little piece of heaven called the Bourbon Ball. I'm headed just across the Kentucky River here to check out the place where it was invented, Rebecca Ruth Candies. They've been serving up all kinds of candy here for over 100 years, and leading the charge today is Charles Booth, the grandson of one of the two ladies that started it all. Anthony, welcome to Rebecca Ruth Candies and Tour. How did Rebecca Ruth get its name? Rebecca and Ruth were two different ladies. A hundred years ago when they started the business, they used their first names rather than their last names, and it was important to them to use a maternalistic style of naming the business. Then later in 1938, Ruth invented the Bourbon Ball. I would love to see how those are made. Well, let's go back to the factory. This place is amazing. Where do we start? Over here, we mix our candy dough, and this is where we put the bourbon into the candy. It's not done in the cooking process, so the finished piece of candy actually does have alcohol in it. And the extruder pushes the candy down through a die plate and forms it into pieces. Then get chocolate just on the bottom here. This is called a bottomer. In the candy business, we use highly scientific names. Okay. How many bourbon balls do you produce a day? How many are you going to eat? As many as I can put in my pockets. We got your cover. Perfect. Then the candy comes down the line here and goes through a second bottomer. This right here is an enrober that encodes the piece of candy in the chocolate. This is the nutting station where we put the baton on top. You mind if I try that? Yeah, we're going to let you do that. Okay, I'm ready. Oh my goodness. Let me help you out just a little bit until you kind of get going. Yeah, Charles, don't go too far. I can't keep up. It didn't look fast, but it's getting away from me. Yeah, you're missing a few. I'missing a lot, and I'm sorry, but I do thank you for the experience. As we come down here, we have the cooling tunnel and the chills of the chocolate until it sets on the piece. And this is the packing station. This is where we put the candy into the box that's going to be sold in. What other chocolates do you make? We make around 120 different pieces of candy. Some of them are seasonal. We don't do them all at the same time. Do you have a favorite chocolate? It doesn't get old to you at all? No, it's great. I love eating chocolate. Thank you so much for giving me the tour. I appreciate all the time and knowledge you gave me. Bourbon balls. This is what it's all about. The pecan, the chocolate, the bourbon, all goes hand in hand. Sweet treat satisfaction for Frankfurt, Kentucky, the whole nation. Rebecca Roots Candies is definitely one of the tastiest little shops in the bluegrass. But I should probably go back and get some more for friends and family.