Monday, January 11, 2010

The Important Things In Life


Quite the conundrum here at the Webber household.

It's this: We're on the quest for the best tasting hot chocolate that's easy to make (none of that melt your own chocolate, whip in the cream stuff). Think over the counter brands.

So far Swiss Miss has been ruled out as too watery. Ditto some kit we got for Christmas (actually a reject gift from a family member--we should have known). Starbucks is out, as is Panera.

The family's absolute favorite HC is from the Golden Eagle resort in Stowe, Vermont, but apparently they buy it in bulk and guard the brand with their lives. Oh, not to mention you need some fancy-dancy brewer to make it. Not sure if it's better than any hot chocolate we've ever had simply because we're in Vermont and we love Vermont, or if it's really that good.

Purchased today was Nestle's Dark Chocolate hot chocolate. It's been rated "pretty good" by three-fifths of the family so I'm guessing it will be on the grocery list as long as temps are in the "could it BE any colder?" range. But we're also looking for suggestions for cocoa that's really rich and chocolaty--and can be found outside of Vermont. Any tips?

11 comments:

  1. I tried a Butterfinger flavored hot chocolate that was pretty good.

    Swiss Miss is good as long as you double up on the packs and use less water.

    The kroger brand is actually fairly decent. So far I've liked that the best.

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  2. Have you tried Ghirardelli hot chocolate?

    I like Swiss Miss and like Katie suggested, I double the packets and use milk instead.

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  3. I'd have to say the Ghirardelli is the best for hot chocolate. But I've found a Cappuccino French Vanilla mix at our local Sam's Club that is really good too. I use milk instead of water and it makes it even creamier.

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  4. I think milk might be my missing ingredient. I'll try it without the water and see how that goes. Doubling the packets might work, too. And the Ghirardelli mix is going on the shopping list!

    Thank you!

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  5. Okay in the world of all time great hot chocolates -

    1 cup milk - heated up (obviously)
    1/4 cup dark chocolate M&M's

    put both in a blender and whir, damn amazing hot chocolate and only 19 bazillion calories!

    Also don't ever whir the M&M's in the blender without the hot milk, freaking awful noise.

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  6. LOL on the noise, Gaylin. I can imagine it. This is definitely a recipe for when I'm feeling ambitious. There are some dark chocolate lovers in the house that would be in heaven.

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  7. Hi, Heather!

    My vote is for Trader Joe's Conacado Organic Fair Trade Cocoa - got some as a gift and love it! It even won a place in the Taster's Choice Hall of Fame for it's high score in a blind tasting. Worth a taste!

    Chana

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  8. Heather,

    my favorite mix is Godiva hot chocolate mix. Barnes and Noble sells it. You use milk, not water, but it's pretty darn incredible.

    good luck with the taste tests!

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  9. Chana, I'm going to have to track down a Trader Joe's. And Shelley, we'll try the Godiva, too. Let the taste testing begin!

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  10. Truly the best is the hot chocolate recipe Hershey's has on their container of unsweetened cocoa. Once I started making it I turned into a cocoa snob. Only takes a few minutes and is insanely delicious! Try it! A trick I learned from one of our local coffee shops is to splash in some Torani Toasted Marshmallow flavored coffee syrup - yum!

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  11. I'll definitely try it, Kristin. The milk tip has made a huge difference already, but we're still on the lookout!

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