Beacon Hill Chocolates

Last Wednesday night, Michelle and I were invited for a tour and tasting at Beacon Hill Chocolates, appropriately located in Beacon Hill. I had never been before and was excited to see what this chocolate shop had to offer. I never imagined that I would be met with so much more than just chocolate.

First to catch my eye were the artfully decorated boxes displayed around the store.

Gina, the soon-to-be manager, greeted us and explained that the store works with an artist in California who designs all of the boxes. There were some Boston-themed boxes that I think would make great gifts.

The boxes are usually purchased along with a selection of chocolates to fill them.

As we walked around the store, Gina pointed out different items to us. There was everything from brownie lollipops (Broundies) to organic chocolate bars to chocolate frogs (not real frogs) to gelato.

I can honestly say I felt exactly like a kid in a candy store. I sampled a bite of the Samoa gelato, based on the recommendation of a friend. It was definitely reminiscent of those ever-popular Girl Scout cookies.

After we had taken our time, wandering around, checking out all the chocolates, and taking pictures to our hearts' content, Gina presented us with three types of chocolates to try. The first one I tried was coated with dark chocolate and had a creamy, crunchy praline filling.

The next one was a salted caramel coated in milk chocolate. This was as decadent as you would imagine.

I saved the raspberry one for last because I had a feeling it would be my favorite. The dark chocolate shell was filled with a sweet, tangy raspberry gelee. Something about raspberries and chocolate gets me every time.

After sampling the chocolates and spending so much time in the store, I couldn't possibly leave without purchasing a few goodies. I was meeting a couple friends for dinner and bought each of them a mocha mouse (look at all these adorable critters).

Then I bought an Urban Garden Bar for myself. The dark chocolate bar is made with freshly picked mint from a Philadelphia urban garden, and some of the proceeds from the sale of the bar go back to the urban garden.

And I couldn't leave without a few specialty chocolates from the case for Jeff and me to share.

Gina was an amazing hostess/tour guide. I'm so happy she invited us in because now I've found a great new-to-me chocolate shop!

What's your favorite chocolate shop?