Chocolate, chocolate, I’ll try anything chocolate. Sometimes I’m surprised. Like with Van Gogh Vodka’s new Rich Dark Chocolate. I’ve tried quite a few of their flavors before, and I’m not always convinced. This one was very convincing. First of all, it actually is a dark chocolate flavor. If you were expecting creamy sweetness, this was confusing. If you were expecting a flavoring agent, this was also confusing. Because it is, after all, vodka.

At 70 proof and with a strong chocolate taste, you’re not going to drown this by adding flavoring elements, you have to blend pretty carefully. A safe route would be to make your own version of a Black Russian or Kahlua-and-cream type drink. A bolder version is to add citrus, but lemon and lime flavors (not orange) which are recommended in Van Gogh’s “S’More” cocktail recipe: 2 ounces Rich Dark Chocolate Vodka, ½ ounce agave nectar, 3 ounces lemon-lime soda. The whole recipe includes graham cracker rimmers and other finesses I didn’t happen to have on hand, so I just went with the three main ingredients, which worked surprisingly well.
We also had fresh oranges, so we tried adding some of the juice and a slice of orange and that worked too – though I would recommend either the lemon-lime OR the orange, not both. Or try your own combinations. There’s plenty of vodka in that bottle.