{"id":45003,"date":"2024-12-12T17:36:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T01:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=45003"},"modified":"2025-09-17T11:45:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T18:45:25","slug":"hotsy-totsy-hot-chocolate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/local-chocolate\/hotsy-totsy-hot-chocolate\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotsy-totsy hot chocolate"},"content":{"rendered":"

For this year\u2019s Hot Chocolate Awards<\/a> 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\u2019t get all the entries \u2014 which happens sometimes in these comps \u2014 and I don\u2019t cover entries I didn\u2019t think were worth sharing. That keeps down the length and hopefully you will find something here you will enjoy.<\/p>\n

\"German
I don\u2019t know what it\u2019s called but it even has a scale for cacao!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 \u2014 not water \u2014 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 \u2014 that was all for just one set of entries \u2014 and a thingamabob I bought in Germany decades ago for measuring weights by volume.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t have any sponsorship with this brand \u2014 there are others out there that do the same thing \u2014 it\u2019s just what I have and it\u2019s very convenient.<\/p>\n

SFBA entries<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Sonoma Chocolatiers<\/h3>\n

Sonoma Chocolatiers<\/a>,<\/strong> Sebastopol, has become a regular in TasteTV<\/a> comps \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right \u2014 bars \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Both bars \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

\"cross
Cross section of Sonoma Chocolatiers\u2019 bar shows its bubbly texture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They both had a simple ingredients list \u2014cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin \u2014and when finished had a thick texture with a smooth velvety mouthfeel.<\/p>\n

Straight Sipping Chocolate<\/h4>\n

The Straight Sipping Chocolate was the unadorned version. It made a bright fruity hot chocolate that was slightly bitter. Personally I\u2019d like to see what they could do making their own custom couverture \u2014 something that mellowed out the definitely single origin cacao with other cacao to make it more chocolatey \u2014 but I think this is an above average single origin dark drinking chocolate.<\/p>\n

In the competition, Sonoma Chocolatiers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\"Spicy
Each Sonoma Chocolaters bar made 2 generous sized servings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spicy Almond Sipping Chocolate<\/h4>\n

I liked their Spicy Almond Sipping Chocolate much better \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

The thick drink tasted very chocolatey and lightly sweet almond \u2014 which is the best amount of sweet almond to me. I prefer roasted almond flavors to sweet almond \u2014 think marzipan \u2014 which tastes cloying to me so a dab is plenty in my opinion.<\/p>\n

The drink spread a spicy warmth down my throat. I\u2019m not sure what spices were used \u2014 the label didn\u2019t say \u2014 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 \u2014 toning down the brightness and bitterness \u2014 to make a very satisfying and warm sipping chocolate.<\/p>\n

In the competition, Sonoma Chocolatiers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Sonoma Chocolatiers\u2019 chocolates are available at their store, online<\/a>, at special events, and at Oliver\u2019s Market<\/a>, a Sonoma County supermarket chain.<\/p>\n

Recommended<\/h2>\n

Outside the Bay Area, there were 2 competitors this year whose entries I thought were top tier.<\/p>\n

Panache Chocolatier<\/h3>\n

Veteran competitor,\u00a0Panache Chocolatier<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>Leawood, KS, submitted 3 drinks that I thought were all great.<\/p>\n

\"Panache
Panache\u2019s 2024 Hot Chocolate Award entries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Peanut Butter Cocoa<\/h4>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Panache
Panache Chocolatier\u2019s Peanut Butter Cocoa mix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mix was mostly powdered cocoa and ground peanuts with some small chunks of dark chocolate. It smelled chocolatey at first then peanutty.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Chambord Raspberry Cocoa<\/h4>\n

Panache\u2019s 2nd entry, Chambord Raspberry Cocoa, was the best \u2014 although it put a strain on the Velvetizer. The mix had lots of big chunks of chocolate in the cocoa powder \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

\"Panache
Panache Chocolatier\u2019s Chambord Raspberry Cocoa mix in the Velvetizer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It all worked out in the end \u2014 deliciously. The drink had a distinctly raspberry chocolate aroma and very raspberry taste. It was smooth with a medium thickness and not too sweet \u2014 bonus points for that. The thickness made this more of a sipping chocolate than the Peanut Butter Cocoa was.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 to bring out the raspberry more while also adding some sweetness and creating a good balance between the raspberry and dark chocolate flavors.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Brown Sugar Bourbon Cocoa<\/h4>\n

Panache\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The mix was a very dark chocolate color that smelled chocolatey. The finished drink was sweeter than the other 2 and had a\u00a0deep 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.<\/p>\n

\"Panache
All of Panache\u2019s entries including the Brown Sugar Bourbon Cocoa mix made 2 generous servings of cocoa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Panache Chocolatier\u2019s website is currently under construction. They have a brick and mortar store in Leawood.<\/p>\n

Delysia Chocolatier<\/h3>\n

Experimental chocolatier and competition veteran, Delysia Chocolatier<\/a>, <\/strong>Austin, TX, submitted 2 drinks that I enjoyed.<\/p>\n

Turmeric Cr\u00e8me Br\u00fbl\u00e9e Drinking Chocolate<\/h4>\n

I could smell the warm spices in Delysia\u2019s Turmeric Cr\u00e8me Br\u00fbl\u00e9e 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.<\/p>\n

\"Delysia\u2019s
Delysia\u2019s Turmeric Cr\u00e8me Br\u00fbl\u00e9e Drinking Chocolate mix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The label mentioned gold chocolate as an ingredient but the chocolate looked like bittersweet chips and cocoa powder \u2014 not caramelized white chocolate. I definitely think the darker chocolate was a better choice with the turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, and sea salt spice blend.<\/p>\n

The finished product smelled good \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

In the competition, Delysia Chocolatier Turmeric Cr\u00e8me Br\u00fbl\u00e9e 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.<\/p>\n

\"Delysia\u2019s
Delysia\u2019s Chai Chili Drinking Chocolate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chai Chili Drinking Chocolate<\/h4>\n

Delysia\u2019s other entry I liked was their Chai Chili Drinking Chocolate \u2014 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 \u2014 the name is accurate \u2014 and while it was still too sweet for me I thought it was top tier. Chai is usually pretty sweet, right?<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Delysia chocolates are available online and at their shop in Austin.<\/p>\n

Worth a mention<\/h2>\n

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 \u2014 decent hot chocolate mixes but not elite.<\/p>\n

The Original Cocoa Traders<\/h3>\n

New competitor, The Original Cocoa Traders<\/a>,<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Original Cocoa Traders\u2019 Unicorn Tears Drinking Chocolate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u2019ve covered here with an OK mouthfeel.<\/p>\n

It had a good taste with milk chocolate and caramel flavors primarily and wasn\u2019t too sweet. It ended a little grainy but not objectionably so. Overall it is a fine hot cocoa, just below the top entries.<\/p>\n

In the competition, The Original Cocoa Traders\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

You cannot buy Unicorn Tears online. According to their website their products are distributed in 6 countries \u2014 and the US is not one of them \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Cocoa Mia<\/h3>\n
\"Cocoa
Cocoa Mia label contained some pretty specific instructions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First time competitor,\u00a0Cocoa Mia<\/a>,<\/strong> Floyd, VA, submitted their Hot Cocoa Mix that included the emphatic instruction: Never use water!<\/p>\n

The mix was a powder that smelled chocolatey. The finished product \u2014 made with milk of course \u2014 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 \u2014 or any other additions you want (like maybe something from the liquor cabinet).<\/p>\n

\"Cocoa
Cocoa Mia mix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the competition, Cocoa Mia\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

You can buy Cocoa Mia\u2019s hot chocolate mixes and other chocolate treats online or at their store\/bistro in Floyd, VA.<\/p>\n

Interesting<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Meiho University<\/h3>\n

New competitor\u00a0Meiho University<\/a>,<\/strong> 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!<\/p>\n

\"Meiho
Meiho U\u2019s Cocoa & Ruby Black Tea instructions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m just gonna call it Meiho U\u2019s Cocoa & Ruby Black Tea. This entry was unusual on a lot of levels.<\/p>\n

First of all the instructions were in Chinese. Name and ingredients \u2014 English \u2014 but the equally important part \u2014 how to make the drink \u2014 all Chinese. Google Translate to the rescue!<\/p>\n

Of course the instructions used metric but since the dry ingredients were in a single serving packet I didn\u2019t need my thingamabob. And my liquid measuring cup includes milliliters, yea! However the instructions didn\u2019t specify an exact amount of milk \u2014 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 \u2014 and we are only on step 1.<\/p>\n

\"Meiho
Meiho U\u2019s Cocoa & Ruby Black Tea mix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Step 2 was to heat the milk to 75\u201385 degrees Celsius \u2014 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\u00b0 Fahrenheit which isn\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n

Finally with the correct amount of hot milk I was ready for step 3 \u2014 adding the mix to the milk which brings up another unusual aspect to this entry \u2014 the mix smelled like fresh tomatoes. That\u2019s a first for me. I expected chocolate and\/or black tea aromas, but not tomatoes. As if this wasn\u2019t interesting enough already.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 or soup as Cacaopod said.<\/p>\n

\"Meiho
Meiho U\u2019s Cocoa & Ruby Black Tea drink<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First impression was \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

The taste was like some kind of berry \u2014 raspberry or blackberry \u2014 thankfully not tomato. I would call this a tea \u2014 it\u2019s savory and tastes more like tea than chocolate. It was also thin like milk tea. I didn\u2019t really taste chocolate at all. It\u2019s not something I would seek out but I did find it interesting.<\/p>\n

In the competition, Meiho U\u2019s Cocoa & Ruby Black Tea received 3 stars for Best Ingredient Combination and Most Unique.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know where you can find these tea & cacao drinks. Meiho University doesn\u2019t have an online shop so maybe these were a research project for their Food Science & Nutrition majors.<\/p>\n

More award winners<\/h2>\n

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\u2019t always happen. You can read the full list of winners here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looks like somebody took the saying \u2014 a good cup of sipping chocolate is like drinking a bar of chocolate \u2014 literally<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,1570,20,15,884],"tags":[1654,1217,25,1656,1021,1065,274,1655],"class_list":["post-45003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-chocolate","category-asian-chocolate","category-chocolateroundtheworld","category-local-chocolate","category-north-bay","tag-cocoa-mia","tag-delysia-chocolatier","tag-hot-chocolate","tag-meiho-university","tag-panache-chocolatier","tag-sonoma-chocolatiers","tag-tastetv","tag-the-original-cocoa-traders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45003"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46683,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45003\/revisions\/46683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}