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Hot chocolate--hot cocoa what's the best?

JohnL

By JohnL
in Cooking

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JohnL

JohnL

Posted
Posted

It's that time of year again.

In addition to Coffee and tea, a cup of hot chocolate or cocoa is in order!

I have just begun to try Jacques Torres Hot Chocolate.

Not bad--though the chocolate nibs dont always melt into the cocoa uniformly.

(I like half whole milk and half--half and half)

I have enjoyed Droste's as well.

Is there anything else I should be trying?

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Megan Blocker

Megan Blocker

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And don't you love how the cold air almost tastes like milk when you breathe it in after sipping hot chocolate? Yum!

I like to just make my own using the recipe on the Hershey's cocoa container...

Edited by Megan Blocker (log)

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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bloviatrix

bloviatrix

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6 heaping tablespoons cocoa (ScharffenBerger)

4 tablespoons sugar

1 cup water.

Over low heat combine 3 ingredients into a paste. Add 3 cups milk. Just before it boils add 1 tsp of vanilla and a pinch of salt. And 1/4 cup cream. Heat a bit longer and serve.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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divalasvegas

divalasvegas

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Bless all of you wonderful, industrious people. I, on the other hand, being a completely lazy, sellout, crave this:

Hot Chocolate From the Dark Side

Actually, someone bought this back to the office for me and several coworkers last year, and I was instantly addicted to this hot steamy cup of chocolate crack. I never go to Starbuck's; generally they're not my cup of tea (or coffee) but I would be willing to crawl on my hands and knees to get a cup of this.

Inside me there is a thin woman screaming to get out, but I can usually keep the Bitch quiet: with CHOCOLATE!!!

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Megan Blocker

Megan Blocker

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That seals the deal. I'm heading out for a (relatively decent) Starbucks hot chocolate this afternoon. Yay for nippy weather! :biggrin:

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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avocado

avocado

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Has anyone ever tried Abuelita (made by Nestle), found in the "ethnic" isle of the grocery? It's Mexican-style, a tablet you blend with milk in the blender. I didn't buy it because I was afraid it was just be a "Mexican" answer to Nestle instant hot cocoa, which to me has always tasted like a stale gas-station chocolate donut.

"It is impossible not to love someone who makes toast for you."

-Nigel Slater

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Megan Blocker

Megan Blocker

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Has anyone ever tried Abuelita (made by Nestle), found in the "ethnic" isle of the grocery? It's Mexican-style, a tablet you blend with milk in the blender. I didn't buy it because I was afraid it was just be a "Mexican" answer to Nestle instant hot cocoa, which to me has always tasted like a stale gas-station chocolate donut.

This is what the chef (Sue Torres) used when I saw the demo of atole being made at the Chocolate Show! I'm not a big fan of Mexican chocolate - I don't love cinnamon with chocolate - but it was good for what it was!

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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BarbaraY

BarbaraY

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Has anyone ever tried Abuelita (made by Nestle), found in the "ethnic" isle of the grocery? It's Mexican-style, a tablet you blend with milk in the blender. I didn't buy it because I was afraid it was just be a "Mexican" answer to Nestle instant hot cocoa, which to me has always tasted like a stale gas-station chocolate donut.

This is what the chef (Sue Torres) used when I saw the demo of atole being made at the Chocolate Show! I'm not a big fan of Mexican chocolate - I don't love cinnamon with chocolate - but it was good for what it was!

Abuelita has sugar and cinnamon flavors and cocoa butter. Blend with hot milk. It is nothing like any of the packaged American hot chocolates. My youngest absolutely adored it as a child.

Not as good as what you get in Mexico but good non-the-less.

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chappie

chappie

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I enjoy Ibarra, another brand of Mexican drinking chocolate. It comes in disks from which you break off a wedge or two, melt in a little bit of milk, add sugar, then more milk as you heat it. I like the slight cinnamon touch, and often I toss in a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper to wake things up a bit.

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lia

lia

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This one has been my fave since I discovered it at the chocolate show a few years ago. similar to Chantico, but more natural tasting and you can control how thick you want it. Sometimes I just heat up some milk with a huge spoon of cocoa powder and a dollop of condensed milk, but no matter how I take hot chocolate, i ALWAYS add a generous sprinkle of cayenne. Edited by lia (log)
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JohnL

JohnL

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This one has been my fave since I discovered it at the chocolate show a few years ago.  similar to Chantico,  but more natural tasting and you can control how thick you want it.  Sometimes I just heat up some milk with a huge spoon of cocoa powder and a dollop of condensed milk,  but no matter how I take hot chocolate,  i ALWAYS add a generous sprinkle of cayenne.

I am curious if anyone has tried Jaques Torres hot chocolate mix's?

One has chilies spicing it up.

I have tried the regular--it is ok.

He seems to mix both cocoa powder and nibs of chocolate.

I have had a heard time getting the cocoa and nibs to come together in terms of melting.

also these are pretty expensive (at Balducci's) eighteen bucks for 16 ounces I believe.

I have gotten some great suggestions here though and look forward to trying them.

(now if I can just find my ice skates....)

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Megan Blocker

Megan Blocker

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I am curious if anyone has tried Jaques Torres hot chocolate mix's?

One has chilies spicing it up.

I have tried the regular--it is ok.

He seems to mix both cocoa powder and nibs of chocolate.

I have had a heard time getting the cocoa and nibs to come together in terms of melting.

also these are pretty expensive (at Balducci's) eighteen bucks for 16 ounces I believe.

Haven't tried them yet, though I'd be willing to...I'll check Dean and Deluca this weekend, when I go to buy some ginger syrup! Yum.

Chiles in my chocolate make me think of that movie, Chocolat. There's one I never watch without a mug of hot chocolate. :laugh:

Edited by Megan Blocker (log)

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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cdh

cdh

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I like hot chocolate with both melted bar chocolate and some cocoa powder in it. Lately my technique has been to generate a pile of chocolate shavings from a big hunk of Ghirardelli dark with a microplane ribbon grater, toss it on top of a pot of heated 2% milk, add a spoonful of valrhona dark cocoa powder, a drop of vanilla extract, and then whisk it a bit. That makes 2 or 3 mugs worth of it.

Yummy!

Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

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Jenikaye

Jenikaye

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Okay, I ran a search for (hot) chocolate and got 42 pages...after browsing through the entire list, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

I want to make a hot chocolate mix to send as gifts to friends/family.

I can do a basic one with cocoa, sugar, etc. But I want to make something that will knock their socks off.

And, of course, it has to be shippable and easy for them to prepare.

Homemade marshmallows will go along with it.

Any suggestions?

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I_call_the_duck

I_call_the_duck

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I usually do either Hershey's or Ghiardelli from the tin, but today I was at the local ING cafe (where I get my morning coffee) and had their hot chocolate. They serve Peet's coffee, and they also use Peet's Dutch cocoa syrup. I found it surprisingly good. It was rich, but not too rich, and didn't have that powdery taste that you sometimes get with, er, powders. It also didn't have that sludge that you always get at the bottom of the cup when using instant--not that that's a bad thing.

Karen C.

"Oh, suddenly life’s fun, suddenly there’s a reason to get up in the morning – it’s called bacon!" - Sookie St. James

Travelogue: Ten days in Tuscany

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Shalmanese

Shalmanese

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I like to bring the milk just to a bare simmer and then whip it with a stick blender until I get a nice frothy head.

My recipe for hot chocolate involves 1 heaping tablespoon of hot chocolate powder, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 3 squares of dark chocolate and 1 cup of milk. Powdered sugar is sprinkled on top once it's in the mug.

  • Like 1

PS: I am a guy.

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Ling

Ling

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I made hot chocolate today with Bailey's, chopped unsweetened chocolate, condensed milk, and milk (my friend didn't have any half and half). It was delicious. Just the thing to go with the four dozen or so cookies I ate tonight (and that's a conservative estimate...) The hot chocolate was very good and creamy.

I'm such a frickin' glutton. :wacko:

Edited by Ling (log)

Lorna Yee

the cool kids at belltown lofts

The Cookbook Chronicles

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star792

star792

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i have some jaques torres hot chocolate. origins(yes the make up store) gave my husband a huge tin of it. he works at the mall and helped them with a promotional thing. it is really good and rich and not a sweet as i usually like it. it says to drink it in expresso size cups. but the tin of it has an origins label with his name on it so it might be different than the stuff that JohnL is drinking.

i tried some albuelita this weekend. very good. my four yr old liked it as well. i was a little worried about how old the chocolate was. i do live out in the sticks and i didn't think that they restocked it very often but it tasted ok.

i aso like Chatmans hot chocolate. its a natural foods company out of st augustine but they sell it at publix. its instant and easy. we drink that one the most.

"i saw a wino eating grapes and i was like, dude, you have to wait"- mitch hedburg

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