Chocolate lovers united last year for CityLine’s Hot CoCoa Crawl. On Saturday, December 14th and 21st, 2024, participants were able to taste different versions of the sweet beverage from a variety of participating locations.
What is the Hot Cocoa Crawl?
The Hot Cocoa Crawl is a hot chocolate tasting event in which people can purchase a nonalcoholic or alcoholic package to taste different CityLine restaurant’s takes on the classic holiday beverage. The first event was Saturday December 14, which I had the opportunity to attend with my family. The event also occurred on Saturday December 21, from 1-8p.m. There are eight locations participating, with six of them serving alcoholic options in addition to non-alcoholic hot chocolate. All hot cocoa is served to you in a 3-ounce souvenir cup. Below is my review of the non-alcoholic hot cocoas I drank from best to worst.
1. Good Union
The hot chocolate from Good Union was excellent. It was light, but creamy and topped with whipped cream and crushed graham cracker. The flavor of the graham cracker gave it a s’more-like taste, which is perfect for a hot chocolate. Unlike many of the other hot chocolates on this list, this is one I would try again.
Rating: 9/10
2. Red Mango
Red Mango’s hot chocolate was a simpler hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and mini marshmallows, with a similar texture to those in cereals. This is more of a standard run of the mill hot chocolate, but it does not disappoint.
Rating: 7/10
3. Tricky Fish
Very different from Red Mango, the hot chocolate at Tricky Fish was eggnog and gingerbread flavored, and topped with whipped cream and a cookie. Although to me the flavor was unpleasant, that’s mostly because I don’t like eggnog.
Rating: 6/10
4. Fernando’s Mexican Cuisine
At Fernando’s, you’ll get a hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and dusted with cinnamon. The hot chocolate did not taste very good, but the whipped cream with cinnamon on top was a nice touch and tasted great.
Rating: 6/10
5. Jasper’s
The hot chocolate at Jasper’s had a minty mocha flavor. If you enjoy peppermint flavored treats, you would love this hot chocolate. Similarly to the Tricky Fish hot chocolate, I am not a fan of the flavor since I don’t really like peppermint.
Rating: 5/10
6. The Brass Tap
For any dark chocolate lovers, The Brass Tap has the hot chocolate for you. It is a very dark hot chocolate, and if you’re like me and you don’t enjoy dark chocolate, this probably won’t be very enjoyable for you.
Rating: 5/10
7. Aloft Richardson
Since Aloft Richardson is a hotel, it probably wasn’t going to have the best hot chocolate, but this was just terrible. It was very watered down which made it very hard to drink. Even if you’re not good in the kitchen, I think almost anyone could make a better tasting hot chocolate.
Rating: 2/10
Conclusion
The whole event took around one hour. Although there were supposed to be eight locations, Elevated Coffee & Tea was closed due to electrical problems on the day I attended the event. I would recommend this to everyone, even if hot chocolate isn’t your favorite. There are many unique hot chocolates flavors from eggnog at Tricky Fish to s’mores at Good Union. Plus, at the end, you’ll get to take home a festive mug.
Source
Photos taken by me (Reese Beaudoin)
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