Never tried Enstrom’s toffee? You’re missing out on a nearly century-long Colorado holiday tradition.
“If you don’t give Enstrom toffee, people are asking, ‘do you not like me anymore?’”

GRAND JUNCTION — Ray and Amy Genrich clutched a basket filled with Christmas-wrapped boxes as they inched in the line toward the checkout counter at Enstrom Candies.

“Colorado crack. That’s what we call it,” Amy said, nodding at the boxes. “Our friends from Florida get so excited when we bring them the real thing.”

“Colorado crack” is the buttery, nutty, chocolatey confection four generations of Enstrom family members have made for nearly a century.

The “real thing” is toffee purchased at the Enstrom mothership in downtown Grand Junction. The Enstrom retail store is where shoppers can watch through a glass wall as hair- and beard-netted candy makers heat, spread, slather and sprinkle the simple ingredients that are the essence of the famous Enstrom toffee.