Drink of the Month: Hot Chocolate All Grown Up

Cocoa meets booze at local bars and eateries

Hot chocolate is a kids’ classic warm-up after snowball fights and sledding races. For adults, we recommend these boozy chocolate beverages from local bars, restaurants, and breweries—especially after a long commute in snow-packed rush hour traffic.

Chocolate Old Fashioned
Bluestem Bar, connected to French Meadow Bakery & Cafe in south Minneapolis, blends cocoa-nib-infused bourbon, coffee liqueur, and demerara sugar in this riff on a standard to evoke a raw caramel and toffee flavor that balances out the strength of the spirits.


Chocolate Old Fashioned

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUESTEM BAR


Wayne the Heel
Known for their contemporary southern dishes, Lowertown St. Paul favorite Handsome Hog mixes a chocolate cocktail with Maker’s Mark bourbon, heavy cream, allspice, and crème de cacao. It packs the sweetness of a chocolate martini, but with a much warmer tone.


Wayne the Heel

PHOTO BY DEBORAH NEELE, HANDSOME HOG STAFF


Chocolate Milk Stout
Dangerous Man Taproom’s most popular beer is brewed in Northeast Minneapolis with milk sugars for a velvety rich texture and the full, round flavors of chocolate, coffee, and toasted bread. It’s a much sweeter stout than the traditional dark beer.


Chocolate Milk Stout

COURTESY OF DANGEROUS MAN BREWING