We love drinks, and we love chocolate (who doesn’t), but just lumping together two delicious things in their own right doesn’t guarantee a hit. There are lots of strong flavours involved here, but if you get it right then it’s magical.
Don’t get us wrong, ‘getting it right’ is whatever tastes good for you, but these matchups below are ones we love. White, fruit and nut, dark, truffles, mint, orange... all of these chocolates will be made even better when washed down with these delicious drinks.
WHITE CHOCOLATE
Martini - Asti Spumante
A sweet and bubbly Italian Asti like this is the perfect complement to the creamy richness of white chocolate, which can become sickly disappointingly quickly. The wine's light, fruity notes and refreshing effervescence help cut through the sweetness of the chocolate, creating a perfectly balanced pairing. Plus, the wine's crisp acidity helps cleanse the palate between bites, making for an indulgence experience that can go on that bit longer!
Size: 750ml
ABV: 7.5%
Find here: UK £7.49 (usually more!) // US $15.99
Fruit & Nut Milk Chocolate
Kopke Tawny Port
A glass of Tawny Port to wash down fruit and nut milk chocolate is sublime. From the oldest port house around, this is quite light as ports go, with those gorgeous, dried fruits notes brought to the fore by the chocolate flavouring. It’s also richer and less sweet relative to similar styles, which is ideal because that milk chocolate will still bring plenty of sweetness on its own. The chocolatey, vanilla character subtly running through Kopke’s velvety smooth texture really enriches the creaminess of the chocolate too. An elegant combination if ever there was one.
Size: 750ml
ABV: 19.5%
Find here: £14.99
Fruit & Nut Dark Chocolate
Croft 'Quinta Da Roeda' Vintage Port 2004
For a darker fruit and nut choc, we go from one Portuguese port master to another in Croft. Elegantly structured, this decade-old ruby red has opulent notes of raisin, black cherry, vanilla, and crucially, dark chocolate. Not only do the fruits play into the chocolate perfectly, but they’re also just sweet enough to offset any dark choc bitterness. Ports also get nuttier with age, so after 10 years of aging those nutty notes will only be elevated even further here. Delicious.
Size: 750ml
ABV: 20.5%
Find here: £24.99 (£21.99 Mix Six Price)
Dark Chocolate & Truffles
Fonseca Reserve Ruby Port
Dark Chocolate, Truffles and Ruby Port – the nights that dreams are made of, right? Again, there’s a sophisticated sweetness here that suits the bittersweet chocolate perfectly and the same goes for the truffles. The full-bodied complexity and luxurious depth of purple fruits suit dark chocolate and truffles so indulgently well. This is a world away from easter eggs now (not that there’s anything wrong with them either).
Size: 750ml
ABV: 20%
Find here: UK £13.99 // US $19.99
Orange Chocolate
Courvoisier VSOP Cognac
With its incredibly rich history, Courvoisier has had years to perfect its style and as a result, they have a gorgeous VSOP that is a benchmark in the region. Around a decade of aging gives amazing depth with fragrant oakiness, soft warmth from coffee, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and most relevant of all, delicate vanilla and citrus. A glass of chilled Courvoisier in one hand, and a chocolate orange ball in the other, oh, yes.
Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: UK £36.95 // US $45.99
Mint Chocolate
Ardbeg An Oa Scotch Whisky
Mint chocolate is a more challenging pairing. As anyone who’s made the mistake of mixing mint choc with other flavours knows, it’s a dominant force. Therefore, we need a whisky that isn’t for the faint of heart. Islay Scotch is known for its power, and Ardbeg is no exception. Smooth sweetness sits under bold smoke and peat which creates an extremely memorable menthol profile with the mint, and the dark chocolate notes obviously pair well too. A glass of An Oa Scotch and some mint chocolate? Now that’s how you end a meal.
Size: UK 700ml // US 750ml
ABV: 46.6%
Find here: UK £43.90 // US $68.99
There’s more to Easter feasting than just chocolate though, so if you want more amazing flavour marriages for the rest of your Easter grub go here!