This is going to sound silly -- but I cannot get over how many people do not know what hot chocolate tastes like. I realized this recently through two events: 1. I bought hot chocolate from a shop I normally enjoy -- this was not their "regular" hot chocolate. When I inquired if they had changed their recipe -- they were using the powdered mix because of a problem with their well - which necesitated the use of only bottled water. Yuck!! 2. A German friend of ours ordered his first cup of hot chocolate "out" -- and was horrified at the taste!! He had no idea that most places use the powder. He was even more shocked to discover the dessicated marshmallows that accompany many of the mixes. Yuck!!
I really can't recall the last time that we used the powdered mixes in our home. We have come to really adore true, hot chocolate. We've fallen hard for a little gadget from Mr. Coffee called a Cocomotion.
This is essentially a hot blender. It swirls the milk around and around while heating it. We start with cold fresh milk. Once the milk gets hot, we spoon in some shaved chocolate. The hot milk keeps s
wirling and the chocolate melts into it, yielding a lovely hot chocolate. We love the shaved chocolate from Nantucket Offshore. Yummy, dark shavings of chocolate in a small tin, ready to spoon into the hot milk. We also adore Schokinag European Drinking Chocolate. It comes in several flavors, but we like the Extra Dark. It melts smoothly into the milk and doesn't leave a mess at the bottom of the Cocomotion machine. Perfect. On a cold wintery evening, we make a pot of real hot chocolate and sit by the fire and enjoy. Our German friend was thrilled to find someone in America who understood real hot chocolate. Other friends, who are accustomed to the powder, are surprised at the rich, delicious taste of "real" hot chocolate. And we have, frankly, become quite spoiled by it. Real hot chocolate probably doesn't cost me significantly more than the powdered stuff would. And we definitely enjoy it much more.
