Chocolate is a difficult thing to put in a glass. Done badly it is heavy, cloying and closer to a dessert than a drink, which is why a great many bars avoid the category entirely or treat it as a novelty for December.
Since the club is called White Chocolate, avoiding it was never really an option. The bar has spent a long time on the problem, and the signature drinks here treat chocolate as an ingredient to be balanced rather than a flavour to be piled on.
The Approach
The trick is restraint and contrast. Chocolate works when something cuts it - bitterness, salt, citrus, spirit character - and collapses when it is left to dominate. The house drinks are built around that principle rather than around sweetness.
White chocolate in particular is harder than dark, since it brings sweetness and fat without the bitterness that gives dark chocolate its structure. Getting it to work in a glass is the part that took the longest.
Beyond the Signatures
There is a full bar besides. Classic cocktails, a whisky selection, wine and everything else you would expect, and plenty of guests spend an entire evening here without going near a chocolate drink.
The signatures are the thing worth trying once, and quite a few people find they order them again.
The Night That Suits Them Best
Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent, when the whole country is eating pączki and a chocolate-led bar becomes the most logical place in Krakow to spend the evening.
The rest of the year they work perfectly well too. Open nightly from 20:00 at ul. Św. Tomasza 16, in the Old Town.
Frequently asked questions
Do you actually serve chocolate cocktails?
Yes, they are the bar's signature. The club is named after chocolate and the drinks list follows through on it properly rather than as a novelty.
Are they very sweet?
They are built around balance rather than sweetness. Chocolate works when something cuts it, so the house drinks use bitterness, salt, citrus and spirit character to keep them from becoming dessert.
Is there a normal bar as well?
Yes, a full one - classics, whisky, wine and everything else. Plenty of guests never order a chocolate drink at all.
Is there a best night to try them?
Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent, when Poland spends the day eating pączki. It is the one date in the year the whole theme lines up.
Do you have non-alcoholic versions?
Ask at the bar. Alcohol-free drinks are taken seriously here rather than treated as an afterthought.