T-man decided to take me out for a late-night hot chocolate in Florence, Italy at a cool place I have heard about but never managed to actually find – called Hemingways. Located in the oltrarno, close to Piazza Carmine – this small hipster joint is a chocolateers paradise and ensures that Italians love an after hours cioccolata calda as much as a glass of chianti.

We sat down and had a cheap-mans heart attack when viewing the actual price of the coveted hot chocolate. Imagine six euros and up – of course the one that I ‘had to have’ was a white chocolate version with ginger, 7.50 a pop! T-man went for the 70% cacao version because as I mentioned before – he is on a health kick. Seriously all a smart choco-marketer has to do is up the percentage of cacao and you can always up the price of said candy/beverage/cake a few euros. 😉

Now I am no stranger to high prices, after all we live in one of the most expensive cities in Italy but seriously? You better go ahead and add some rum to this drink because my American brain can only convert the price into dollars. The result being..

I paid almost 10 dollars for a smallish cup of hot chocolate.

The positive side is – it’s about as far away as my childhood memories of  watery ‘swiss miss’ can remember- this is REAL hot chocolate. Imagine a creamy cup of chocolaty heaven that I can admit, was pretty darn good!

We didn’t stop there – we also indulged in a slice of cheesecake topped with strawberries since why the heck not, it’s Christmastime! The cake was delicious, not too sweet and they actually used fresh strawberries which gets them a lot of points in my book. I spied on the crepes of some nearby patrons and I think I might actually be trying that next time I visit along with their beautiful selection of chocolates in the display case by the bar.

Stop by, and wear your  not-needed-for-vision glasses, ironic t-shirt and bring your laptop {apparently they have wifi}. Trust me, you will like it here – just don’t forget your wallet!

Hemingways (open every day – from about 430-530pm until 1-2am.) Piazza Piattellina n.° 9r, 50124 Firenze, Italy.