The best hot chocolate...in the world?

[Robson Valley]

Milk over corn flakes. Then sprinkle brown sugar and cocoa powder. Works for me.
I can't stand hot chocolate. I have had my tongue burnt so many times that I could care less.

 

[Janne]

I never buy the 'single estate' and others fancy brand cacao. I do not feel the price increase reflects in a higher quality.

To be fair, the difference between brands is not that big.
The process (Dutching?) is important.

 

[Robson Valley]

I would use the best that I can buy (Epicure) for hot chocolate, the taste isn't buried in a long recipe.
There maybe other sources for me but I have not looked.
I've noticed that the good one has more smell than the cheaper (Fry) ones.
As an ingredient, cheaper cocoa powder has a harsher taste to me.
Good in BBQ rub mixes and on red meat roasts.

 

[Woody girl]

Recently acquired some Peruvian black100% chulucanas cacao 180gr. Brand is Willies Cacao. It's chef quality,
Wow is this gonna make something chocolaty! Been wandering what to make with it for a while now. Any chefs out there know what to do with it? I think it's too strong for making drinking chocolate. But I'm tempted to try.....probably not a bedtime drink tho!

 

[Janne]

Use less. The flavours will come through nicely anyway.

Maybe not the most healthy, but adding lots of cream makes the drink extra delicious!
Fat is a good vehicle for flavour.

For chocoholics, it is worth trying and comparing ‘dutched’ and ‘non dutched’ cocoa.

A vast difference. I find that many small brands are not dutched.

 

[Janne]

Just do not watch the tv programme I might have mentioned before!

 

[British Red]

I was thinking Bailey’s with both.

(Shudder)

Cream liqueur

 

[santaman2000]

(Shudder)

Cream liqueur

Yeah; it’s not everybody’s thing.

 

[Robson Valley]

Make coffee. Eat some Krinos (Greece) chocolate Halva. Drink the coffee.

 

[Woody girl]

Finally tried hot choc with the home made hazelnut liqueur last night... or should I say this morning .. 4.30 am!
Flipping smoke detector kept squeeking every 30 seconds and it's right outside my bedroom door! Started at 11.30 pm. Changed battery. . No good.. it's hardwired and I had no idea what to do. Called out the housing associations repair man at 2.45 am. I couldn't sleep and it was going right through me every 30 seconds. Aaargh! Finaly he arrived at 4 am. Bless his lovely heart. Made hot chocolate with a wee dram for him and myself as a thank you. We both enjoyed it.
I'm enjoying the peace at last. !

 

[British Red]

I'm delighted that you enjoyed it, I hope its more peaceful next time!

 

[Woody girl]

Got another to try sometime soon. Won a bottle of French orange liqueur in a tombola today at a village Xmas fair.
Chocolate orange sounds fantastic too.
I don't realy drink very often but this is becoming a bit of a habit!!!!!! All your fault British Red getting me onto this.

 

[Robson Valley]

Buy some orange zested Lindt chocolate. A dark chocolate Terry's chocolate orange is great.
I carve the thin outer orange zest into all sorts of my foods and drinks.
Lime zest (very fine chop) will really kick things up as well, expecially in shrimp..

Buy some good cocoa powder.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170303081235.htm
I did this for a month. Victorian Epicure cocoa powder.
Expensive but I wasn't saving it for anything else.
Felt just as stupid at the end of it. Your milage may vary.

 

[Janne]

Got another to try sometime soon. Won a bottle of French orange liqueur in a tombola today at a village Xmas fair.
Chocolate orange sounds fantastic too.
I don't realy drink very often but this is becoming a bit of a habit!!!!!! All your fault British Red getting me onto this.

Yes, British Red has also corrupted me.

I have started experimenting a bit doing various cocoa based drinks.

So far, an almost unsweetened Cocoa drink made with cocoa, the Swedish made Oatly Barista ( oat ‘milk’) a teaspoon of set honey, a little bit of salt, vigorously stirred while heated up is one of the better ones.

I did a cup of cocoa using Lindt 99% chockolate bar. Very nice, but laborious and not really worth the effort or £.

Tonight, after dinner, I will make an espresso but putting salt in it.
An Italian friend told me last night some coffe nerds in Italy have started drinking it that way and that it is very nice!

 

[Mistwalker]

This one is not really very bushcrafty, or very self sufficient either, but it is home made, traditional and a firm family favourite!

Very nice H! My daughter is going to dig this!

 

[Robson Valley]

The salt primes many of your other taste buds to become active receptors of flavenoid molecules.
Just a very small pinch, neat, swirled around with your tongue.
The medical community harps on sodium intake. Has more to do with the chloride.
For some reason, high blood pressure makes it difficult to taste sodium chloride salt.

Stop using sodium chloride salt altogether.
Substitute sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) = no change in your sodium level.

 

[outdoorgirl]

I highly recommend the Chocolate Trading Company. For quicker (real) hot chocolate, buy the flaked chocolate (to avoid having to grate it yourself), or go for buttons or a block / bar and grate/chop. Add to warmed milk, whisk, and serve.

 

[TLM]

Just a notice of salt in coffee, before sixties it was fairly common in Finland that people drank their coffee with salt. On the Gulf of Bothnia coffee was sometimes made into sea water, the very low salt content there made it possible.

 

[Janne]

Same in Sweden, when the forest workers, inhabitans and Saame made coffee using melt water or snow, they added a tiny bit of salt.


Tonight I am going to make myself another experiment cup, this time with normal cocoa powder, but adding a tiny piece of a Scotch Bonnet pepper.

 

[Robson Valley]

Water quality must make a big difference. Straight snow melt is essentially distilled water with no mineral content.
Hard on your electrolyte balance to drink straight snow melt. Always put something in snow melt water.
Many waters, you can taste the differences.

Our village water system begins with snow melt up top. Then it flows through an enormous wetland to settling cisterns.
The mineral content is analyzed several times each 24 hrs and the flow rates can be adjusted.