Cuckoo for Coco(a)! You heard it here first!

I don't really consider myself to be a cocoa fan -

I'm more of a 'Team Vanilla' kind of girl, 

but recently I find myself a passenger of the chocolate train-

and not just a passive rider, but one screaming

ALL ABOARD!

So it all begins when my boss Ken

casually mentions that our savvy apps office 

(tucked away in a corner just outside Washington D.C)

 has recently been stocked with Coco Cafe in our mini fridge.

"What's that?" I ask, taking the bait-

even though I'm sure I know 

some of the ingredients given the name.

I am pretty sure Ken believes I live on coffee alone

since every time I announce my lunch break he tells me

"So basically you're grabbing a coffee?"

I'm confident he's aware of trigger words
that easily reel me in,

so non-chalantly mentioning a coffee drink
 that involves my two favvs -

coconut water + espresso

isn't going to fly.

I'm hook, line, and sinker going to ask 

for more details.

"Yes, you haven't heard about it? 

It's a cool new drink, 

half hydrating coconut water, half espresso fuel."

Umm, SIGN ME UP?!

So, like a psycho -

I start calling around retailers all over 

Long Island looking for the stuff.

Caffeine is a drug and I was like a crazy addict

looking for a fix.

It was a Friday afternoon 

and apparently the Coco Cafe website

just sends you to Amazon to get your hands on the stuff.

What? I'm gonna cut right to the chase.

I DON'T LIKE WAITING.

Not on lines, not for Christmas - not for 

a really chic new coffee drink.

So I called Stop and Shop (multiple locations)

and they said they didn't have it
(liars! I found it there the next day!)

I called 7-11, I called Target-
seriously I called all over the place... no dice.

So I sulked all the way to my Friday
night bartending shift without it.

The next morning - I woke up sick as a dog,

sneezing, coughing, congested on a
gloomy, rainy, damp Saturday morning.

You would think that would be enough
 to keep someone under the weather
 home and in bed, but no -
I trekked out in the pouring rain to go in search of Coco Cafe.
Sick, right?!?

And lo and behold, I found a few of the original flavor 

at the Stop and Shop in West Islip (those dirttty little liars!!!)

I was cold, damp, and miserable

but I am pretty sure I heard the Hallelujah Chorus

as I sipped it on the ride home.

I was a girl on a mission
...and mission accomplished!

Anyways, it's really delicious
 and if you love coffee
and are into coconut water,
 you've GOT to try this stuff.

Apparently, Madonna backs it
and is either part owner or has stock in the company

and how often is Madonna wrong? 

(Correct answer: She can do NO WRONG).

My brother says it tastes like the milk left over 

from a bowl of Cocoa Puffs cereal,

I say it tastes like caffeine Heaven.

Ken says "I'm cuckoo for Coco Cafe".

I won't fight him on this...I think he might be right.

I can't find the Mocha or Vanilla flavors,

so if you come across them - 

please drop me a note and let me know 

where you scoped them out please! =)

I am a HUGE fan,

a Coco Cafe endorser (if you will),

and they have my full seal of approval.

Next on my cocoa craze list- 

chocolate infused wine...

have you heard of this?

So I first came across ChocolatRouge

on Valentine's Day when I was looking for 

something festive to sip on to commemorate the day.

It's a dark chocolate infused wine.

I liked it very much, but found one I liked even better 

called Chocolate Shop.

Suite of ChocolatRouge Selections

On a scale of 1-10 on the sweet scale,

Chocolate Rouge I rate at about a 5 - I wouldn't call it dry,

but it's definitely way dryer than Chocolate Shop, which I rate at about a 7 or 8.

I bought ChocolatRouge Dark Red (which is on the dryer side, 

apparently there is one called
ChocolatRouge Sweet Red which is

on the sweeter side, more like a dessert wine).

It's not as sweet as a Riesling or Moscato,

but would still fall within the dessert wine category

due to the chocolate notes and slightly sweet aftertaste

(more so in the Chocolate Shop than Chocolate Rouge).

Chocolate Shop is really, really amazing.

It's sweet without being overbearingly sweet.

It's a red wine with all the guiltless pleasure of chocolate

and half the calories. 

(Umm, my doctor recommends a glass of red wine a day

and I never disobey doctors orders.)

I had a girlfriend Rachel
 (no, not me silly - why would I refer to
 myself in the third person?)

do a taste test to gauge its sweetness
(she hates sweet wines and is into super dry Cabs)

 and she said it was delicious.

 'Just a tad sweet aftertaste', she reported!

They have a whole slew of flavors,

including their original chocolate red wine (this is the one I tried!)

creme de cocoa (more of a creamy based wine drink)

chocolate strawberry (need to try this!)

chocolate mint,

and sparkling chocolate red wine.

Yes, to all of that.

Suite of Chocolate Shop Wines

If you are a dark chocolate fan

or a wino just looking to try something new,

I highly recommend trying a chocolate infused wine.

Pair with fruit (strawberries) or serve alone 

to quench your sweet tooth! 

Dessert is served!

Just passing these recommendations along.

Don't shoot the messenger [!]

xo,

Rach