For this year’s Hot Chocolate Awards the competition brought out a lot of good cups of hot cocoa, sipping chocolate, drinking chocolate, and an unusual tea and chocolate concept. I didn’t get all the entries — which happens sometimes in these comps — and I don’t cover entries I didn’t think were worth sharing. That keeps down the length and hopefully you will find something here you will enjoy.
To evaluate the entries I followed their instructions as best as I could. For example all of the entries in this article said to use milk — not water — so I made these with whole milk. I also ended up using Google Translate, a metric to ounces converter, a Celsius to Fahrenheit converter, a candy thermometer — that was all for just one set of entries — and a thingamabob I bought in Germany decades ago for measuring weights by volume.
So I am serious about judging. But I am also lazy so I used a Velvetizer whenever possible to heat the milk, melt the chocolate, and mix the 2 together. I don’t have any sponsorship with this brand — there are others out there that do the same thing — it’s just what I have and it’s very convenient.
SFBA entries
I like to feature our local chocolatiers and makers when they enter these competitions. This year there was one SFBA chocolatier who submitted 2 entries and I thought they were both very good.
Sonoma Chocolatiers
Sonoma Chocolatiers, Sebastopol, has become a regular in TasteTV comps — at least the ones that accept dark chocolate entries because that is what Sonoma Chocolatiers uses in all their sweets. For this competition they submitted 2 bars of sipping chocolate.
That’s right — bars — which is where the featured image for this article came from. Their instructions were to melt the bar in 3/4 cup of hot milk. I thought my milk would get cold before these big thick bars melted so I chopped them up before actually employing our trusty Velvetizer to melt and meld the chocolate into the milk.
Both bars — the Straight Sipping Chocolate and the Spicy Almond Sipping Chocolate looked the same and used the same 70% Dominican Republic cacao. When sliced, I could see that inside the solid outer shells the bars had a honeycomb texture.
They both had a simple ingredients list —cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin —and when finished had a thick texture with a smooth velvety mouthfeel.
Straight Sipping Chocolate
The Straight Sipping Chocolate was the unadorned version. It made a bright fruity hot chocolate that was slightly bitter. Personally I’d like to see what they could do making their own custom couverture — something that mellowed out the definitely single origin cacao with other cacao to make it more chocolatey — but I think this is an above average single origin dark drinking chocolate.
In the competition, Sonoma Chocolatiers’ Straight Sipping Chocolate received 3.5 stars for Best Taste; 3 stars for Best Ingredient Combination, Best Richness, Best Texture, and Most Unique; and received an Honorable Mention for Best Overall.
Spicy Almond Sipping Chocolate
I liked their Spicy Almond Sipping Chocolate much better — I thought it was top tier. When I was chopping up the bar I could smell the sweet almond, and the drink smelled chocolatey when it was heating up. The finished drink smelled a little nutty with a note of sweet almond.
The thick drink tasted very chocolatey and lightly sweet almond — which is the best amount of sweet almond to me. I prefer roasted almond flavors to sweet almond — think marzipan — which tastes cloying to me so a dab is plenty in my opinion.
The drink spread a spicy warmth down my throat. I’m not sure what spices were used — the label didn’t say — but it was some sort of pepper/chili mix not holiday spices. I think the sweet almond and hot spices were a good combo with the single origin — toning down the brightness and bitterness — to make a very satisfying and warm sipping chocolate.
In the competition, Sonoma Chocolatiers’ Spicy Almond Sipping Chocolate received 3.5 stars for Best Taste; 3 stars for Best Ingredient Combination, Best Richness, Best Texture, and Most Unique; and won Bronze for Best Overall.
Sonoma Chocolatiers’ chocolates are available at their store, online, at special events, and at Oliver’s Market, a Sonoma County supermarket chain.
Recommended
Outside the Bay Area, there were 2 competitors this year whose entries I thought were top tier.
Panache Chocolatier
Veteran competitor, Panache Chocolatier, Leawood, KS, submitted 3 drinks that I thought were all great.
Peanut Butter Cocoa
I was super excited to see Panache had a Peanut Butter Cocoa mix. 1. Because peanut butter and chocolate are 2 of my 3 favorite foods. And 2. Because in my experience Panache always makes high quality interesting products.
The mix was mostly powdered cocoa and ground peanuts with some small chunks of dark chocolate. It smelled chocolatey at first then peanutty.
The finished drink was not too sweet with a subtle but distinct peanut taste. I would have liked more peanut flavor but it was overall a delicious hot cocoa.
In the competition, Panache Chocolatier Peanut Butter Cocoa received 4 stars for Best Taste, Best Richness, and Most Unique; 3.5 stars for Best Ingredient Combination and Best Texture; and received an Honorable Mention for Best Overall.
Chambord Raspberry Cocoa
Panache’s 2nd entry, Chambord Raspberry Cocoa, was the best — although it put a strain on the Velvetizer. The mix had lots of big chunks of chocolate in the cocoa powder — I had to stop the Velvetizer a couple of times when it cried out for help and manually stir the mix. This was one of those instances where good old fashioned elbow grease and a pan on the stove would have been a better choice.
It all worked out in the end — deliciously. The drink had a distinctly raspberry chocolate aroma and very raspberry taste. It was smooth with a medium thickness and not too sweet — bonus points for that. The thickness made this more of a sipping chocolate than the Peanut Butter Cocoa was.
It was made using dark cocoa, raspberries, Chambord (a raspberry liqueur), and ruby chocolate. Ruby chocolate has a tangy berry flavor so this was like 3 layers of raspberry in the mix. This was a good use of ruby chocolate — to bring out the raspberry more while also adding some sweetness and creating a good balance between the raspberry and dark chocolate flavors.
The other judges agreed with me. In the competition, Panache Chocolatier Raspberry Chambord Cocoa received 4.5 stars for Best Ingredient Combination, Best Taste, and Best Richness; 4 stars for Best Texture and Most Unique; and won Gold for Best Overall.
Brown Sugar Bourbon Cocoa
Panache’s 3rd entry, Brown Sugar Bourbon Cocoa, was a mix of big chunks and grains of chocolate similar to the Raspberry Chambord Cocoa. Lesson learned, I stirred this before letting the Velvetizer have at it.
The mix was a very dark chocolate color that smelled chocolatey. The finished drink was sweeter than the other 2 and had a deep chocolate flavor with caramel notes. It had a good mouthfeel but was too sweet for me. And I would have liked if it had more of a bourbon flavor but overall it was a good if sweet sipping chocolate.
This one also won big time: In the competition, Panache Chocolatier Brown Sugar Bourbon Cocoa received 4.5 stars for Best Richness; 4 stars for Best Ingredient Combination, Best Taste, Best Texture, Most Unique; and won Gold for Best Overall.
Panache Chocolatier’s website is currently under construction. They have a brick and mortar store in Leawood.
Delysia Chocolatier
Experimental chocolatier and competition veteran, Delysia Chocolatier, Austin, TX, submitted 2 drinks that I enjoyed.
Turmeric Crème Brûlée Drinking Chocolate
I could smell the warm spices in Delysia’s Turmeric Crème Brûlée Drinking Chocolate mix of chocolate chips, powder, and granulated sugar. While the chips looked like they might give the Velvetizer a problem, they melted and blended just fine.
The label mentioned gold chocolate as an ingredient but the chocolate looked like bittersweet chips and cocoa powder — not caramelized white chocolate. I definitely think the darker chocolate was a better choice with the turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, and sea salt spice blend.
The finished product smelled good — chocolatey and a little cinnamon-y spicy. It tasted as good as it smelled with a nice spice warmth. Its thickness was somewhere between thin and thick with a good mouthfeel. It was a little sweeter than I like but had a good balance between the spices and quality chocolate.
In the competition, Delysia Chocolatier Turmeric Crème Brûlée drinking chocolate received 4.5 stars for Most Unique; 4 stars for Best Ingredient Combination, Best Taste, Best Richness, and Best Texture; and won Bronze for Best Overall.
Chai Chili Drinking Chocolate
Delysia’s other entry I liked was their Chai Chili Drinking Chocolate — I could smell cloves and nutmeg in the chips and powder mix. The finished product smelled like chocolate and spice and had more heat and less sweetness than the turmeric one. It tasted like a spicy chai and chocolate drink — the name is accurate — and while it was still too sweet for me I thought it was top tier. Chai is usually pretty sweet, right?
In the competition, Delysia Chocolatier Chai Chili Drinking Chocolate received 4.5 stars for Best Ingredient Combination; 4 stars for Best Taste, Best Richness, Best Texture, and Most Unique; and won Silver for Best Overall.
Delysia chocolates are available online and at their shop in Austin.
Worth a mention
In addition to the outstanding entries above, there were a couple of entries that I think are worth mentioning. They are what I would call middle of the pack — decent hot chocolate mixes but not elite.
The Original Cocoa Traders
New competitor, The Original Cocoa Traders, Melbourne, AU, submitted a single origin mix made of Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario cacao (the 3 main types of cacao) from a Peruvian farming cooperative that they blend themselves. And since like the rest of the world except the US they use metric instead of imperial measurements, I pulled out my German weight-to-volume gadget to measure 20 grams of their Unicorn Tears Drinking Chocolate.
The drinking chocolate was a powder that smelled like a hot cocoa mix. The finished drink smelled chocolatey and a little malted. It was thinner than the previous entries I’ve covered here with an OK mouthfeel.
It had a good taste with milk chocolate and caramel flavors primarily and wasn’t too sweet. It ended a little grainy but not objectionably so. Overall it is a fine hot cocoa, just below the top entries.
In the competition, The Original Cocoa Traders’ Unicorn Tears Drinking Chocolate received 4 stars for Best Ingredient Combination, Best Taste, Best Richness, and Best Texture; 3.5 stars for Most Unique; and received an Honorable Mention for Best Overall.
You cannot buy Unicorn Tears online. According to their website their products are distributed in 6 countries — and the US is not one of them — so look for the drinking chocolate line when you travel in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, or Japan. And maybe pick up one of those weight-to-volume gadgets too so you can measure your Kakao/cacao accurately.
Cocoa Mia
First time competitor, Cocoa Mia, Floyd, VA, submitted their Hot Cocoa Mix that included the emphatic instruction: Never use water!
The mix was a powder that smelled chocolatey. The finished product — made with milk of course — was thinner than the sipping chocolates but had a good mouthfeel. It was sweet and I would call it a good quality traditional hot cocoa. I think it might work best as a chocolatey background for marshmallows or candy canes just like the package suggested — or any other additions you want (like maybe something from the liquor cabinet).
In the competition, Cocoa Mia’s Hot Cocoa Mix received 4 stars for Best Taste and Best Texture; 3.5 stars for Best Ingredient Combination and Best Richness; 3 stars for Most Unique; and won Silver for Best Overall.
You can buy Cocoa Mia’s hot chocolate mixes and other chocolate treats online or at their store/bistro in Floyd, VA.
Interesting
Finally I have to mention an entry I thought was interesting and might appeal to people who are more tea drinkers than hot chocolate sippers.
Meiho University
New competitor Meiho University, Neipo Township, Taiwan, submitted an entry with the longest name I have ever seen: Meiho University Taiwan Pingtung Cocoa Farm & Ruby Black Tea (No.18) -MU Alex-Yu Flavor Drinking Chocolate. Whew!
I’m just gonna call it Meiho U’s Cocoa & Ruby Black Tea. This entry was unusual on a lot of levels.
First of all the instructions were in Chinese. Name and ingredients — English — but the equally important part — how to make the drink — all Chinese. Google Translate to the rescue!
Of course the instructions used metric but since the dry ingredients were in a single serving packet I didn’t need my thingamabob. And my liquid measuring cup includes milliliters, yea! However the instructions didn’t specify an exact amount of milk — only a suggested ratio of 1:10 mix to milk so I measured the mix with a measuring spoon then had to translate that to metric and multiply by 10 — and we are only on step 1.
Step 2 was to heat the milk to 75–85 degrees Celsius — which required another conversion from me because my candy thermometer only measures Fahrenheit. And my Velvetizer was sidelined here because it heats milk to 150° Fahrenheit which isn’t hot enough. Microwave it is! Trying to heat the milk hot enough but not too hot of course resulted in a mess in the microwave with the milk boiling over suddenly before I could cancel. Have I mentioned before that I am not a cook?
Finally with the correct amount of hot milk I was ready for step 3 — adding the mix to the milk which brings up another unusual aspect to this entry — the mix smelled like fresh tomatoes. That’s a first for me. I expected chocolate and/or black tea aromas, but not tomatoes. As if this wasn’t interesting enough already.
The 4th and final step was to stir the mix into the milk with a handheld electric blender. OK, a little messy but done. And the finished drink still smelled like tomatoes — or soup as Cacaopod said.
First impression was — there is no sweetener in this. Sugar is listed as an ingredient but I think it might have just been sprinkled in like you would salt. This is not a sweet drink so I would recommend adding sugar to your liking.
The taste was like some kind of berry — raspberry or blackberry — thankfully not tomato. I would call this a tea — it’s savory and tastes more like tea than chocolate. It was also thin like milk tea. I didn’t really taste chocolate at all. It’s not something I would seek out but I did find it interesting.
In the competition, Meiho U’s Cocoa & Ruby Black Tea received 3 stars for Best Ingredient Combination and Most Unique.
Meiho University submitted another tea based entry that had potential. It was a smoky oolong tea and cocoa combination. Oolong tea is not my thing but if you like oolong tea you might enjoy this. Just know that these are tea forward drinks not drinking chocolate.
I don’t know where you can find these tea & cacao drinks. Meiho University doesn’t have an online shop so maybe these were a research project for their Food Science & Nutrition majors.
More award winners
As always my list and the official list of winners varies. However this time every entry that I thought had merit won awards which doesn’t always happen. You can read the full list of winners here.
