8 of the Best Chocolate Liqueurs That Aren’t Godiva
The Brandy Alexander would like to take this moment to remind you that she was the OG dessert cocktail before the Espresso Martini came around, thank you very much. A heady mixture of cognac, chocolate liqueur, and cream, she’s a fine girl, Brandy Alexander.
Even the Chocolate Martini, born before the 1980s craze where anything and everything became martini fodder, predates the EM by a couple of decades, developed by none other than movie stars Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson if that doesn’t just tickle your origin story. This is all to say, what goes around, comes around, and chocolate cocktails, or “choc-tails” are about due for a renaissance. If that’s riding on the back of the fervor that is the current Espresso Martini moment, so be it. Is anyone mad at the idea of a Mocha Martini? Anyone?
Chocolate in spirit form goes by several names, primarily either chocolate liqueur or crème de cacao, the difference between them being largely one of semantics, as neither term is regulated — for further reading check out Chocolate Liqueur 101. Chocolate liqueurs (or crème de cacaos) may either be a spirit flavored with chocolate essence, or a blend of spirit and actual chocolate matter, which may or may not include cream, resulting in a more viscous texture. Regardless of its name in boozy form, chocolate lends a depth of flavor to cocktails inside or out of the dessert cocktail cannon, and its attendant liqueurs are worthy tools in any creative bartender’s arsenal. And while Godiva may be the name that comes to mind when you think of chocolate liqueur, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you that while it remains in the market in some places, Godiva discontinued it’s chocolate liqueur years ago.
Having previously brought you The 8 Best Coffee Liqueurs That Aren’t Kahlua, here are 8 chocolate liqueurs — and the occasional liquor — for all of your choc-tail needs.
Mozart has been in the chocolate liqueur game since 1979, before most bartenders and mixologists became interested in the category, offering decorative bottles that were mostly consumed as tourist souvenirs in Salzburg. An emulsification of neutral spirit and actual, high-quality Belgian chocolate matter, Mozart’s Dark Chocolate Liqueur offers a deep, chocolatey flavor and a creamy mouthfeel without actually employing cream, as is typical of many chocolate liqueurs. Other Mozart offerings include Mozart Chocolate Cream, a classic milk chocolate liqueur, Mozart White Chocolate, and Mozart Coffee Chocolate, as well as strawberry and pumpkin spice flavors.
17% ABV, $27.99
Hotel Chocolat touts itself as “the only chocolatier to run two bars,” meaning they may know a thing or two about the successful combination of chocolate and alcohol. (Their recent NYISC Double Gold win also suggests this.) Using the trademarked term “velvetised” to describe their proprietary process for blending vodka, cream, and chocolate, their Velvetised Chocolate Cream is particularly rich in texture but low in ABV, perfect for serving over ice as a nightcap unto itself or adding body and warming booze to hot cocoa or coffee.
12% ABV, $18.33
As is characteristic of Vicario’s line of botanical liqueurs, Janette Wesley and spirits scholar Renato Vicario wanted to delve into the historical nature of liquid chocolate with their entry into the chocolate liqueur category, Cocoa Inferno. Utilizing highest quality criollo chocolate and no emulsifiers, Cocoa Inferno is a chocolate liqueur with Aztec influence; a neutral wheat distillate blended with estate-grown habanero peppers, as well as sea salt, vanilla, and allspice, for an outcome that is deeply cocoa, but with a heat that lingers on the palate.
5% ABV, available 2023
Tempus Fugit is a modern brand with an ethos of exploring and reviving rare and historical spirits. While there is no clearly defined, consistent difference between that which is called chocolate liqueur and that which is called crème de cacao per se, the latter tends more often to be distilled from cocoa rather than blended with chocolate. Tempus Fugit’s Crème de Cacao employs both methods: based on a 19th century recipe, the spirit is distilled from raw cocoa, and then macerated with additional cocoa and crushed vanilla bean. The result is a spirit with rich chocolate notes with a buttery undertone, but that is a clear, rather than opaque liquid typical of most chocolate liqueurs.
24% ABV, $38.99
Michigan-based OM brand stands for “Organic Mixology,” and their highly-lauded Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Liqueur brings many interesting elements to the chocolate spirit lineup. First, the base spirit itself is distilled from sugar cane, which lends a welcome caramel note to the flavor profile, which is then macerated with bittersweet chocolate matter, bringing a hint of coffee, and sweetened with agave, offering a honeyed tone. The resulting liquid, while clear but deeply saturated with chocolate color, offers a great deal of complexity in its flavor profile.
17.5% ABV, $36.50
Pennsylvania Dutch is the first name in American cream liqueurs — not to be confused with crème liqueurs. Cream liqueurs combine actual dairy cream with flavorful spirits to create rich liqueur expressions, with well-known examples being Irish cream and amarula, among others. Adding to their lineup of oft-awarded cream liqueurs such as Egg Nog and Peppermint Bark, Penn Dutch’s 2023 lineup will include Chocolate Cream Liqueur, which blends milk chocolate with a hint of hazelnut into the mix, for an outcome akin to a boozy Nutella, which obviously means you can respectably put it in a breakfast cocktail.
25% ABV, coming 2023
While chocolate liqueur may be loosely defined and largely unregulated, neutral spirits aren’t the only candidates for incorporating chocolate, and because of its already roasted, caramel flavor, whiskey is on the rise as a vehicle for boozy chocolate. New York International Spirits Competition Winner Ballotin was born not as a whiskey brand, but specifically as a flavored whiskey brand, looking for ways to emphasize and boost the naturally occurring flavors in bourbon whiskey, like chocolate. Ballotin’s Original Chocolate Whiskey is a 60-proof bourbon expression macerated with craft chocolate, for an outcome that can be sipped as a whiskey or used wherever you might employ chocolate liqueur in a cocktail.
30% ABV, $26.99
Another entry in the chocolate whiskey category, New York International Spirits Competition Winner Heritage Spirit’s Cocoa Bomb was born to be a conversion whiskey, capable of luring people over to the dark side who don’t typically drink dark spirits, by incorporating America’s favorite flavor, chocolate. Cocoa Bomb employs three different types of chocolate to create a light syrup that is blended with whiskey, creating a spirit that is sweeter and more robust than a liquor, but drier and boozier than a typical liqueur. While most chocolate cocktails employ chocolate liqueur on top of a base spirit, Cocoa Bomb is designed to be the base spirit.