Best Hot Chocolate for home

Brett_H

I am not a member of CS but I have had their Chocolate powder (unsweetened). It is very good. Does anyone have a similar unsweetened product to recommend because I find that sweetened powders are too sweet for me. To date Ive tried:

Zokoko (a bit sweet)
Simply Chocolate (by Simply Beans Logan Rd Brisbane) Great flavor but a bit sweet
Arkadia (very sweet)
100% cocoa from cricklewood chocolate (great but doesn't melt and dissolve easily)
Di Bella Chocolate (pretty average)

I've used blocks of Lindt and Plaistowe which are good but I would love a powder. The Double Dutch was excellent so who has something comparable?

beanflying

Its a toughy, like yourself I have tried plenty which vary from sickly sweet to gag and taste bud killing 😛 At this stage I keep coming back to the African with a chilli sniff on top or the DD for me. Customers get an offer on both with most going DD and being more than a little happy.

Koffee_Kosmo

I have a bag of unsweetened Red African still sealed Swap you for one green beans It's the best I can do at such short notice KK

Brett_H

Koffee Kosmo wrote:

I have a bag of unsweetened Red African still sealed Swap you for one green beans It's the best I can do at such short notice KK

You are a kind man. Unfortunately my wife is not a fan of the African and it is she that will do the Lioness' share of the drinking. We have quite an embarrassingly large and varied stash on hand... Just not anything that I am thrilled to drink.

beanflying

Out of interest I did a comparison with an older bag I had at home from earlier last year to the recent bag and there is an improvement to be had with fresher cocoa too. I have never bothered to look into aging of chocolate or cocoa but I am sure there is some info out there. Sipping on a DD as I type 🙂

Lwowiak

Brett, get in touch with: http://www.blackpearl.com.au/ All chocolate manufacturers make a good cocoa, which can be used for baking, dusting of truffles, and even in hot drinks. They all have subtle differences. Try: Callebaut Valrhona Belcolade (you might be able to buy some from Mayfield chocolates, as they use Belcolade and deal directly with the importer) In Adelaide and in Melbourne we buy a Polish cocoa powder for drinking, as my wife likes it and has nostalgic memories. My daughters like it when I make a syrup with it, adding cinnamon quills, dark brown sugar and a hint of chilli. It is Wawel Kakao. Available in many continental stores.

Brett_H

Lwowiak wrote:

Brett, get in touch with: http://www.blackpearl.com.au/ All chocolate manufacturers make a good cocoa, which can be used for baking, dusting of truffles, and even in hot drinks. They all have subtle differences. Try: Callebaut Valrhona Belcolade (you might be able to buy some from Mayfield chocolates, as they use Belcolade and deal directly with the importer) In Adelaide and in Melbourne we buy a Polish cocoa powder for drinking, as my wife likes it and has nostalgic memories. My daughters like it when I make a syrup with it, adding cinnamon quills, dark brown sugar and a hint of chilli. It is Wawel Kakao. Available in many continental stores.

Thanks mate. This is great info. I'll give em a go for wife's birthday. Jonty :thumb: may have a solution for me to get us over the winter and visitors. The temp up here is expected to go below 30degC so we're in for a cold one! 😛

Koffee_Kosmo

My wife's relatives in Newcastle sell continental products (it's a huge warehouse) This is the link of the chocolate/cocoa area http://www.bibina.com.au/content.php3?p=products&group_id=0&searchword=Cocoa

Lwowiak

Thanks KK for the link. Are we able to buy from them, or do they only deal with businesses? I see they stock products from Apromo Trading (Belcolade importer) as well as Callebaut.

beanflying

Think this thread needs a photo. Tonight's machine clean and the reward that followed :coffee2: Time to play with the DD and some spices over the next few nights. Mad Scientist time :stir

beanflying

Just adding this thought here as I was playing with several HC blends and straight Cocoa's tonight as part of a cafe coffee blend tasting session (at my place). Zokoko from Sydney sample I got from ACog in the mail was up against another average one from a coffee supplier I won't mention because the coffee is good but the HC is just sweet muck in a cup :instant: and also some CS DD. Prefered HC came from the Zokoko from the 8 people present over the other 2. While I like the Zokoko flavors it is to sweet for me but for the sweet tooth mob it might be worth a go :thumb:

Koffee_Kosmo

Lwowiak wrote:

Thanks KK for the link. Are we able to buy from them, or do they only deal with businesses? I see they stock products from Apromo Trading (Belcolade importer) as well as Callebaut.

They do open to the public so I would say yes Only a phone call away to find out KK

Muscles

What about the Chocolini from MyCuppa? http://www.mycuppa.com.au/Chocolini-1kg.html I just gave a bag of this to my Father in law 2 weeks ago and he loves it...

beanflying

Muscles wrote:

What about the Chocolini from MyCuppa? http://www.mycuppa.com.au/Chocolini-1kg.html I just gave a bag of this to my Father in law 2 weeks ago and he loves it...

Somehow in around 100kg of roasted beans from Jeff I haven't got a bag of this to try :doh: I was going to get a few other things so I will add it to my comparison list 🙂

Koffee_Kosmo

Muscles wrote:

What about the Chocolini from MyCuppa? http://www.mycuppa.com.au/Chocolini-1kg.html I just gave a bag of this to my Father in law 2 weeks ago and he loves it...

A little sideways comment Mycuppa also has a nice chai blend - for non chocoholics KK

RichardM

Muscles wrote:

What about the Chocolini from MyCuppa? http://www.mycuppa.com.au/Chocolini-1kg.html I just gave a bag of this to my Father in law 2 weeks ago and he loves it...

I would have tried this, however it contains milk solids, which don't agree with me.

mycuppa

We run 5 different chocs - 4 browns and a white and we move around a ton a month - sometimes more. Without doubt, the fave for most is Chocolini - perhaps it's the price, maybe the balanced addition of sugar, etc. = who really knows. I think HC is just like coffee - all about the preparation. We have stocked some really high-end choc's given them to our big cafes and time after time they say their own customers prefer the lowest cocoa content version being chocolini. At home, The Little One and I drink lots of our Italian Style Doro - there is something truly fabulous about that thickening feature really makes for a solid mouthful and highly enjoyable HC. What I've found is you can take an average choc powder and turn it into something very special - unlike coffee ;D

beanflying

Interesting divergence into blends for me. Not a complete review as I still want to play with some matched ratios and I still have to open the bag of Doro from Jeff. Brand M I will call it apparently comes from the same place as My Cuppas but it is not good. Clings to the teeth and weak chocolate flavours and way to much sugar for me. No milk solids but it has cocoa solids in it. Not a grown ups brew. Zokoko and Chocolini kick it's butt big time. Chocolini similar to look at but darker than brand M so I will assume by appearance and taste the cocoa ratio is up. Added milk solids for the intolerant but nicer balance of Flavour and Sugars (still to sweet to me) Onto #28 from Mycuppa darker richer and a nice thicker mouthfeel (added starch). Seems a little lower in sugar to the chocolini but I will do a little more back to back testing. Getting more into the grownups HC area here and I wouldn't be upset if served one of these. I might sound a little tough on these but I don't really have a sweet tooth with chocolate so most commercial ones will be over sweet to me. Tomorrow the Doro and maybe back to back testing for the resumption of the TDF

beanflying

Doro :thumb: Nice lingering flavours and could be a touch less sweet than the #28 but a proper grown up Hot Chocolate brew. Both the #28 and the Doro have great texture as Jeff mentioned above too. I have given baggies of all the 4 I have been playing with to Jonty to share with his better half so a little more feedback on them to come. I should get a chance to line up all 3 of the mycuppa blends with similar dosing to taste tomorrow. 🙂

Lwowiak

Woolworths sell a "Homebrand" cocoa powder. It comes from Germany and is as rare as hen's teeth to find anymore. Probably is being discontinued. Works out to $11/kg. In the white boxes with red writing. Grab it if you can find it. This is a very nice dark cocoa. Makes a delicious hot chocolate. My wife prefers it with steamed milk, no sugar. They are also selling a new brand of cocoa, under their "Macro" brand. This one is also from Germany, but is "Organic". Price is $22/kg. Have not tried it yet, but have a suspicion it will be similar to the one just mentioned.