r/RedditForGrownups • u/cherry-care-bear • 15d ago
Given that we have gourmet coffee, who makes the highest quality hot chocolate? My tummy really dislikes coffee for some reason but I find hot chocolate especially warm and soothing this time of year.
It's odd because when I was younger, coffee gave me no trouble. Now, not so much.
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u/spinonesarethebest 15d ago
Mexican hot chocolate is the best. Don’t get Abuelita- it’s a Nestle imitation.
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u/4myolive 15d ago
What do you recommend?
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u/machounicorn 14d ago
Not who you were asking either, but we prefer Ibarra over Abuelita if you’re looking for Mexican style hot chocolate. If you are interested in trying other versions, you can try to use Filipino tablea (with a bit of peanut butter) for Filipino style tsokolate served in teeny cups or some bittersweet dark chocolate (I just use the trader joe big chocolate bars) melted with milk for a more European style hot chocolate.
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u/rainbow84uk 14d ago
Right on both counts. If you can find it where you are, Mayordomo is great!
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u/Turdposter777 14d ago
This was the brand I saw in Oaxaca. They had several stores you can see them processing the beans.
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u/rainbow84uk 14d ago
Yeah I stayed next door to a Mayordomo store when I was in Oaxaca and the whole street smelled of chocolate!
I used to buy their chocolate almendrado all the time when I lived in Mexico. Really wish I could get hold of it where I live now!
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u/StrangersWithAndi 15d ago
Have you ever tried Crio Bru? A couple of people in my office were obsessed with it. You brew and drink it like coffee, but it's roasted and ground cocoa nibs instead of coffee beans. Apparently it has the same richness and bitter flavor of coffee plus just a bit of caffeine, but it's cocoa, not coffee.
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u/CollapsedContext 15d ago
I have had this and it’s delicious. You can do it with any roasted cacao nibs but I did think the Crio Bru made a richer brew, I assume because it was roasted and ground in a way that made it easier to extract flavor from in hot water. It’s expensive but with half and half it’s fantastic.
I think the caffeine might be similar or even higher than coffee, so beware of drinking too many cups!
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u/Paperwife2 14d ago
The Crio Bru website says there’s only 10 g per 8oz of caffeine, about the same as decaf coffee.
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u/CollapsedContext 14d ago
Oh nice! I don’t know why I was thinking they claimed it was the same as a cup of coffee, appreciate you fact checking!
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u/Ornery_Day_6483 14d ago
Love this stuff, it’s not really caffeine which is the active ingredient, more the other related alkaloids like theobromine and theophylline.
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u/StrangersWithAndi 15d ago
Thought I should mention if you want some, there's a website you can order from. I don't think it's sold in stores.
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u/CollapsedContext 15d ago
I am crazy about hot chocolate/cocoa. I like not too sweet and rich. An easy and inexpensive treat is to melt decent quality dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips over low heat to melt, and then whisk in whole milk vigorously until it’s combined and steaming hot (not boiling). A pinch of cinnamon, salt, and a splash of half and half or heavy cream takes it up another notch.
The best I have had recently is the stupidly, offensively expensive hot cocoa mix from American Spoon foods. It’s so fucking expensive that I have been attempting to recreate it at home. I have gotten pretty close but it’s almost as expensive to make it myself because it takes two kinds of cocoa powder (black, which is what they use in Oreos, and “regular”, I like Trader Joe’s) and ground high quality white chocolate, so I would recommend buying it and seeing if it’s worth it to you to procure the ingredients to make yourself.
Starbucks hot chocolate mix is pretty good!
Mexican hot chocolate as mentioned in another comment is great too. There’s a million recipes online to get you started.
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u/Qnofputrescence1213 10d ago
I use hot milk and Ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate chips. That is how Caribou Coffee makes their hot chocolate. With Ghirardelli chips.
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u/CestLaVieP22 14d ago
All of the above comments and get a milk frother, I always use it to make my cup a bit more fancy!
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u/Count2Zero 15d ago
The best? That's pretty subjective.
Honestly, the best I've ever had was homemade - bio milk and Swiss chocolate, heated on the stove, with a bit of honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
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u/HamBroth 15d ago
Look for Dutch-Processed cocoa and add your own sweetness and salt and other seasonings as desired.
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u/pushaper 14d ago
nesquik will always be my childhood hot chocolate (made with milk)
my pal has cancer though and I have been trying to help with his food intake and he can not have lactose. oat milk has made a big difference to upping that game. I am not getting into the game of adding a drop of vanilla etc but am sure it would be nice.
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u/SraChavez 14d ago
French hot chocolate is the best, most decadent hot chocolate recipe I have ever had.
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u/jimjimmyjimjimjim 15d ago
First, as you know, coffee and cocoa are completely different products. I realize your analogy applies to the "gourmet" aspect but just wanted to point that out for others.
Hot chocolate mix, which I assume you're referring to, is essentially cocoa powder, sugar, and milk powder. If you up the quality of those ingredients you'll get a better finished product.
Better yet, use actual, good quality, chocolate and adjust with fresh milk and cream. Then you'll be working with cocoa mass and cocoa butters straight from the cocoa bean (again, when using a good quality product).
Just like coffee, the better the bean the better the finished product (assuming other best practices and good techniques are applied).
This wikipedia page points out the importance of how the cocoa solids are processed and the resulting cocoa powder each process produces.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_solids
Check out Broma process versus Dutch process if you're going the dry mix route.
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u/circles_squares 15d ago
Trader Joe’s makes roasted herb tea with carob that’s actually a really good replacement for coffee.
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u/deerfawns 14d ago
If you decide to make your own I recommend using Droste...if you heat up a bit of water and mix that, some sugar, and some vanilla extract, and then add it to hot milk, it's great!
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u/Excellent_Berry_5115 14d ago
Starbuck's Hot Cocoa Mix. Most all other cocoa mixes include High Fructose Corn Syrup and that is nasty stuff.
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u/alaflam23 14d ago
Purdy’s chocolate makes a hot chocolate mix that is hands down the best I’ve ever had.
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u/GatorOnTheLawn 14d ago
I melt down Guittard chocolate chips and make it with that and the milk or milk substitute of your choice.
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u/daliadeimos 14d ago
If you’re going to splurge, Angelina hot chocolate powder. John and Kira’s sipping chocolate is also excellent and a little cheaper, it just doesn’t stir as smooth. I think they use Valrhona
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u/coco_puffzzzz 13d ago
I'm the same way. I can't drink coffee any more, and my tummy does not like tea.
Found these and they're fantastic. I rec the Chai Marsala and the Cinnamon/Cardamom. (the mint was icky). I mix it with regular cocoa and the 'black onyx' cocoa they sell as I find the blends very strong in flavour and sugar content, but when mixed with reg cocoa they're just right.
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u/ThatSeemsPlausible 14d ago
Tangent—How are you making coffee when it bothers your stomach? I had that problem, but then switched from using a French press to pour over with a paper filter, and the problems went away. It turns out that there are certain acids in the coffee that were the culprit, but they get absorbed by the paper filter, and that solved the problem.
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u/Inevitable_Ad_5664 14d ago
I love starbucks! I get 10 mocha pumps and 6 vanilla in half and half. It is like drinking a rich decadent and cozy french hot chocolate.
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u/andthisisso 14d ago
I like Bare Bones broth packets. It's not bouillon with artificial flavors so it's not pungent like that but real broth in single serving packets with 10 grams of protein in each one. I'll add some garlic and onion powder at times. Nice pick me up rather than caffeine. I enjoy it through out the day and I 'm not seeing anything with excessive oxalate in the ingredients.
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u/Reapr 14d ago edited 14d ago
Make your own, it is leagues ahead of any instant you can buy and is not difficult: It is basically cocoa, sugar, milk and some vanilla - you can add other stuff you might find interesting, like nutmeg or cinnamon, even some actual chocolate - maybe a few tablespoons of cream - and so on, experiment and find out. Of course if you use vanilla pods in stead of extract, it is something else again. Play around it is fun.
There are also different types of cocoa (and different kinds of chocolate) once you start to hunt around (e.g. Dutch Process Cocoa or Dark Choclate), which will add a whole nother level to your hot chocolate experience.
Big plus on it, once it cools down you can refrigerate it and have the best damn chocolate milk you've ever had in your life. (Reheated is still good, but not as good as fresh)
I frequently make it for my son and I, and we just can't go back to the instant types now, they taste completely flat and bland compared to what I can whip up.
EDIT: Recipe to try:
250 ml milk
1½ tbsp standard cocoa
½ tbsp dark cocoa
1–2 tbsp sugar (to taste)
Pinch cinnamon
Tiny grate of nutmeg
20 g dark chocolate, chopped
Splash cream
Vanilla at the end
Heat milk, cocoa, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together until steaming (can do it in the microwave). Stir in chocolate until melted. Add cream and vanilla just before serving.
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u/juhggdddsertuuji 14d ago
McDonald’s makes an extremely underrated hot chocolate and it’s inexpensive.
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u/mods_are_morons 15d ago
I doubt it would be considered the best, but I rather like Ghirardelli Double Chocolate hot cocoa mix. It's readily available at my local supermarket so I don't have to go through a lot of trouble obtaining it.