Friday, 25 April 2014

My Quest for the Perfect Hot Chocolate - Home Edition


As far as I’m concerned, you can’t beat a good hot chocolate. Whether you want a relaxing drink in a café or a warm, comforting drink at home on the sofa, hot chocolate is perfect for all occasions. I remember when I was younger, my Mum would often make me a hot chocolate as a treat before bed, and back then it was Cadbury’s hot chocolate all the way. Fast-forward a few years and the supermarket shelves are stocked full of every type of hot chocolate you could possibly want. As a big hot chocolate fan, I thought I’d start a series of posts documenting my quest to find the perfect hot chocolate! In this post I will be focussing on hot chocolates that can be made at home.



Malteasers

Make with – Milk or water
Available in – Individual sachets or a pouch
Tasting notes – Nice creamy taste, not too watery. This reminded me a bit of a Horlicks drink.

Magic Stars

Make with – Milk
Available in – A pouch
Tasting notes – So tasty! Creamy, chocolaty taste. I love the mini Magic Stars, especially when they melt at the bottom of the mug and you can scoop them out with a spoon!

Options

Make with – Hot water
Available in – Individual sachets and tubs. Flavours include Belgium chocolate, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Mint, White Chocolate, Turkish Delight, Coconut, Hazelnut, Caramel, Vanilla, Ginger, Choca Mocha, Butterscotch, Toffee and an Indulgence range, which includes Belgian Chocolate, Chocolate Brownie, Cherry, Devilishly Dark, Fudge, Banoffee, Winter Spice.
Tasting notes – Great choice of flavours, but my favourite (Choca Mocha) is no longer available. A bit more watery, depending which flavour you choose, but overall good taste.

Wispa

Make with – Hot water
Available in – Individual sachets and tubs
Tasting notes – One of my favourites. Lovely and bubbly – a great creamy taste.

Cadbury’s Drinking Chocolate

Make with – Milk
Available in – Tubs
Tasting notes – Classic hot chocolate taste. Creamy, with a rich chocolate flavour.

Galaxy Bubbles

Make with – Hot water
Available in – Individual sachets and pouches
Tasting notes – Lives up to it’s bubbly name! Great, creamy, chocolaty taste.

Aero

Make with – Hot water
Available in – Tubs
Tasting notes – Quite bubbly, creamy and a distinctive Aero taste.

Wispa Gold

Make with – Hot water
Available in – Individual sachets and pouches
Tasting notes – Same bubbly, creamy taste of the original Wispa, but with a richer, caramel addition.

Chocolat Charbonnel

Make with – Hot water
Available in – Tins
Tasting notes – Very rich taste. Much less sweet than other brands, but very luxurious.



Galaxy Ripple

Make with – Hot water
Available in – Pouches
Tasting notes – Distinctive Galaxy taste. I particularly love the mini Ripple pieces!

Mars

Make with – Milk (Hot or Cold)
Available in – Pouches
Tasting notes – Nice creamy taste, although I wouldn’t recognise it as that of a Mars bar. Good that it can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Whittards

Make with – Hot milk
Available in – Tubs. Flavours available include Hazelnut White, Amaretto, Crème Brulee, White Chocolate, Luxury, Caramel, Dreamtime, Strawberry White Chocolate, Chilli, Banoffee, Rocky Road, 70% Cocoa, Mint, Orange, Skinny Luxury and Tiramisu.
Tasting notes – Very luxurious with a great variety of flavours to choose from. Not too sweet, but very rich.

That brings me to the end of the hot chocolates I’ve tried out at home! If I had to pick a favourite, I think it would be Wispa, as I love its creamy taste. My least favourite has got to be the Options White Chocolate, as I found it too watery and tasteless.

Keep an eye out for future posts in this series, where I will be going out and about in search of the perfect hot chocolate!


Are you a fan of hot chocolate? What is your favourite ‘at home’ brand? Did you enjoy this post, and would you like to see similar posts in the future? If so, what would you like me to test?!



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6 comments:

  1. Ooh my favourite has to be Whittard, I love their dark chocolate raspberry or mint chocolate versions. They are a bit pricey, but the big tubs last ages :) other than that, I don't think you can beat a big mug of hot milk with cadburys bournville powder, reminds me of childhood haha x

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    1. Oo I've not heard of the Raspberry one before, but it sounds really yummy! Yeah I can totally agree with the Cadburys ones reminding you of childhood! xx

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  2. I'm a big fan of clipper's hot chocolate - wont go back to cadburys now

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    1. I'll definitely have to give the Clipper one a try then Laura! XxX

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  3. I too, absolutely love hot chocolate. Half of these, I didn't even know existed so I'm seriously going to have to hunt a few of these out to try the next time I visit my local supermarket.
    I've also recently found out ClipperTea do their own Hot Chocolate brand. I'm yet to try, but many this is one that you should add to your "collection" haha. I too, aren't a big fan of the Options Hot Chocolate. A great range of flavours but I find they're far too watery :/

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    1. I hope you enjoy trying some new hot chocolates Jess - you'll have to let me know what you think! I will definitely try the Clipper hot chocolate, as I've heard it's nice! xx

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