Wiseman House Chocolates is a little chocolatier located in a tiny Texas town. If you’ve ever driven through Hico, Texas, you probably wouldn’t suspect that it’s home to a world class chocolatier, but you’d be wrong. Wiseman House Chocolates are some of the best I’ve tasted in a long time, which is a darn good thing, too, since my local chocolate shop up and left the business! *sniff sniff*
I had the good fortune of tasting a variety of chocolates in the form of truffles, caramel clusters, sipping chocolate, and crushed coffee beans in chocolate. And if I were stranded on a desert island with any one of them, I’d be a happy camper. (Although I suppose it would then be a “dessert” island.)
The worst part of having all these Wiseman House Chocolates in the house was knowing that I couldn’t devour it all in one sitting, seeing as how I had to take my time and rate everything properly. It’s rough, I know.
Wiseman House Sipping Chocolate
2.20.08
Holey Moley! I just finished my first (and definitely not my last) cup of Wiseman House Sipping Chocolate. Oh dear. I don’t see how it’ll be possible to drink plain ol’ hot cocoa ever again.
The sipping chocolate is crumbled chocolate (I snatched a few pieces of it in its pre-sipping state and found it delightful) that one whisks into an equal volume of boiled water. And ooh la la, it’s like drinking a chocolate bar. And a really good medium dark chocolate bar, at that.
It might be a little rich for some tastes, and I don’t think I could drink a cup every night, but I’m fairly sure it would be a great alternative to hot chocolate even if it were watered down much more. Or if you added an equal measure of warm milk.
At $18 a box, it ain’t cheap, but if you consider that it breaks down to about $4.50 for an 8 oz cup, then it’s on par with what Starbucks would charge you and a whole lot better. Plus, it was very easy to make, and could be used in a number of other creative ways, I suspect.
You gotta try it.
Our rating: 5 of 5 bon bons
Wiseman House Chocolates’ Truffles
2.14.08
Rather than rate these Wiseman House Chocolates individually, I’ll just rate them as a group. All were very fresh, perfectly smooth and creamy, and just the right level of sweetness. The flavored truffles were delicately blended so that the chocolate and the other flavorings melded in perfect harmony. I had my favorites, and yours will probably be different from mine, but all of them were up to snuff.
Our rating: 4.75 of 5 bon bons
Below are some notes about individual truffles:
Milk Rufus: Mild and smooth chocolate flavor with just a hint of vanilla. Soft and buttery.
Dark Rufus: A darker version of the Milk Rufus. Just dark enough to satisfy dark chocoholics, but not so dark as to scare off the non-dark aficionados. Rich, smooth, and one of my favorites.
Wild Woman!: Deep, dark, and slightly rich (but not too rich). The slightest hint of bitterness with a burnt finish, which I didn’t particularly care for but didn’t mind. It must just be me, though, since this popular truffle is an award winner.
Apricot: A delicious, creamy center of white chocolate, brandy, and apricots, with a taste somewhat reminiscent of an amaretto.
Seville Orange: Mellow, smooth chocolate flavor subtly infused with orange. The balance of chocolate and orange flavors was lovely.
Raspberry: Subtle, authentic raspberry flavor with a smooth, dark finish. I am very picky about raspberry flavors, because my dad is a raspberry fiend and I’ve had to try a lot of the good and the bad. This one makes the cut. Excellent balance between chocolate and raspberry flavors. And did I mention it’s topped with edible gold dust? Another of my favorites.
Amaretto: Hmmm, I seem to have polished this one off without recording my impressions of it! Oops. Must’ve been good. 🙂
Southern Hospitality: You might say I succumbed to the Southern charm of this milk chocolate truffle flavored with Jack Daniel’s. It had a sweet, buttery caramel flavor, and reminded me of a favorite childhood candy. (Is Jack Daniel’s this good by itself? I doubt it.)
Wiseman House Caramel Clusters
2.18.08
Pecans or almonds covered in caramel and then chocolate. The best part of these were the roasted and salted nuts, which were a piquant contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate and caramel. I was slightly less than enamored with the caramel, however, which seemed to me not as flavorful or of as high a quality as the rest of Wiseman House Chocolate’s ingredients. Still beats Godiva any day, though.
Our rating: 4 of 5 bon bons
Wiseman House Mocha Crunch
2.13.08
I don’t even like coffee, but I still managed to polish off half a bag of the Mocha Crunch (not in one sitting, or I would have had a caffeine-induced heart attack), before I realized I needed to seek help. I fed the rest to five friends, all of whom had to come back for seconds and thirds. This is a thin bark of crushed coffee beans in Belgian dark chocolate, and it has the most lovely, nutty finish. Like the rest of the Wiseman House Chocolates, the balance of flavors was exquisite.
Our rating: 5 of 5 bon bons
I am from Texas and have to agree. Wiseman House Chocolate is fantastic!
on our ay back from DC to El Paso, we will stop and shop. I am originally from Germany and desperate for good chocolate. In Germany, even the so-so chocolate is at least half-way decent. If you know of a good choclatier in the DC/MD/VA area, please tell me…I almost bought some Godiva chocolate…that is how desperate I am…
I don’t know if they are open, but you could try: https://www.thechocolatehousedc.com/