There’s no cozier winter pastime than putting on a pair of flannel PJs, curling up by the fire, and sipping a mug of hot chocolate — but cocoa has never looked like this before.
Bakeries, cafés, and restaurants around the world are learning that adding those little floating marshmallows may bring the customers — but adding doughnuts, rainbow colors, and other head-turning gimmicks bring the crowds.
FEMAIL has rounded up some of the best spots across the US for finding interesting, unique, and over-the-top cocoa drinks this winter, from the New York bakery offering flavors like lemon and creamy stout to the Michigan bistro that stacks cake, ice cream, and doughnuts on top.
Magic in every sip! Crème & Sugar in Anaheim, California earned international attention for this Unicorn Hot Chocolate
Me want cocoa! They offer more flavors, including this Cookie Monster hot chocolate that is cookie dough-flavored
Sugar high in the making… The red velvet-flavored one has rainbow whipped cream; there are also other flavors like shortbread and cake batter, with corresponding toppings
Crème & Sugar in Anaheim, California
Crème & Sugar outside Los Angeles had locals and visitors alike rushing to try its Unicorn Hot Chocolate last winter.
Made with a white hot chocolate, the drink is topped with colorful whipped cream, sprinkles, edible glitter, and rainbow marshmallows.
They have been innovating, and now offer a whole bunch of different hot cocoa drinks that come in pretty colors with a little something extra on top.
There’s the Cookie Monster, which is made with chocolate chip cookie dough hot chocolate and topped with whipped cream, marshmallows, Oreo crumbs, and chocolate chips.
Festive fun: The Snow White is white hot chocolate with pink peppermint ice cream and marshmallow sauce
You’re hot and you’re cold! The shop also makes hot chocolate floats, scooping in ice cream on top of the steamy drink
So hungry… Those come in several different flavors as well, like s’mores
The Pink Elephant has a shortbread hot chocolate base and circus animal cookies on top, the White Rabbit is cake batter-flavored with cotton candy on top, the Snow White is white hot chocolate with pink peppermint ice cream and marshmallow sauce, and the Butterbeer is butterscotch-flavored and topped with gold flakes, cinnamon, and a lightning bolt.
Other flavors include S’mores, Neapolitan, Red Velvet (which has rainbow whipped cream), and Wonka’s River (a classic hot chocolate covered in candy).
They have also introduced hot chocolate floats, which substitute soda with hot chocolate and are mixed with ice cream.
BomboBar in Chicago makes several hot chocolates, like this funfetti ones
Cheers! They’re topped with doughnuts, sprinkles, and candy for even more sugar
Each of them like this peppermint-flavored one, can be ordered to go or to stay
Doughnuts are placed on the rim and other things like cookies and candy bars sit on top of the whipped cream
BomboBar in Chicago
Plenty of places are now offering milkshakes that double (or triple) up on the desserts. Spots like Black Tap Burgers and Fries in New York City have become famous for their over-the-top shakes, which are piled up with slices of cake, candy, doughnuts, cookies, and more above the rim.
BomboBar in Chicago took the concept to the next logical — and delicious — step, adding sweets and pastries on top of cups of steamy hot cocoa.
The shop, which specializes in doughnuts and gelato, makes impressive use of the former in its drinks. The hot chocolate is topped off with doughnuts attached to the rims, or doughnut holes speared through by straws.
They also add cookies, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and pieces of candy to jazz up drinks that come in flavors like s’mores, funfetti, and peppermint.
The hot chocolate is so picture-perfect, in fact, that the eatery even offers a recommendation for which Instagram filter to use on the menu. (It’s Juno.)
The staff at Garrido’s Bistro & Pastry in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan (just outside Detroit) think bigger is better
Their frozen hot chocolate is piled up with things like profiteroles and cookies
They also make use of colorful whipped cream and cake pops (like the pink one on this drink)
The rims of the glasses are also covered in toasted marshmallow fluff
They seem to be trying to fit as much on top as possible, and also turn to things like cake, brownies, and cookies
Their latest creation was inspired by Alice in Wonderland and also has a three-layered mousse cake, ice cream, and loads of syrup
Garrido’s Bistro & Pastry in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
This Venezuelan restaurant is living by a clear motto: There is no such things as too much dessert.
Garrido’s hot chocolate is actually served frozen — and it needs to be, considering what they put on top. Balancing on the toasted marshmallow rim of the glass is whipped cream, a brownie cookie, Nutella, a piece of lava cake, a scoop of ice cream, and a dark chocolate shell.
Another version comes with a doughnut, whipped cream, marshmallows, cookies, and syrup, while a third is served with several types of cookies, marshmallows, and profiteroles.
And if that sounds like a lot, it has nothing on the Alice in Wonderland-inspired specialty that debuted this December.
This one is piled high with with whipped cream, syrup, a brownie, more syrup, an ice cream scoop, even more syrup, a colorful cake pop on a stick (or two), a triple chocolate mousse cake, whipped cream, and Pocky sticks.
In Boston, Met Back Bay is selling a hot chocolate flight through Valentine’s Day
Flavors include Classic, Espresso (with an almond biscotti garnish), Caramel Se Salt (with caramel drizzle), and White Chocolate Peppermint (with a candy cane)
Met Back Bay in Boston
Everyone loves a beer or wine flight. What’s not to like about getting to sample a whole bunch of flavors at once?
So it’s pretty genius that bars and restaurants are now offering ‘flights’ of just about everything, from bacon to cookies to — well, hot chocolate.
In Boston, The Met Back Bay has introduced a flight called the Boston Hot Chocolate Experience, which is served on the same kind of wooden flight board that beer is usually served on.
Available through Valentine’s Day, the $14 flight comes with four flavors: Classic, Espresso (with an almond biscotti garnish), Caramel Se Salt (with caramel drizzle), and White Chocolate Peppermint (with a candy cane).
Grown-ups can also make them boozy for an extra $4 with the addition of Bailey’s, Galliano Ristretto, Caramel Vodka, and Peppermint Liquor, respectively.
Dominique Ansel’s blossoming marshmallows open up when they hit the hot chocolate
Another winner! The drink has been incredibly popular since it debuted last winter
Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City
Dominque Ansel — the man behind the Cronut — knows how to make a dessert that will get people buzzing.
Last winter, he debuted a hot chocolate that looks perfectly ordinary in every way — that is, until the marshmallow’s placed on top.
Each marshmallow is crafted to look like a flower that has yet to bloom, with all of the petals curling inward. When it’s placed with tongs into the hot chocolate, the petals slowly open and the flower blossoms, magically revealing candy pieces inside.
The imaginative drink has even been at the center of two very creative proposals, in which customers hid engagement rings inside the flowers to be revealed to their girlfriends.
The Remedy Bar at the Four Seasons Resort Vail in Vail, Colorado makes a show out of its hot cocoa drink
The cocoa is poured over the marshmallow, which sits on top of a chocolate lattice
High praise! It has been described as the ‘piece de resistance’ and ‘the most decadent chocolat chaud we’ve experienced to date’
The Remedy Bar at the Four Seasons Resort Vail in Vail, Colorado
The high-end hotel bar in this skiing destination calls its drink ‘Haute Chocolate’ for a reason.
Described as the ‘piece de resistance’ and ‘the most decadent chocolat chaud we’ve experienced to date’ by Town & Country, the drink made its debut with the bar itself in the winter of 2015-2016.
This one is all about the presentation. Diners are given a mug, the top of which is covered with a lattice of solid dark chocolate upon which rests a homemade marshmallow.
The hot Valrhona chocolate is then poured on top, melting through the pretty chocolate piece but leaving a tasty rim along the outside.
Branching out? The Dirty Cookie in California is known for its milk-filled cookie cups
This season they debuted hot chocolate with toasted marshmallow fluff and cute decorations
The Dirty Cookie in Tustin, California
The Dirty Cookie’s specialty is cookie-shaped cups filled with milk (the insides of the cookie cups are coated with chocolate to keep it from leaking).
Surprisingly, they decided not to serve hot chocolate in these hollowed-out cookies — but they certainly found another way to make their cocoa special.
Though it’s served in regular paper cups, the rims are coated with a helping of marshmallow fluff, which is then toasted with a kitchen torch. On top is a swirl of whipped cream that is decorated with nonpareils and adorable little sugar figures in shapes like snowmen and unicorns.
Tasty tradition! City Bakery in New York City hosts a Hot Chocolate Month every February
Going back for more… They offer a new flavor every day, including Espresso, Banana Peel, Lemon, Creamy Stout, Chili Pepper, On a Peanut Butter Barge, and Sunken Treasure
City Bakery in New York City
City Bakery’s hot chocolate looks pretty basic at first glance. It comes served in a simple paper cup or white mug, and can be finished off with one oversized square marshmallow.
But every year for the entire month of February, the Manhattan bakery declares that it is Hot Chocolate Month — and in addition to the classic flavor, served daily, they offer a special flavor each day of the month.
The menu changes every year, but past favorites have included Caramel, Espresso, Ginger, Cinnamon, Banana Peel, S’morey, White Chocolate, and Toasted Marshmallow.
There are also unexpected flavors, like Lemon, Creamy Stout, Chili Pepper, Ode to the Polar Bear, On a Peanut Butter Barge, and Sunken Treasure, which has little caramel ‘coins’ at the bottom.