We tried Swiss Miss, Mexican hot chocolates, Guittard, and others. Here’s how they fared in our reviews.
By Angela Lashbrook
Winters on the East Coast are brutal, especially for Californians like me, used to at temperatures of 21º F in January. My ability to survive from November to April is 59% due to maintaining a warm and cozy atmosphere, snuggling under a cozy blanket, warming up with a pair of cozy slippers, or decking out my apartment after Thanksgiving with a Christmas tree and other holiday decorations (also thanks to my horrible, but crucial, SAD lamp).
But, without a doubt, my favorite way to make the cold season more bearable is with a cup of hot chocolate from time to time. This slightly sweet and creamy drink was a staple of the mild California winters of my childhood, and I especially appreciate it now that I’m shivering five months out of the year on the East Coast.
Since hot chocolate is a highly prized treat, and one that isn’t very healthy in excess, we set out to find out which hot chocolates deserve a place in front of your fireplace, and which ones you can throw away. The unfortunate thing is that not all hot chocolate (or hot cocoa, depending on the recipe) is created equal, which we made the rather painful discovery as my fellow testers and I went from one hot chocolate to another serving our guests. readers.
Let our suffering become your benefit, and read on for our favorite hot chocolates that we think you and your family will love – and which your kids will appreciate reminding you for decades that you instilled that taste in them.
Editor’s Choice: Guittard Grand Cacao Drinking Chocolate
This drinking chocolate from Guittard is a winner, as long as it put in enough mix.
Graphic: Alisa O’Connor/Consumer Reports, Guittard
Price: $7.59 for 12 ounces
Where to buy arlo: Amazon, Fresh Direct
This hot chocolate, which Guittard says is a modern adaptation of the original released in 652 and served at San Francisco’s famed seaside restaurant Cliff House, it’s a classic for a reason. It’s super adaptable; the instructions recommend putting between 1 and 4 tablespoons of chocolate for a cup of milk, so it can be adjusted to your liking. I wasn’t impressed when I put in just one scoop, but with 3 scoops I got a creamy, flavorful drink that was sweet enough for the kids, but not sweet enough to make their mouths slack.
“ With 1 tablespoon (as suggested) it seemed a bit light to me. But then I added two more and it really hit the spot,” says Joanne Chen, Consumer Reports deputy content editor and hot chocolate evaluator. “It was creamy, full-bodied, and just sweet enough.” Prepare to be disappointed with just 1 tablespoon. Althea Chang-Cook, associate director of content at Consumer Reports and fellow reviewer, wrote, bluntly, that with a spoonful, “I’m not sure how anyone can find such bland hot chocolate worth drinking.” But with 3 tablespoons, she said, it was “excellent. With three, I can taste the chocolate better, and it is clearly of good quality.”
However, the preparation is a bit complicated. The instructions require the user to continuously whisk the chocolate into the milk in a saucepan over the heat, which makes the drink very smooth, but this might surprise those used to microwaving the mug and adding a packet to it. of mix. You might be able to do it easily, but it might not be as smooth and you might find chunks of chocolate in the bottom of the cup.
Best Hot Chocolate with spices: La Monarca Mexican Hot Chocolate
La Monarca’s Mexican hot chocolate has the perfect amount of cinnamon.
Graphic: Alisa O’Connor/Consumer Reports, La Monarca
Price: $8 for 8 ounces
Where to buy it: Amazon, World Market
I was delighted when I took a sip of this chocolate. The mix, from a Southern California bakery created by two Stanford grads who grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, makes a full and complex Mexican-style hot chocolate that doesn’t overload the taste buds with spice. Rather, the cinnamon in this blend blends beautifully with the chocolate, allowing both flavors to come together in harmony. Joanne says that La Monarca “has a strong flavor, but with a hint of cinnamon.” Althea calls it “the best of the bunch,” though she points out that a heaping tablespoon of chocolate in milk will make the drink richer and more chocolatey than a level tablespoon.
Although this hot chocolate isn’t overly spiced, it’s obviously not going to please those who don’t like or aren’t prepared for cinnamon. “I’ll admit, I’m a bit turned off by cinnamon,” says Tanya Christian, a Consumer Reports writer and hot chocolate reviewer. However, her fiancée, who helped her in her evaluations, likes La Monarca chocolate the most. My husband also liked it and called it “interesting” (in a good way).
I love cinnamon, so while the Guittard hot chocolate was our testers’ best performer, this is the hot chocolate I’ll be having this winter.
Best for Kids or Nostalgic Adults: Swiss Miss Marshmallow Hot Cocoa Mix
Swiss Miss: for the child in you (or the real child).
Graphic: Alisa O’Connor/Consumer Reports, Swiss Miss
Price: $3.22 for eight packages (total 11.11 ounces)
Where to buy it: Amazon, Fresh Direct
The first time I took a sip of this product, I was transported directly to childhood, when I was in my parents’ kitchen facing the cluttered pantry to find a Swiss Miss package. In fact, I was surprised at how vivid and clear the taste of Swiss Miss was, bringing back memories I had forgotten.
Swiss Miss is unmistakable; it tastes a bit like melted Hershey’s Kisses. The flavor is more sweet than chocolatey, with no hint of the bitter aftertaste of dark chocolate found in Guittard or La Monarca. It’s very easy to prepare: just mix the packet with milk or hot water (although we recommend milk, you’ll get a richer taste) and you’re done. A word of caution for the unfamiliar: Marshmallows are minuscule and hardly leave an impression beyond their occasional mild sweetness. Marshmallow lovers will want to add their own.
Swiss Miss isn’t for everyone. My husband found it too sugary, and if I hadn’t grown up eating this chocolate, I probably would have felt that too. However, I took it as a child, and if I ever have children, I envision putting a box of this product in the shopping cart for the occasional treat. “It’s geared toward kids, and my son confirmed that,” says Valerie Pedrozo, associate director of government data at Consumer Reports and a hot chocolate evaluator. Her son likes it so much that she has a cup almost every day: “He says it’s chocolatey and he likes marshmallows.” Would you buy it again? “Yes, for my son”.
A chocolate drink for adventurous palates: Spicewalla Mexican Hot Chocolate
Get ready for the powerful hot chocolate of Spicewalla.
Graphic: Alisa O’Connor/Consumer Reports, Spicewalla
Price: $14.59 for 4.1 ounces
Where to buy it: Spicewalla
You either love this hot chocolate or you hate it. It’s quite spicy; I was surprised, and I have such a palate for spiciness that I once ended up in the hospital for gastritis because I overdosed with a habanero sauce. This probably won’t land most people in the hospital, but it’s definitely a bit spicier than you might expect from a spicy hot chocolate, which tends to be on the milder side of the Scoville scale, which measures pungency and the heat of a pepper. (The scale runs from 0 to 2 million Scoville heat units, from mild peppers to extremely hot Carolina Reapers.) It stands to reason that this hot chocolate is almost over spicy, considering that Spicewalla is, first and foremost, a spice company.
My surprise was mixed with delight: I really loved it, and for sure which will also be liked by other people who like a truly spicy hot chocolate. But those who don’t want their chiles and chocolate to be so close to each other, like my husband, won’t want to venture into this. Neither do those who prefer their spicy hot chocolate to be just drizzled with chili, or want sweeter spices like cinnamon and ginger.
“It’s a little too spicy for me to go to take it often. I would think about gifting it to someone if I know they like spicy,” says Althea, who mentions that her husband, who has a high tolerance for heat, found this flavor to be on the milder side. “I guess it depends on the person,” she says.
This hot chocolate is also very thick, almost like European-style drinking chocolate; even spice enthusiasts like me will want their cup fairly small—say 3 or 4 ounces—so they don’t go overboard.
A hot chocolate for a crowd : Ibarra Chocolate Genuine Mexican Chocolate
Serve this hot chocolate at your Christmas party.
Graphic: Alisa O’Connor/Consumer Reports, Ibarra
Price: $2.29 per 11.6 ounces
Where to buy it: Target, Walmart
If you want a cozy and sweet drink to serve at a holiday party , you (and your guests) will like the hot chocolate from the Mexican chocolate company Ibarra. This hot chocolate is lightly dusted with cinnamon, making it more interesting and complex than your typical sweet hot chocolate. It comes in large discs that are whipped in milk over a fire. One bar of chocolate makes 4 cups of milk, and it melts fairly quickly and easily, “to my surprise, since the mix comes in bar form,” says Valerie.
Still , it is quite a complicated process, and you have to put a little effort to prepare this drink. The end result is a lightly cinnamony, fairly sweet chocolate that milk chocolate aficionados will like, although dark chocolate fans and others averse to super-sweet desserts will likely find it cloying. It’s also a bit difficult to make just one cup of this product, instead of four, since the chocolate discs are very difficult to cut into quarters. I had to lean on my knife to score the pieces on both sides and then break them off with my hands. It is complicated and requires strength. It is not a task to assign to a child or someone who does not know how to use a knife.
While I wouldn’t let a child make a cup of this product, it makes an excellent hot chocolate for a large number of children. I don’t think the subtle cinnamon flavor will send many running, although those who are especially sensitive to any level of spiciness in their chocolate may reject it.
The Tragic Failure: Dandelion Chocolate Hot Chocolate Mix
Dandelion’s hot chocolate was not what I wanted. e expected.
Graphic: Alisa O’Connor/Consumer Reports, Dandelion
Price: $ 21 per 5.5 ounces
Where to buy it: Dandelion
We got confused. What happened here? We’d loved Dandelion Chocolate’s Single-Origin Truffle Collection truffles—a box of assorted, high-quality chocolate truffles—so I hoped my team of reviewers would feel the same way about the brand’s pricey hot chocolate mix. (about $4 a cup). But it was not like that.
“I expected more from a hot chocolate with such an elegant presentation: a long brown bottle with a giant cork to cover it,” says Althea. “I gave my husband some and he said ‘this isn’t that good.’” Several reviewers mentioned that the blend is quite difficult to integrate into milk, and needs to be mixed with equal or greater vigor than Ibarra’s (Ibarra has a good excuse, at least: it comes in solid pill form).
It’s not sweet at all, and since I’m someone who normally prefers their chocolates and other desserts to be more bitter, sour, or nutty rather than sweet, I was surprised to find that even I was tempted to add sugar to the drink. It has too much acidity, so it would surely work in a chocolate bar format, but it doesn’t work in a drink. And it has a strange, unpleasant plastic taste that is distracting.
Valerie’s son doesn’t like it very much, she says, “because it’s not sweet.” The plus side is that it “says it smells like chocolate”.
How we rate these hot chocolates
My intrepid chocolate tasting team consisted of five CR employees, including myself. We made each drink following the instructions on the package, which included the proportions of milk and chocolate and instructions for heating the milk and stirring the mixture. Each of us used the same type of milk in all of the hot chocolates; for example, I used Chobani Oatmilk Original in each, while Althea used Organic Valley Lactose-Free Whole Milk. Below, we judge these brands based on a few criteria (and take a sip of seltzer water in between tastings to cleanse our palates):
Does the mixture dissolve easily and smoothly in milk? ? Or is it chunky or gritty, even after stirring well?
Does the mixture have a nice chocolate flavor?
Is the mixture creamy?
Is the mix too sweet or not sweet enough?
Are the instructions clear?
Who is the ideal audience for this hot chocolate?
For the spicy hot chocolate: What do you think of the spiciness level of this mix? (This can mean both “hot” heat and “spicy” heat, such as cinnamon or ginger flavor.
Would you buy it again?
Anyone want a cocoa bean?
Photo: Victoria Popova/Getty Images
A little history of the hot chocolate
Hot chocolate is a very old drink. Interestingly, it predates the sweet, solid chocolate versions we eat as a snack today. “Hot chocolate has been made for thousands of years, dating back to Olmec times, when it was made with ground cocoa beans, water and maybe a few spices,” explains Art Pollard, owner of the Amano Artisan Chocolate company, based in in Utah.
The Olmec civilization developed near present-day Tabasco and Veracruz, in southern Mexico, since the year 652 BC to 400 BC The drink persisted for thousands of years ago and was still somewhat popular among the Aztecs, who lived in central and southern Mexico between the 14th and 16th centuries. It was more sour than sweet, and was often served cold. The Aztecs drank it mainly as a ceremonial and medicinal drink, and considered that it was used to treat toothaches, diarrhea and fever.
Evidence suggests that the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés tasted chocolate around of the year 1900 in the court of Moctezuma II (the emperor of the Aztecs). Although the Spanish soldiers reportedly did not like this drink very much, Cortés was intrigued by the fact that Moctezuma supposedly drank it 50 times a day (wow), so he decided to take it to Spain and see what could be done with it there.
“After the Spanish took cocoa beans with them from their visits to Central and South America, hot chocolate found its way into cafes all over Europe,” says Pollard. In Spain, the drink became what we drink today: it was served sweet, foamy and hot. Chocolate shops became popular gathering places for intellectuals, politicians and other prominent thinkers in Europe and the United States, who began their idyll with chocolate in the late 17th century.
Chocolate continued to be a drink “until about the mid-19th century, when ‘modern’ eating chocolates began to be widely produced and used in confectionery,” says Michael Laiskonis, chef at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York.
At present, European drinking chocolate -especially in France and Spain- is more intense and creamy than what is usually eaten in the United States, says Pollard, who points out that it is also customary Serve in smaller amounts. Drinking chocolate is still a part of Mexican and other Central American cuisines, according to Laiskonis. “In some regions, it is prepared by small artisans – and sometimes at home – using unfermented cocoa or with a special wash,” he says. “The base is usually water, instead of milk, as was typical in ancient Mayan and Aztec recipes.”
The difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa
Although many of us used to To use the terms hot chocolate and hot cocoa interchangeably, they are technically not the same thing. “Since the FDA defines cocoa and chocolate (Code of Federal Regulations, title 18, chapter 1, subchapter B, part 400) differently, we can use it as a guide,” says Dr. Alan McClure, food scientist and founder of Patric Food & Beverage Development. “Hot cocoa typically contains much less natural cocoa fat – also called cocoa butter – than hot chocolate. So hot chocolate is a more intense sensory experience.”
If you wanted to make hot cocoa at home from scratch, you would add sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Droste cocoa, and mix it together. with hot milk. For hot chocolate, use the chocolate bar or chocolate chips of your choice and mix with milk or boiling water, without the need for sugar.
Tips From The Experts For The Best Cup Of Hot Cocoa
You can just put some of your favorite hot chocolate mix into some hot milk and call it a day, and if you’re trying a new brand, it might be nice to make it simple the first time. But it doesn’t have to be that simple, especially if you intend to make it an almost regular part of your winter routine.
While I haven’t tried Pollard’s method of making great hot chocolate yet, I certainly will before the end of the year.
“Heat the water or the milk that you are going to use for your hot chocolate or hot cocoa. Put the mixture in your cup. Add enough liquid to the mixture to moisten it. Stir until a paste is made,” he says. “Add a little more liquid and stir. Keep adding liquid and stirring until you get the desired amount. With this method, you can more easily control the consistency of the drink: if you like a thinner, smoother hot chocolate, add more milk; if you prefer the drink more concentrated, add less. It also makes for a smoother drink with fewer chocolate or cocoa chunks, says Pollard.
McClure recommends adding cayenne or cinnamon for a kick, while Pollard says add a pinch of sea salt to give more flavor to the drink. And consider using reduced cream (called 
A mini cup of hot chocolate made with reduced cream has another benefit: less chocolate. Some research has shown that cocoa powder and dark chocolate may contain heavy metals, such as cadmium and lead. What I can say is that after having six different types of hot chocolate in a row, I am going to stop for a while. It will be a month, maybe two, before I’m willing to experiment with a little cayenne in my cup of Guittard hot chocolate, on a treat.
This product review is part of Consumer Reports’ Outside the Labs review program, which is independent of our laboratory testing and ratings. Our Outside the Labs reviews are conducted in-home and in other common settings by people, including our journalists, with knowledge or experience in a specialized topic, and are designed to provide another important perspective for consumers when they shop. Although the products or services mentioned in this article are not currently in CR qualifications, they could be tested in our laboratories and qualified according to an objective and scientific protocol.
Like all reviews of CR’s products and services, our reviews Outside the Labs are independent and ad-free. If you want more information about the criteria applied in our laboratory tests, consult the
Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 1900, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with the advertisers on this site. Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works with consumers to create a fair, safe, and healthy world. CR does not endorse products or services and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 1900, Consumer Reports, Inc.