Image courtesy of Choux
 
Over the past few years, activated charcoal has become a popular inclusion in food and beverages. We’ve seen everything from activated charcoal croissants in London to activated charcoal lattes in Chicago, as the ingredient’s Instagrammable presentation and health properties have turned it into a culinary trend.

The latest to show appreciation for the ingredient is the city of San Francisco. On Sunday, July 22, the SoMa StrEat Food Park will host the city’s first activated charcoal festival, known as 50 Shades of Charcoal.

Over 15 vendors will be on hand to sell charcoal products. Among those is French bakery Choux, which will be offering black and white charcoal pastry puffs, and DOUGHP, offering its “Blacked Out” cookie dough: a blonde cookie dough gone dark with activated charcoal, in a charcoal-black French vanilla cone.

Unique items will be aplenty at this festival, where visitors can try fresh-squeezed charcoal lemonade, house-made charcoal sangria, charcoal-battered corndogs, black charcoal-battered Korean fried chicken, charcoal crust pizzas, and much more.

50 Shades of Charcoal will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST on July 22. Tickets cost $5 for anyone over the age of 10 and are free for everyone else.