Day 5 - Ginger Hot Chocolate

I love ginger drinks. People in China drink ginger boiled in Coke. There was Sprite on Fire (which I just read was also referred to as Sprite Finger Lemon???). And to me, the purpose of adding ginger to a drink is so you get a kick of spicy flavor that burns the back of your throat. It's great for when you're sick.

Don't drink the City Bakery's Ginger Hot Chocolate if you're sick. It might even be a tad hard to stomach when you're well. The ginger flavor was so understated that I wouldn't even say that I "tasted" it. It was more like one of those flavors that you smell, that hangs around in your mouth and in your nose but never quite makes an impact on your taste buds. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being faint smell and 10 being overwhelming taste, it was 3.5. I would have liked a little more power behind the ginger. Rosa didn't even taste it.

On the other hand, the City Bakery Pretzel Croissant is AMAZING. It was far more croissant than pretzel (90/10) but it did combine the best feature of croissants - buttery, flaky layers - with the saltiness of pretzels. I was expecting it to be more hard, like a pretzel, but was pleasantly surprised. I find pretzels very dry and unappetizing, like what I imagine silica gel tastes like.

Before:

After: 

After I accidentally pulled out the middle:

Final answer: Meh. 

Coming up: Banana Peel! 

Day 4 - Espresso

Look, it's been a hard couple of weeks. Thanks to Obama, I owe $2,000 in taxes. It's more a system error than a conceptual error, but still. And there have been some other big things that I won't air on this blog, in addition to the fact that my landlady's cat is in heat again, and it meows so violently that it sounds like a dog; the job that (inadvertently) screwed up my taxes will probably not give me a raise so I will probably have to quit (to spite them, obviously); and all the yarn I have left to knit with is scratchy and I am out of hand cream and I can't afford a new one because I OWE TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS.

And did you know that all you really have to do to succeed in life (monetarily, anyway) is double your first name, slap on some small-town grocery store temporary tattoos of "tribal" markings, wear the clothes of the opposite gender, "chew gum with vigor" while somehow using your jaw to flirt (?) and you'll get a $750,000 book deal for a memoir? Click the link. I dare you.

In short, Espresso Hot Chocolate. Coffee flavors bring out chocolate flavors (or scratch that, reverse it, I don't know). I don't like coffee, I don't like coffee flavor, and I don't seem to like coffee-flavored hot chocolate. Shocking, I know.

Tonight: Ginger Hot Chocolate. I heard TONY didn't like it but I suspect that I will. Maybe guai lo don't like ginger?

Day 3 - Chinese Cinnamon

So, I'm Chinese (basically). And Chinese people don't really eat a lot of cinnamon. It's in five-spice powder, but that's about it. Once when I was living in Shenzhen I brought some from Hong Kong to make French toast with a Chinese friend, and she had no idea what it was. Wikipedia tells me that Chinese cinnamon is basically the poor man's cinnamon, a very similar species called cassia that produces a less refined version of cinnamon. I did ask one person at City Bakery what the difference between regular cinnamon and their Chinese cinnamon flavor was, and he said, "Well, it's an especially sweet and fragrant cinnamon." But according to the Wiki entry, Chinese cinnamon is exactly the opposite: harsh, strong, and dense.

The hot chocolate itself wasn't harsh or strong at all though. I don't know if you've ever done the Blueprint Cleanse, which is a super popular juice fast/cleanse here in NYC, but the flavor of the hot chocolate bore a strong resemblance to the much-reviewed, much-loved last juice of the day in the Blueprint Cleanse, the cashew milk. (Ok, to be honest, I never did Blueprint. I did the poor man's Blueprint Cleanse, which is a small collection of juices from Liquiteria, leftover fruits snatched from the office break room, and cashew milk I made in my landlady's stolen Starbucks blender.) The Chinese Cinnamon Hot Chocolate had a distinct nutty, buttery flavor in addition to the cinnamon, which added a very slightly powdery mouthfeel. Steve's reaction:

But I think that frown was more for the texture of the chocolate than for the flavor of the cinnamon. Or it was probably my company.

On the left is the stay version of the full-size cup of chocolate with homemade marshmallow; we saw the to-go version yesterday. On the right is the shot glass-sized version, which for me was a manageable amount.

The bottom line: this was delicately nuanced and tasty, and I love that they frothed it up a bit before ladling it out. It made me feel like it was lighter and easier to drink. Of course, by the time I actually carried it back to my seat, it had sort of unfrothed itself, but still. It's the thought that counts.

Tomorrow (/today, since I'm blogging the cinnamon a day late): Espresso! I don't drink coffee, so this review will be an interesting one.

Day 2 - Chili Pepper

I knew that I wouldn't be able to get to City Bakery before it closed today, so I got up INCREDIBLY early (for me) and went by before work. I was having this really intense dream about being chased by a murderous ex-bf and almost slept through my alarm, which I never, ever do. Usually when I have to get up early, I wake up every hour to check if it's time yet. Only the thought of that sweet chili chocolate kept me going, through an impromptu decision not to shower and running out of soy milk mid-cereal bowl.

I realized today that I've compromised the scientific integrity of this blog by not trying the regular, plain version of City Bakery's hot chocolate before reviewing all the new flavors. If I had done that, I would have realized that their hot chocolate is very..... viscous. It's like a meal replacement drink. Look how much clings to the side when I swirl it around! And this is when it was hot! 

I didn't realize how thick it was until I was out of the bakery and into the subway station. I felt rushed having to get to work, and I thought I should take the chocolate somewhere calm and quiet to try it, somewhere I could collect my thoughts. I don't know why I thought the subway during rush hour at Union Square would be the perfect place, but it actually was.

No really, that's the Q train at 9:15 AM on a Tuesday. Where is everyone?

At first sip, the Chili Pepper Hot Chocolate tasted like... hot chocolate. Or, to be more specific, like heated chocolate pudding poured from a cup. I could barely detect any chili pepper at all, and I was disappointed. TONY liked the fact that it was such a faint flavor, but I feel it could have been a little stronger. Maybe it's those years of eating Sichuan food in Shenzhen, but I feel like if you're going to sell a hot chocolate marketed as spicy, then make it spicy! If Hot Tamales and Sprite on Fire! can do it, so can you! 

Once I was in Seattle staying at my friend's house, and to say thanks for letting me stay, I decided to make drinks. But at the last minute, jetlag set in (I came straight from China) and I went the lazy route and got a pack of jalapeno lemonade mix at the Crate and Barrel and made it with some vodka. It was so spicy, so acidic, and so strong (I tend to pour a little heavy) that it was like pumping gasoline down my esophagus. But it had punch!

Hot chocolate has the creaminess of the chocolate to temper the spiciness, and I don't think City Bakery put the contrast in flavors to full use. I had to drink a few sips in a row to really taste the heat, and it's nearly impossible to do that with chocolate so thick. I can see the appeal of it because since the spice is barely detectable, the flavor won't put anyone off, but I say go BIG. Make it an experience! Let me taste the FIRE!

Day 1 - Lemon

Well, we're off to a pretty inauspicious start. Did anyone else know the City Bakery closes at 7:00 on weekdays? Seven o'clock! In New York City! I ran an errand after work, then went by Uniqlo (for maybe 5 minutes, I swear) and by the time I got there, it was 7:30.

The only good news is that TONY hated today's Lemon Hot Chocolate. I suspected I'd hate it too, since I don't really like chocolate and citrus pairings. I'm disgusted by those chocolate oranges you have to pound on the table to break into slices. My mouth is getting all puckery just thinking about it. Bold move for the first day of the festival.

I'm a little concerned about tomorrow as well. It's Restaurant Week so I'm going to have dinner at the Russian Tea Room! Unfortunately the only reservation they had left was at 5:00, and I don't know that I'll be able to make it back downtown before 7:00 to get tomorrow's Chili Pepper Hot Chocolate. I'm thinking about waking up early to stop by before work.

I'm also discouraged that TONY is running basically the same blog. How can I compete when I have naught but amateur photography and lactase enzyme supplement pills on my side?