BY TARA BURKE

City Bakery’s Hot Chocolate Festival, which lasted the whole month of February, has come and gone… but not without us testing out a few of their unique flavors! Cailin tried the Ginger Hot Chocolate, which she loved. The spicy ginger flavor really popped and was a perfect match for the thick semi-bitter chocolate. If you like ginger, get ready to mark you calendars for the return of the flavor next February!

She also got the Chili Chocolate flavor. She wasn’t as impressed with this flavor as the batch she got didn’t have that distinct chili flavor. I had a sip and the chili was definitely overpowered by the chocolate. I also stopped in for a sample of their French Follies flavor. The flavor is comprised of dark chocolate, pomegranate, expresso and black pepper. I liked it, but the pomegranate really took over all the other components. If you like really fruity tasting chocolate you should like this flavor. Last but not least, we tried their On A Peanut Butter Barge flavor. It was their regular thick milk hot chocolate with a large peanut butter cookie in it. The cookie was delicious and topped with one of their renown homemade marshmallows made for one decadent treat!

City Bakery is located on 18th and 5th and is a pretty big space. However, during the Hot Chocolate Festival and on weekends it can get extremely crowded. We had to wait for seats a few times, but one time they had a live jazz band play which definitely made waiting around a lot more fun. They also have a contest that runs the duration of the festival in which you write an essay, craft, or make a short video answering the question, “Should City Bakery’s hot chocolate be drunk with or without a homemade marshmallow?” The winner gets free hot chocolate for the rest of 2015. Who doesn’t want that?!