Miner Decadence Chocolates

This chocolate place was an accidental find one day when I really came to Idaho Springs to get a buffalo burger. The chocolates here are amazing — they are all made in house with fresh ingredients. The staff are very knowledgeable and passionate about the merchandise and that makes a huge difference. My favorite sea salt dark chocolate caramels are here and I only wish I lived a little closer so I could keep my supply more steady. Everything is great including the chocolate covered oreos and super huge peanut butter cups. Most things come in dark, milk, and white chocolate varieties.

This place is killer! The staff and owners are so friendly and you can really feel their passion. All of there treats are made in-​house and they don’t use artificial ingredients; you can definitely taste the difference.
Highly recommend!

I went with my family and we all adore their ice cream.

Perfect quick spot to grab ice cream and a treat. Connie was very helpful and rightfully proud of her delicious selection of goodies. We had ice cream cones and grabbed some chocolates to take with us to the hot springs. (Hey it’s vacation right?) I highly recommend the salted caramel in white chocolate.

The best turtles and peanut butter cups we’ve ever had. Seriously. The owner is super sweet (no pun intended!) and very passionate about her Belgium chocolate goodies. It is evident a lot of love goes in to her work. Highly recommend!

After A LONG HIKE, I came down from the mountain looking for some ice cream. There were 3 places on the main strip and this place seemed the most appetizing for my hankering. I got there and it didn’t seem anything like anything special BUT when I asked for my ice cream they told me that it was handmade gelato that they make right there in the store. I got the cinnamon even though the cookies and cream was a good alternative as well. I had to purchase a latte since they require a $ 5 minimum for cards, but the coffee pretty good. They had a bunch of random chocolates and treats, I’m not into it but I’m sure they are good, they looked alright. There was street parking but since there are so many little shops the streets were kind of packed so you might have to park a distance and walk to the store.

Very friendly staff who makes the ice cream in house and fresh. You’ll find unique flavors when you visit, including the experimental cinnamon flavor I ended up purchasing. I also got the butter pecan, which they make by sauteing the pecans in butter, adding to their vanilla ice cream, and mixing in caramel.
If I know the process the business used to make the ice cream, I’m happy. If it tastes like there was a lengthy process involved to make it, I’m even happier. The candied pecans were crunchy and sweet, perfectly contrasting the smooth and simple vanilla base.
The portions are small for the price, but you feel good supporting the local business.

Exit the 70! — Miner Decadence is absolutely worth the stop to/​from the slopes!
Or stop in as you walk around Idaho Springs.
(Or order chocolates for wedding &/​or corp party favors! You can order by phone, too!)
I will preface this review by noting that I had never heard of Miner Decadence until recently being told how I would enjoy the best chocolates in the world here; high expectations that were far exceeded — This past week I went on my first, of what will now be many, trips here. I also learned so much about the shop from Connie herself.
Connie is the owner & master chocolatier; she deserves every accolade that comes her way. This isn’t just a candy store like a See’s Candies or Fannie Mae — it is very evident that her shop is her passion, from the delicious handmade treats through to her smile that welcomes you in as though you were an old friend coming into her home. She makes her chocolate, caramels, etc BY HAND. I have never tasted candy this incredibly delicious in all my life.
While the chocolates in the display are not labeled (as noted by another reviewer), Connie & her husband will take their time explaining each creation to you, as well as suggesting to you their personal favorites. It is also not a problem to tell them *exactly* which chocolate piece you’d like from the tray! The display is «divided» into three sections: dark chocolate (far left), milk chocolate (center), and white chocolate (far right). There are truly plenty of options to choose from! My very favorite was the milk chocolate salted caramel — WOW, ridiculously wonderful! I returned home to realize how disappointed I was to not have purchased many more! I also purchased the mint meltaways, which received accurate reviews on here around Christmas — very good and not an overwhelming minty flavor. The chocolate covered marshmallows are each «infused» with something delicious inside to compliment the marshmallow; my favorite was the chocolate caramel marshmallow. SO. VERY. GOOD.
It is clear that providing the best chocolate is a priority for Connie. In talking with her, I learned that she not only has a knack & reads cookbooks, but participates in classes, seminars, etc to best perfect her chocolate making. While we were there, she asked our input on some truffle creations she had made — seriously, she thinks of possible ingredient and flavor combinations and then experiments away until she creates exactly what she believes is the best product. We tried a truffle that she said she felt was good, but not special enough for her shelves. It was delicious, but after tasting what she believes is her best work, you can understand what she means — the chocolate we tried was certainly worthy of enjoying and would have been on any candy store shelf, but that’s the difference: Connie’s shop isn’t just «any candy store.» She then had us try a piece that she felt used a better combination of ingredients in her experimental recipe — again, WOW! It was incredible. I don’t like raspberry in much of anything, but this piece of chocolate was so well made and Connie struck such a perfect balance between the flavors that I would have ordered the entire tray. (We got her very last piece of experimental creation.) I actually believe that Connie could never make something that wasn’t absolutely amazing.
Behind the center milk chocolate display are shelves holding large glass candy jars; she explained that the candies up there are selected because they are special, her very favorite childhood candy included. On top of the white chocolate display are her caramel apples — the caramel was perfectly thick and beautifully draped. While we were there, her husband was going to head out for some more apples (she had made quite a few already, but by mid-​afternoon was sold old). Listening to her describe the perfect apples, you know she doesn’t just go and grab them from the fruit stand. I can imagine her standing there and actually analyzing each apple before selecting those good enough to become her caramel apples.
On the very far left of the dark chocolate display is her gelato. Her husband raved about her gelato, so he «twisted my arm» to try some. I have been fortunate enough to enjoy gelato while in Florence & Venice, Italy — I took a small spoonful of Connie’s and exclaimed that it tasted just like those from Italy. She then told me a great story about an Italian man visited her store once; his family had a history in Italy of making wonderful gelato; she explained to him that she couldn’t seem to get one particular flavor to behave as she’d wanted. So, he taught her what he knew and the lesson has translated into some scrumptious gelato at Connie’s… Honestly, I thought I was just going for this talked-​up chocolate, but I will come back again for her gelato, too!
It is clear they want to ensure each customer has the best possible experience.
Good treats, wonderful people, & a worthwhile stop!

Everything in here is amazingly good. I have been visiting for years and the quality and consistency is outstanding. One of my very favorite parts of doing gift shopping in Idaho Springs is putting together the box of chocolates. I sometimes kind of forget this place is there — which is good because I might weigh 400 pounds if I was in there as much as I’d like to be. ;-)

This may be the best chocolate shop in the world.
Everything is good, but don’t miss out on the nut bark. Simple and perfect.

The chocolate rocks! Unfortunately, nothing is labeled, but the staff will gladly go over what’s what. The only problem with this is your memory! By the time we got to the end, l forgot what was at the beginning! Thankfully everything is delicious…

Very friendly staff. I had the gelato, and a malt ball topping. It was very good and pure. Everything is handmade. Told her would e mail the food network.

Yum! I spoke with the owner and she told me about how she makes everything there with all natural peanut butter and Belgian chocolate and she makes her own caramel and marshmallows. Worth the bit of priciness for the deliciousness.

I was in Denver for only a day and a half and I was lucky enough to visit this little town. I had lunch at a popular place right across from there and since I always have to have something sweet after I eat this place was more than perfect. I’m a chocolate addict so as soon as they pointed me to that place I knew something in there would def satisfy my crave. The décor and little «fake» chocolate arrangements are super cute and look SO real :) they also sell gelato or ice cream, I don’t really remember. Point is everything looked absolutely DELICIOUS! when the lady (I didn’t ask for her name) welcomed us and asked us what we wanted she seemed so pleasant and nice and sweet. She was very patient and was more than willing to help me decide on what to get. I got a peanut butter cups (white chocolate) and a low sugar chocolate heart, and an Oreo cookie. I think it was like $ 1+ for each little piece but I thought it was worth it. Anyway I loved the atmosphere in there and the lady was extremely nice. GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE! :) the inventory isn’t ginormous but who needs such a huge inventory with no real quality? NOT ME! lol
the chocolates? O M G!!! that peanut butter cup was SPECTACULAR!!! and the Oreo cookie was chocolate upon chocolate I mean wtf?! I could have had a heart attack and died completely happy!!! lol IF I every ever make it out there again I would def go back to that place.

Best Chocolate Candy Shop Ever! The lady that helped us was super friendly and described everything to us, the owner wasn’t there at the time. We were driving from Denver to Frisco and stopped in Idaho Springs for lunch at Beau Joe’s Pizza and we spotted the shop as we were leaving and decided what the heck we are on vacation lets have some treats. Milk Chocolate is my favorite so that is the case I went to, however they have a case for dark chocolate, white Chocolate and sugar-​free. I wish I would have tried the gelato but I passed. The chocolate covered caramel with sea salt is to die for, and the homemade marshmallows are absolutely amazing all the flavors of marshmallows, plain, caramel & peppermint (my fav) and the toffee is yum. The owner even makes her own reese peanut butter cups too! We bought a couple of caramels and peanut butter cups and 1 marshmallow, toffee and went on our way to Frisco. When we got settled in I tried the marshmallow I was so happy I didn’t buy more because I would have been HUGE by the time I left my vacation. However when we were on our way back to Denver to fly out I made my husband stop again and had a gift box made full of caramels and marshmallows. I was super excited I would get to take them home, but when I got home everyone wanted to try them and I by that time I had 2 caramels and a marshmallow and they were gone. I can not wait for her website to be finished so I can pick and choose. I think this chocolate was the best I have ever tried. I am not a chocolate eater because it gives me like an acid reflux so I usually stay away from it but this did not. Try it! I highly doubt you will be disappointed! She makes everything right there in the store you can see her work area from the counter so you know she loves what she does.
P. S. She makes peanut brittle too, all different flavors I don’t like peanuts but I do love the brittle I did buy a package of it for a gift to my dad it was Jalapeño Peanut Brittle. I can’t wait for him to try it.

Really friendly folks here. Took good care of us.

Wow. We found this town on the way from Denver to Vail and passed this shop on the way to lunch and I knew we would just have to stop. The owners (I’m guessing) were really friendly and kind and were patient to describe all the different options. They use high quality Belgian chocolate and we could totally tell the difference. They have gelato and my friend split her mint chocolate chip gelato with me– WOW– it was so delicious and the chocolate in it was way more amazing than you would normally expect in mint chocolate chip anything– we loved it. We also got some dark chocolate sea salt caramels– they were some of the absolute best I have ever had and I wish I bought more! They also had homemade marshmallow, covered in their chocolate, and though I’m saving mine for later, I watched my friend devour hers and she thoroughly enjoyed it. She kept telling me I had to write a positive review for this place because she was so impressed! They really have a great selection, divided by dark, milk and white chocolate, and also many choices for gelato. This is a great business and I hope it does well because it was a highlight of our day.