Making Chocolate Drinks At Home

Hot Chocolate

1) Add chocolate to the cold milk

- We recommend 35-50g of chocolate per drink

- It is possible to make hot chocolate in a mug, but for best results we recommend making your drink in a jug or saucepan and then pouring into your mug once it is ready. Use your mug to measure out right the quantity of milk

2) Heat to your desired temperature

- You can heat your milk/chocolate mix on a hob, in a microwave or using a steam wand

- If heating on a hob, be sure to stir regularly to prevent chocolate sticking the saucepan and burning

3) Stir

- This is the most important step, the more thorough the mixing, the smoother texture will be

- A spoon will work, but for best results use a whisk

Iced Chocolate Drinks

1) Combine chocolate and milk

- We recommend 40-60g of chocolate

- Use a small amount of milk around 60ml, but this may vary depending on the vessel and the quantity of chocolate

2) Heat until the chocolate begins to melt

- The aim is to make a small, rich, hot chocolate. This will be mixed into the cold ingredients

- Similar to when making a hot chocolate, you can heat using a hob or a microwave. But a microwave carries a lower risk of burning the chocolate

- Be careful not to overheat, if the mix is too hot the chocolate may burn or the finished drink may not be properly cooled

3) Mix until smooth

- If the mix is not smooth and viscous, return to the heat and repeat

4) Blend with cold milk

- In a food processor or using a whisk combine your hot chocolate/milk mix with cold milk until a smooth mix has formed

- At this point the drink may be served over ice

5) Optional: Add ice cream

- A scoop of ice cream can be blended into your chocolate/milk mix to make a milkshake

- A food processor or electric whisk is recommended for this

- Vanilla ice cream will work for all chocolates, but feel free to experiment with other flavours that suit you

Flakes vs Buttons

We offer both chocolate buttons and chocolate flakes. We recommend using flakes for making drinks, whereas buttons are more suited to baking (and can of course be eaten as well!). However it is perfectly possible to make drinks using chocolate buttons, the only drawback is that they take longer to melt due their larger size so will need to be mixed for a longer period.

Adding Flavours

Flavours and additions are entirely optional, but if you would like can certainly experiment with adding flavours at home. Easily available options include spices, citrus fruit zest and spreads.

It is usually best to add flavours at the start, this gives the maximum amount of time to infuse into the milk. To remove any large particles pour into your mug/glass through a fine sieve.

When it comes to spices we suggest 1/8th - 1/4 tsp for stronger flavours such as cardamom, nutmeg and chilli flakes. For less concentrated flavours such as cinnamon and lavender we would recommend 1/4 - 1/2 tsp.

For citrus fruits usually the zest of 1/2 a lemon/lime orange will be a good amount.

Be bold! There are no right answers as everybody's preferences are different. If you are looking for inspiration feel free to ask our staff in our cafes or take ideas from pairings in dessert recipes.

Tips and Notes

The instructions are not exact. This is because personal preferences, the exact type of chocolate, size of serving vessel and equipment used will each influence how the perfect drink should be made. We encourage you to use the above steps as a guideline, but feel free to add more/less of specific ingredients.
You can add cocoa powder to the drinks in addition to chocolate to make them even more rich. We do not use cocoa powder in our cafes, but it can be a practical option at home.
Passing hot chocolates through a fine sieve can be a good option if your texture is not as smooth as you would like
Pouring your finished drink into a vessel that has already been heated/cooled can help if you find it is not as hot/cold as you would prefer