#teamhotchocolate

Tis the season to be jolly with hot chocolate - everyone likes a bit of silky hot cocoa and there’s nothing more warming on a winters day than an indulgent hot chocolate.

The phrase ‘selling like hot cakes’ has become ‘selling like hot chocolate’ here at Nutshell over the past few weeks. So, we thought we would join in the fun by creating a few hot chocolates for ourselves.

The Nutshell tasting team set to work, frothing milk and measuring out the hot chocolate powder, swirling it all into an exquisite hot chocolate drink. Trays of little hot chocolate tasters where passed around the office and as we all sipped the various hot chocolates, the smiles around the office grew as big as ever!

We tasted four different blends - two of the blends received the same number of votes as the ‘best hot chocolate’. So, our chief taster Jonathan will have to spend some more time dwelling over his tasting notes on these, or maybe even MORE sampling – lucky him!

We already sell some of the most luxurious and distinctive hot chocolates – our instant Poldermill Chocolates are always hitting the spot, however we don’t rest on our laurels - we always like trying something new! Watch this space…

You may be wondering how do I create the perfect hot chocolate? To create a make-with-milk hot chocolate drink, follow these simple steps:

1.       Measure out the hot chocolate into your mug (this is usually around 3 heaped table spoons for one serving).

2.       Heat up the milk in a separate jug, to 85 degrees Celsius (this is usually around 200ml of milk for 3 table spoons of powder). Ideally use the steamer on your coffee machine to heat the milk as this also gives you a nice frothy milk topping.

3.       Pour 20ml of the hot milk into you mug and mix the hot chocolate powder into a thick paste.

4.       Add the rest of the milk to the paste and stir gently.

5.       Add toppings such as mini marshmallows, cream and chocolate flakes at your desire. If you are looking for a very seasonal hot chocolate, why not try adding some Gingerbread syrup?!

6.       Drink to your hearts content and repeat.

To create a using an instant hot chocolate, follow the same steps but using water instead of milk.

Happy hot chocolate drinking.