Serious Eats: New York
City Bakery's Hot Chocolate Festival, Extended to Mid-March
Bourbon hot chocolate
Assuming today was the penultimate day of City Bakery's annual February hot chocolate festival, I stopped in for the daily flavor, bourbon hot chocolate. Turns out they're extending the fest to at least mid-March, but will rotate flavors weekly rather than daily. "Happy" hot chocolate, the vanilla-spiked milk chocolate, will be involved at least one of those weeks. Because apparently when it was featured on February 17, it made people so freakin' happy.
The bourbon wasn't too bourbony. By the second sip, the alchy hints pretty much went away. However, it might be too much if you're overly sensitive to alcohol. Robyn, our official anti-booze-in-food representative, said she could definitely smell the bourbon, and while the taste only lasted for a second, that was enough to turn her off even though City Bakery makes her favorite hot chocolate in the city. Plus, it costs almost as much as real booze: $3 for a shot, and $5.50 for ten ounces.
City Bakery
3 West 18th Street, New York NY 10011 (b/n 5th Ave and 6th Ave; map)
212-366-1414
thecitybakery.com