I have never been a coffee drinker.

Well … that’s mostly true. I briefly tried taking it up when I was in law school; it seemed as if it might come in handy. Except my stint in law school ended up being just a very long three weeks, and that wasn’t enough time to develop a taste for it (plus I was drinking garbage instant coffee). 

Regardless, you do have to develop a taste for coffee, and no matter how enticing some of the fancy drinks sound on menus, ultimately, they still taste like coffee. 

Throughout adulthood “meeting for coffee” has become pretty much a necessity. So what’s a non-coffee drinker to do? 

Well, this time of year I like to snuggle up with my inner child and a cup of hot chocolate.  

On the hunt

It was early last spring when I had one of those meetings at GK Café & Provisions, 202 W. Berry St. I ordered a hot chocolate that was so yummy that I decided to scout around for some notable winter treats. 

What made it so special? Floating in the creamy chocolate was a giant house-made vanilla marshmallow. It was that extra detail that lifted it above the ordinary. 

So, when the weather started to turn icky and gross, I decided to see what else was out there in the world of hot chocolate.  

I did encounter some decidedly average cups of hot chocolate: Those that seemed to be a placeholder on a coffee-heavy menu where they probably wanted at least one kid-friendly beverage. Not throwing anyone under the bus; they were still warm drinkable chocolate, and how can you go wrong with that? But for this mission, I was seeking those going above and beyond. 

In the running

The leaders in this realm will come as no surprise, but I want to give some shout-outs to some good contenders. 

I had some time to kill on the north side of town one day, so I popped into Mocha Lounge Dupont, 4635 E. Dupont Road. 

I had my choice of a plethora of syrup flavors that could be added, including a special holiday menu, but I took my hot chocolate straight up. The place was abuzz with activity (side note, I don’t know how people work in the cacophony of busy coffee shops), but I found a spot to curl up with my drink. It was plenty warm, but not so hot that I couldn’t drink it immediately, which I really appreciate. Patience is not my virtue, and I have burned my tongue on things far more times than I should have at this point in my life.  

Having not added any flavor to it, the hot chocolate interestingly seemed to have a hint of something. I thought it might have been a dash of cinnamon; it was very subtle and maybe it was my imagination. I should have asked, but it was really hopping in there, and I neglected to do so. Regardless, hint of cinnamon or no, it had a little extra oomph to it, and it made my cut as a notch above the ordinary. 

Another day, I was running errands and decided I had earned a beverage break. You coffee people love your Starbucks, so I wandered into one and ordered my hot chocolate. 

The barista (do we still call them that if they’re making something other than coffee?) advised me that their hot chocolate was fairly bitter. I thought that was an interesting and important warning, especially as someone who doesn’t like super-dark chocolate. He recommended a shot of vanilla, which sounded like a fine idea, so I went that route. It was a good call. It added some nuance and sweetness to offset the bitterness of the chocolate. 

Chocolate factories

But here’s the thing … coffee shops primarily specialize in coffee, right? So does it make sense that maybe the very best hot chocolates come from … chocolate shops? Spoiler alert: it does!

I was driving through downtown on a dreary Sunday afternoon, and there was an open parking space about a block from Kilwins, 626 S. Harrison St. Clearly it was a sign from the universe that I should stop in, because these open spots don’t come along often. 

I wasn’t even sure if they had hot chocolate, but the friendly young women working behind the counter assured me that they did. As one of them artfully sprinkled chocolate shavings over a swirl of whipped cream, she paused to admire her work: “That looks beautiful. Too bad I have to put a lid over it,” she quietly sighed. 

So, I asked her not to, allowing me to get the full visual effect, putting the lid on myself before heading back to my car. It was piping hot —big surprise, I burned my tongue. But once it cooled enough to drink safely, it was intensely chocolate but not bitter, and the flavor mellowed as the whipped cream melted into it. I would happily warm up with a cup of that again sometime. 

So, here we go, folks, with the least surprising reveal ever: the best hot chocolate experience I found was, of course, during a trip to Jefferson Pointe Shopping Plaza for DeBrand Fine Chocolates. It’s right there in the name — fine chocolate! 

This establishment, which also has a location at 10105 Auburn Park Dr., serves hot chocolate in an elegant, tall glass cup, topped with whipped cream and a little chocolate wafer. The glass was narrow and a tad tricky to drink out of at first (getting whipped cream on the tip of your nose is charming, right?), but the presentation was beautiful and probably kept the drink warm longer with limited exposed surface.  

It was super-creamy and chocolatey, especially once I knocked the wafer into the cup and let it melt. This was special occasion hot chocolate rather than everyday “I’m cold” hot chocolate.

DeBrand also had a hot caramel drink. I was intrigued, and wanted very much to order it to learn what this was, but I stayed focused on mission: Hot Chocolate. 

A few weeks later I decided I had to go back and find out. I got my hot caramel to go, so I didn’t get the glamorous presentation, but when she slid my cup across the counter to me, a little chocolate wafer was sitting on top — a nice touch, indeed. And the drink itself — holy moly. It was exactly what it sounds like: creamy, buttery, incredibly rich warm milky caramel. It’s what I want butterbeer from Harry Potter to taste like. 

Why isn’t hot caramel a thing everywhere?

Going back for more

At the end of my hot chocolate quest, I did make a return visit to GK Café. I wanted to see if it lived up to my delicious memory with that iceberg of a marshmallow. 

I was dismayed to see whipped cream listed on the menu — that seemed like it would preclude the existence of said marshmallow. So I asked. The barista said the current offering was a homemade peppermint marshmallow. Perfect. Sign me up. She also offered a hit of peppermint flavoring in the hot chocolate itself, but I passed on that. 

As the giant, pink-swirled marshmallow melted into my cup, it added a very gentle peppermint undertone to the creamy goodness, meeting my food memory expectations. 

It was a satisfying conclusion to my hot chocolate adventures.