Jasper chocolate shop draws attention with giant 2.5-pound turtle

A 2.5-pound chocolate turtle is doing more than sitting in a display case at ChocoBrst. The oversized confection, layered with butter-roasted pecans, homemade caramel, milk chocolate and dark chocolate, has become a draw for downtown Jasper and a conversation piece for shoppers far beyond Dubois County.

For Jessica Birkle, the turtle fits the business she built at 535 Main Street on the Square. ChocoBrst opened with a grand opening on Friday, April 18, 2025, and has leaned on Birkle’s nearly 20 years of dessert-making experience, along with formal culinary training in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Before focusing on the chocolate shop, she spent five years as vice president of mortgage lending.

What sets the shop apart is not just the giant turtle. Visit Dubois County describes ChocoBrst as Jasper’s first and only chocolate shop that makes every product in-house, and the business says it does not resell chocolates. Instead, it handcrafts bars, bonbons and chocolate-covered treats using original recipes. That approach has helped the shop build a brand around specialty sweets rather than mass-market candy.

The turtle also sits within a broader product line that includes the award-winning Brst Bar, a layered dessert sealed inside a chocolate shell, along with a rotating monthly menu of handcrafted chocolates. Recent reporting notes that ChocoBrst’s smallest turtles weigh more than 3 ounces, showing that the 2.5-pound version is part of a real product family, not a one-time stunt.

The larger turtle has helped give the business a measurable boost in attention, with recent reporting saying it is drawing people in from all over the region. In downtown Jasper, that kind of signature item matters. It gives shoppers a reason to stop, gives visitors something to talk about and gives the shop a clear identity in a market where local, made-from-scratch food businesses can stand out quickly when the product is distinctive enough.