Texas chocolatier debuts Bacon and Bonbons Experience
Hill Country Chocolate is offering a sweet and salty tasting for its guests.
Hill Country Chocolate, the Fredericksburg, TX bean-to-bar chocolatier and home of the nationally acclaimed Premiere Wine & Chocolate Experience, announced the launch of its newest tasting offering: the Bacon & Bonbons Experience, available daily and now open for online reservations.
The Bacon & Bonbons Experience aims to reimagine the American flavor trifecta—smoke, sugar, and craft chocolate—inside an intimate, guided format. Guests are welcomed to the chocolatier's Wall of Bacon, a curated showcase of cured and candied bacon—slow-roasted with brown sugar and chile, then glazed with agave, bourbon, and caramelized cacao nibs—selected for its compatibility with single-origin cacao. The journey continues with a curated slate of hand-crafted artisanal chocolates paired with a selection of wines, and culminates in the house's signature Ice Cream Float made with a classic Texas Soda—finished tableside with shaved bean-to-bar dark chocolate and presented in a coupe champagne glass, a study in contrasts between Texas nostalgia and patisserie elegance, Hill Country Chocolate says.
"We built the Bacon & Bonbons Experience to do what Hill Country Chocolate does best—take something deeply familiar and reframe it as something unmistakably crafted," says Dan McCoy, executive chocolatier of Hill Country Chocolate. "Bacon, ice cream floats, and chocolate are part of the cultural fabric here. Our job is to honor the source ingredients, lift them with bean-to-bar technique, and let our guests taste why the pairing works."
Bacon & Bonbons joins a tasting lineup that has helped establish Hill Country Chocolate as a destination for craft pairing experiences, the chocolatier says, including its nationally acclaimed Premiere Wine & Chocolate Experience, the Artisan Wine & Chocolate Pairing, and the Chocolate and Confectionery Masterclass. Together, the four offerings give guests a range of formats—from intimate daily tastings to in-depth, hands-on instruction.
"Each of our experiences is built around a different way of meeting the craft," McCoy adds. "Premiere is our flagship pairing. The Artisan format gives guests a more relaxed, conversational tasting. The Masterclass gets your hands on the chocolate itself. Bacon & Bonbons rounds out the lineup with something playful, daily, and unmistakably ours."
Hill Country Chocolate is an award-winning artisanal chocolate maker in historic Fredericksburg, blending European chocolate-making traditions with regional Hill Country flavors. Named "Best Chocolate Shop" in the 2025 Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post Readers' Choice awards, the company has become nationally recognized for its Premiere Wine & Chocolate Experience—featured in Texas Monthly and D Magazine—which pairs signature bonbons and confections with curated wines from around the world.
Beyond chocolate-making, Hill Country Chocolate is aiming to pioneer the use of AI in artisan food manufacturing. Co-founder Dan McCoy delivered the keynote address at the 2026 Western Candy Association meeting on AI applications in chocolate and confectionery manufacturing. The company actively experiments with AI-assisted recipe development, process optimization, marketing automation, and SEO—documenting practical insights for small-scale producers. McCoy and Melanie Bopp co-host Bean to Business, a weekly podcast for small manufacturers, hospitality businesses, and artisan food makers navigating modern operations while preserving craft quality. Additionally, McCoy shares insights regularly on LinkedIn and his Substack newsletter.
Related: Vosges Haut-Chocolat introduces Campfire S'mores Kit
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