The perfect hot chocolate is more than just heated chocolate milk. It should have a great deal of beautiful foam, and a velvety texture throughout. Image by @_masonsummers

Froth! Keep in mind that initially, the conception of chocolate was in drink form for thousands of years before we decided to eat it in a solid bar form. Various Mesoamerican cultures placed a great deal of importance not only on the ingredients of the drink, but the texture as well. The froth was just as important as the liquid portion of the drink, and in some cases more important.

So, when you decide to make the perfect hot chocolate, drinking chocolate, or even mocha, the key is creating a beautiful froth. As far as nomenclature goes, today there really isn’t a difference per se between a hot chocolate in drinking chocolate. Sometimes the ingredients can be the same.

Ways to encourage thickness

Often times, one’s idea of a perfect drinking chocolate is a thick viscous drink. I agree, that a good hot chocolate should have a level of thickness and texture. Ideally, the thickness will come from a) the ratio between how much grated chocolate and milk and b) the method you use. However, there are other ways to thicken your drinks as well. Here are a few:

Adding corn starch or flour. Many of the Italian or European style thick hot chocolate recipes are thick not necessarily because they contain a great deal of chocolate, but because they containing a thickening agent such as flour or corn starch. Personally, I prefer not to do this for two reasons. One, it is more of a “cheat” and cost effective alternative than an improvement. As well, the final texture is not quite what I enjoy in a hot chocolate. Now, there is nothing wrong with doing this per se, but if you want a more “pure” hot chocolate, then this is not the way to go about it. However, this is a an easy and quick method. Generally, for a cup of hot chocolate, you may 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon of the flour or cornstarch depending on your preference.
Cocoa powder is also another way to thicken your hot chocolate or drinking chocolate. Any good hot chocolate mix should be a dry mixture of actual grated hot chocolate, not just cocoa powder. However, you can add some cocoa powder to it in order to add a little more thickness to your hot chocolate. You may add about 1/2 a teaspoon per cup of hot chocolate.
The correct ratio of chocolate to milk/liquid is the ideal way to improve thickness in your hot chocolate. Many people think hot chocolate is just heated up chocolate milk. However, a true hot chocolate is made from blending real grated chocolate into your milk, and frothing it up. Many people also over dilute their hot chocolate or drinking chocolate. A good rule of thumb is about 2 good tablespoons of grated chocolate with 3/4 of a cup of milk. If you were to go for 1 cup of milk, would bump it up to 3 tablespoons of grated chocolate. Of course, you can add more if you wish, but I find this to be a good ratio. That may seem like a small portion, but since a real hot chocolate is more rich, you don’t necessarily want a big mug of it. Think of it like a real fine cappuccino. It should come in a small 8oz cup, not a watered down big 500ml “bucket”. However, if you wish to drink a bucket of real hot chocolate, I won’t judge you.

Ways To Encourage Froth

Crystalline sugar will help encourage froth. This is why Mexican drinking chocolate disks contain chunks of sugar crystals instead of just a solid block of smooth chocolate. The sugar acts in a similar way as it does when whipping up whip cream or egg whites. It encourages froth and stabilization. If you don’t want your hot chocolate too sweet, but want to add a little sugar to help with froth, you can use a higher percentage dark chocolate, and then add 1/2 a teaspoon of crystalized sugar (refined, cane, coconut, maple, honey - as long as it is in dry crystal form) or however much you prefer to taste.
Dairy milk may not be everyone’s first choice, but it works better than many milk alternatives for encouraging froth. If you can’t take dairy, there are some “barista” style oat or milk alternatives out there. These are made to encourage froth development. Just double check the ingredients to ensure you are okay with the fats or thickening agents they use in them.
Milk powder is what we use to make milk chocolate, but due to its form, it is also very helpful in helping to greatly froth up your drink. You can add a little right before you blend your milk, or you can even add it to water and froth it in a blender. Just be sure to add the milk powder right before blending so it doesn’t have a chance to soften too much.
Finely grated dark chocolate is my favourite way to add the chocolate and also encourage froth build up. I will speak below of how to use grated dark chocolate to build a good froth. You can take chocolate pellets and grind them in a food processor. Just be sure to chill the processor and the blade, as well as the pellets first as not to encourage them to melt as the grinding will heat them up. Pulsate it until it is ground as fine as possible. If it begins to clump or melt, stop, chill it, and start again. You can also use any type of grater and grate a block of chocolate as well. Otherwise, you can use a food processor or chop your chunks or bars up by hand on a cutting board.

The best ingredient:

Higher percentage dark chocolate. There is no way around it. If you are happy using cocoa powder and sugar blends, feel free to enjoy it! Keep in mind that cocoa powder is basically defatted cocoa beans with most (not all) of the fat removed. The quality of the cocoa powder will usually never be equivalent to the quality of a fine dark chocolate. No one these days would normally use expensive fine cocoa beans to make cocoa powder. Also keep in mind that most cocoa powder is alkalized or “Dutched”. This strips it of much (but not all) of it’s antioxidant content. Therefore, if you are drinking it for the health benefits of dark chocolate and cacao, you will not gain as much than if you used a higher percentage dark chocolate of around 70% and up.
Generally I use chocolate around the 70% range. As I said above, if you wish to add crystalline sugar to improve froth, you can go with an 80% or higher. Keep in mind that if your chocolate is too sweet, such as commercial milk chocolate, the chocolate will not be as thick, but more syrupy. Lower percentage chocolates have more sugar, which will dilute in the hot milk and form more of a syrup consistency than a thick textured froth.
Where do you get this chocolate? You can purchase the hot chocolate here at Bean To Bar World. You can also use any of your fine chocolate bars purchased here or wherever you get them, and chop or grate them. You can also use any couverture or dark chocolate bars. However, keep in mind the flavour of the chocolate will come through in your drink. If you choose a dark chocolate with bright fruity notes and tartness, that will come through in the drink. If you enjoy that, great, if you don’t, you may want to go with a dark chocolate with a more warm profile of nutty, earthy, woody, baked, spice flavour spectrum.
There is no number 2. Just use grated high quality dark chocolate.

Tools & Methods You Can Use

Making a good hot chocolate is not as simple as heating up some milk and chocolate in a pot. In fact, the hot milk or liquid should be added to the grated chocolate and frothed up using one of the tools mentioned below.

Whisk

In a small bowl, add your grated chocolate (and other dry ingredients if you are adding any) . Heat up some milk, and right before it boils, add it to the bowl and whisk it with your whisk very quickly until a foam forms. Whisking it in a bowl will allow more room to incorporate air, as opposed to whisking in the cup. Once the form forms, pour it into your mug.

Usually adding a some crystalline sugar will help with the froth, as the manual whisk does not froth up the mixture as well as a steamer or blender.

Electric hand mixer

This is definitely a inexpensive and effective tool to have on hand. You can normally buy one for around $10-15 dollars. Due to the high speed of the mixing, you can add your grated chocolate right into the mug you wish to use. Heat up your milk to the point before boiling, pour it into the cup, and begin to blend. Move the head of the electric whisk towards the sides, and move it up and down to build up a nice froth.

Usually adding a some crystalline sugar will help with the froth, as the manual whisk does not froth up the mixture as well as a steamer or blender.

Steamer

This is the the ideal way to make a hot chocolate. Many fear using a steamer, thinking that the chocolate will clog it up. The truth is, if using your steamer properly by keeping with maintained, and releasing steam right after each use, you should not run into problems. I have used steamers for years to make hot chocolate and mochas this way, without issue. There was a bean-to-bar shop I worked at years ago who made their hot chocolates this way, using the steamer on a very high quality expensive espresso machine for years, and did not have issues with it ruining the machine. Even milk itself can ruin the steamer if not maintained well.

You can use the steamer on your home espresso machine, or you can buy a steamer itself. I use a Bellman stovetop steamer. It takes time to warm up and build the steam, but does a beautiful job. If you plan to make hot chocolate often, it may be a good investment if you don’t have an espresso machine. I don’t drink much coffee, nor make it at home, so this steamer works very well for me.

Like any steamer, the key is cold milk and cold metal pitcher. I keep my pitcher in the fridge or freezer when not in use, so it’s cold when I’m ready to use it. The method here is exactly the same as making a froth for a cappuccino. I tend to build up as much foam as possible. There are two ways to do this.

Have your portion of grated chocolate ready to go. Start frothing your milk as you normally would, and once the milk begins to get warm, I will add my my grated chocolate, and continue to froth until I’ve reached maximum foam. At the end I’ll lower the head of the steamer at the bottom to mix and melt whatever little bits of chocolate at the bottom. Then, pour it into your mug. I find this method helps reduce the chance of the grated chocolate to melt on the steamer shaft.
The other method is exactly the same, but you would add your grated chocolate first to the pitcher, then add your milk, and froth to completion.

Whichever method you use, be sure to wipe clean the steamer afterwards, and release some steam to ensure the holes are clear of debris and push any milk out of the shaft. This is something you should do even when just steaming milk.

Small blender

Now obviously you won’t be making a liter of hot chocolate, unless you are having a hot chocolate party. When I say blender, I’m talking about one of those personal sized counter top blenders, such as a Magic Bullet. If I’m in a rush and not wanting to use the steamer, I use this method.

If you are just making one or two small cups of hot chocolate, and want a good foam quickly, a mini blender is the way to go.

This method is also beneficial when using milk alternatives, as you will get a better froth (in volume, not quality) regardless of the liquid you use.

For this it is simple, have your grated chocolate (and other dry ingredients if wanted) in the blender cup. Go ahead and heat up your milk to just before boiling point. Pour the milk into the blender cup, put the lid on, blend for 10-15 seconds, and pour into your mug. That’s it!

Some may not like the idea of pouring hot liquid into a plastic blender. I understand that. The plastic is food grade, but may not be for everyone. However, this is another option if you have this at home and want a quick and very good way of building up lots of froth and texture in your hot chocolate. Just be sure not to fill your mini blender cup more than half way, since the heat from the liquid, and the mixing, will create too much pressure if filled too much. Always be careful when handing hot liquids and when opening your blender.

Obviously, if you are making a few servings, than you can certainly use a larger stand up blender. Just be sure to time it so that your cups are warm and ready to pour into right after blending. You may also want to pour the hot chocolate into each cup half way first, and constantly stir it, so each drink gets equal amount of foam.

When using a blender such as this, the chocolate does not even have to be grated. Small chunks or just your fine chocolate bar broken into pieces will work just fine.

Mocha

Don’t use pre-made syrups and flavour shots for your mocha. The best way to make the perfect mocha is to make a shot of espresso, then make a hot in a method mentioned above (preferably with a steamer or blender). Pour the frothy hot chocolate over your shot of espresso, and voila! I find it disheartening how many bad mochas are out there made with cocoa powder syrups and flavour shots. This is also a great way to have control over how sweet you want your mocha by choosing higher percentage dark chocolate.

Tips & Options:

Save Some Grated Chocolate

When I make my grated chocolate, I usually make enough for 20 drinks or so, and store it in a jar or canister. Always have some extra to sprinkle on top of your finished drink with a spoon. The light little grains of chocolate will melt over the foam. Not only will this look nice, but it will make the first sip extraordinary! Trust me, it’s worth it and better than dusting it with cocoa powder.

Heat your mug

Warm up your mug so that it keeps your drink hotter for longer. You can simply fill it with very hot water from the tap, and letting it sit in there while preparing your hot chocolate. Pour out the water right before filling up the mug or adding your grated chocolate if mixing by hand.

Milk alternatives

Of course, you do not have to only use dairy milk. You can make hot chocolate with almond, oat, coconut, and other non-dairy milks. Just be aware that some may not froth as well as others, so try some the techniques above to help improve froth. As well, the viscosity will be different depending on the milk you use, and even if it is homemade or store bought. Store bought milk alternatives usually have thickening agents. And for instance, oat or soy milk sometimes thickens very much when heated and frothed, more than you may want.

A pinch of salt

When I say a pinch, I mean a tiny pinch. However, it can really brighten the flavour and make your hot chocolate pop. This is especially true if the chocolate you are using is very basic or not too interesting. Better to add less, and increase it the next time if you think you’d like more. You don’t need much.

I prefer using grey Celtic sea salt, since it is harvested naturally and contains many other minerals it also has a better flavour. Himalayan salt is another nice alternative.

Infused Milks

Infusing your milk with fresh herbs or orange zest is a great way to create an incredible hot chocolate that is vivid and filled with flavour! Image by Bean To Bar World.

Infusing your milks can really take your hot chocolates to the next level. It is very simple. When heating up your milk, simply add your flavour ingredient. It could be a twig of fresh mint, rosemary, or basil. You can add coffee beans or tea leaves! You also be a pinch of ground cinnamon or vanilla powder. If you are adding pure vanilla extract, add it while mixing/frothing for a more intense flavour. Just be sure to use a strainer over the cup so that the leaves or ingredients don’t end up in the mug.

Another option I like to have is a having a bottle of infused milk in my fridge. For instance, I’ll throw a small handful of my favourite coffee beans (whole) into a glass bottle, fill it with milk, and let it sit for 24-48 hours. The flavours will infuse into the milk, and that milk can be used just like regular milk. You can also infuse it with with tea leaves, herbs, or vanilla.

Single Origin & Unique Chocolates

This way of making hot chocolate is a great way to use up some older fine chocolate you still have around. Over time, opened bars will begin to lose some of their deep flavour, but are still perfect for hot chocolate.

Trying using various single origin bars, and see how each hot chocolate takes on a different flavour character with each unique bar. A hot chocolate using a fruity tart dark Peruvian origin chocolate will taste very different from a more earthy nutty flavour profile of an Ecuador origin bar.

Also be sure to use some of the interesting funky flavour bars many craft bean to bar makers are creating. For instance, make it with a Hogarth Gianduja bar, Ritual Pine Nut bar, McGuire Espresso bar, Sirene Mayan Spice bar, Kasama Earl Grey Tea or Kape Espresso bar, Cuna De Piedra Smoked Chili bar, Qantu Palo Santo bar, and the list goes on. These bars would make a profound and unique hot chocolate. Just chop them up on a cutting board and make it in the ratio of chocolate to milk you prefer!

Make it hot

Make sure your milk is nice and hot! Nothing worse than a lukewarm hot chocolate. You can warm up your mug as mentioned above. Just be sure not to boil or burn your milk. Heat it up to the point right before a rolling boil. When it’s ready to pull off the stove, you will see the sides of the pot begin to lightly bubble up. If you are measuring your milk, boiling even for a few seconds will evaporate too much water, and mess up your ratio. It also may scald the milk which can change the taste of your milk making it less sweet.

How do I make the perfect hot chocolate?