Love is in the air, making a chocolate factory turned craft cocktail bar the ideal venue for your Valentine’s Day date this February. If you’re craving a break from distilleries, breweries or your local dive bar, switch up your date night routine and indulge your sweet tooth. Located in Bailey South, Downtown Winston-Salem’s beloved Black Mountain Chocolate Bar is a local lovebird’s go-to spot for coffee, cocktails and chocolate treats.
This Valentine’s Day marks Black Mountain Chocolate Bar’s first official Valentine’s Day with a full-service cocktail bar in tow. Treat your date to one of Black Mountain Chocolate’s iconic cocoa-infused cocktails, such as the signature espresso martini and Black Bear Flip, or the ever-popular Fire on the Mountain, complete with a tasty, toasted marshmallow to top it off. Wine enthusiasts and fruit lovers can rest assured that there are plenty of chocolate-free options available on BMC’s cocktail menu to cater to taste buds of all kinds. Black Mountain Chocolate Bar’s menu offers year-round recipes as well as seasonal items, so keep your eyes peeled for exciting new cocktail menu items when the weather starts to change.
Black Mountain Chocolate Owner Brent Peters is passionate about artisanship and craftsmanship – two qualities that helped propagate his career in the chocolate-making industry. When his affinity for creation dipped its curious toe in craft cocktails, what started as experimentation with recipes for close family and friends soon resulted in a new cocktail bar where Black Mountain Chocolate lovers can pair craft cocktails with their classic favorite BMC desserts. The bar’s detailed cocktail menu guides patrons on which drinks pair perfectly with treats such as Black Mountain Chocolate’s cocoa nib brownie or the salted caramel tart.
As a bean-to-bar chocolate factory, BMC’s chocolate is born from raw cocoa beans from a fair-trade co-operative in the Dominican Republic. The beans are roasted, ground and transformed into chocolate in-house, with plate glass windows allowing visitors to watch the process inside the factory from start to finish. Black Mountain Chocolate’s reputation is not solely attributable to its chocolate alone, but for a combination of its perfected chocolate recipe, unforgettable desserts and its one-of-a-kind factory experience for customers.
In search of the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? Black Mountain Chocolate Bar sells its renowned truffles conveniently pre-packaged for grab-and-go gifts. Customize your selection of truffles at the counter or purchase a pre-made gift box filled with a variety of the factory’s most popular picks if you can’t decide which flavors to choose.
To add to its esteemed factory experience, Black Mountain Chocolate hosts monthly tasting events for attendees to sample flights of featured spirits, paired with sweet or savory small plates from the kitchen. Winter Sunday afternoons create the perfect opportunity to indulge in one of BMC’s espresso flights alongside factory-made biscotti. Additionally, the factory hosts monthly craft cocktail classes to teach patrons how to concoct libations of their own. While there’s still time, purchase tickets on Eventbrite for BMC’s upcoming love-themed cocktail lab on February 10th to learn how to whip up a drink that is sure to woo your date.
Although Black Mountain Chocolate has expanded its menu, location and event schedule, BMC is still dedicated to keeping the factory and ambiance “sweetly southern.” While the factory itself has undergone massive changes and improvements within the last year, the team’s focus on using local ingredients, local suppliers, local flavors and local inspirations remains unscathed.
Craving one of Black Mountain Chocolate’s truffles or cocktails? Visit BMC in Downtown Winston-Salem at 450 North Patterson Avenue, Suite 110. They are located in the Coal Pit behind the new Bailey South Building, right across the street from Bailey Park. Read more about the factory hours and products sold at blackmountainchocolate.com. To stay up to date on the latest news and events from the team at BMC, check out the team’s Facebook page or follow @blackmtnchoc on Instagram.
