Temptation of the Week: Drinking chocolate - Balance of Food

When you aren't in the Starbucks exotic overpriced coffee-type drink, you tend to think that a $7 hot chocolate sounds pretty ridiculous.

I noticed the $7 hot chocolate when I walked into a brand new truffle shop in Chicago (full disclosure: I know the owner) on its official opening day.

If you are dealing with truffles, you are in a world about decadence, not thinking about pinching a penny or two. A truffle is a treat, and so would a $7 hot chocolate.

Since the store was opening, the workers were handing out free samples. So when I got the opportunity to sample the Mexican hot chocolate, I couldn't pass that up.

To call this "hot chocolate" wasn't fair; this was thicker, richer than anything you would find from a Swiss Miss. The sample hot chocolate came with a vanilla marshmallow ? customers could also get rich whipped cream with their hot chocolate. I did enjoy the hot chocolate, but wondered if it was still worth the price.

I did mention to the owner that this was good, but not sure a hot chocolate was worth $7. She remarked that maybe the term "hot chocolate" didn't convey what she was trying to sell. She suggested maybe calling it "drinking chocolate."

I didn't quite know what was up with "drinking chocolate," but I might be willing to spend $7 on "drinking chocolate" when I wasn't prepared to spend that much on "hot chocolate."

Later in the visit, I noticed a couple drinking the "hot chocolate." That cup was pretty huge. I hadn't factored the size of the cup into the equation. You would get a lot of chocolate for $7.

In a time where fancy bars make $12 alcoholic drinks and $5 Starbucks fancy coffee drinks are the norm, paying $7 for a fancy drinking hot chocolate isn't outrageous. I could get a decent sandwich for about $7; most of the time I'd rather spend my calories/money on food rather than drink.

Still, I could see a time where I would go in and buy a $7 fancy drinking chocolate. The drink would be ideal for two, even if I don't have someone to share that with at the moment. Then again, it would be a treat all for me. Sometimes, we all deserve a treat.

Source: http://balanceoffood.typepad.com/balance_of_food/2012/11/temptation-of-the-week-drinking-chocolate.html

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