I really like hot chocolate. Sometimes, I even surprise myself at how much hot chocolate I can enjoy in one sitting. Today I was honoured to be invited to judge the Academy of Chocolate drinking chocolate competition. For hours I was served portions of some of the best hot chocolates from craft chocolate makers around the world. When it was all done and dusted, I took the bus straight to Knoops for more.

Knoops is the kind of business I have been asking for for years and I have many times dreamt of starting myself. It now not only exists, but is thriving in the UK where several shops have opened. Jens Knoop, a fellow lover of hot chocolate, opened the first Knoops in Rye, East Sussex in 2013. The idea is simple and genius. First, choose from a wide range of different chocolates. Here I’m not talking about white, milk or dark, I’m taking about a 35% single origin white chocolate from Colombian cacao with floral notes from natural cocoa butter, a 49% dark milk single origin Venezuela with notes of molasses, pecan & coffee etc etc. From here you can choose your liquid which, if you choose a beautiful chocolate, should be something simple to allow the chocolate to shine, but can be any type of dairy or vegan milk one can imagine. Then you can go a bit crazy, adding extra flavors, chill, marshmallows, whipping cream. The sky is the limit.

A little bit of info is shared about the sourcing of their chocolates on their website but not a lot. Apparently they work with a handful of chocolate makers including craft chocolate maker Firetree who make beautiful chocolates made from sustainably sourced beans. I also love how they share the source of their milks and choice of packaging as well as their choices in relation to sustainable materials used in the designs of their shops.

The shops I visited in Kensington was busy, really busy and with no where to sit and enjoy your beautiful hot chocolate served in a paper cup (bah), one must stand and sip it unceremoniously, which is a bit of a shame. Knoops is a fantastic step in putting hot chocolate back in the central spot it once was still deserves to be in the UK and perhaps soon beyond.

Knoops, 80 Kensington High Street, London, UK. Hours: 7:00-22:00. www.knoops.co.uk @knoopschocolate

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As you all know, I have been not only drinking hot chocolates for many years now but also researching the history of hot chocolate. A part of that history took place at Hampton Court Palace and for years I have wanted to visit.

Hampton Court is a quick 30 minute train ride from London Waterloo Station and there are trains every 30 minutes. Today was a hot day, really hot given that it’s the middle of October. There is nothing scenic about leaving London by train, but after a few minutes, once you pass the rundown buildings and construction sites, you start to see rows of townhouses, old brick bridges covered in moss and swans drifting by in the rivers. Before you know it you have arrived and you, and many other tourists from London, are walking the short distance between the station, across a bridge, and straight into the Palace.

Buy your ticket and then pick up an audio guide. It is worth noting that it costs 16 pounds to visit so plan to spend some time here. It won’t be difficult though. I wouldn’t say that I saw myself as much of a palace person, at least not one that visits palaces generally (although perhaps if I was given one I’m sure I’d be ok with that) but after several hours here, several more than I planned, I wished that I had more time to linger. There is so much happening here and they have done an amazing job helping you to get into the Palace mood. There is a map with different tours you can take and the audio guide brings everything to life and is excellent. I lingered in Henry VIII’s Kitchens as well as his apartments and fell in love with the gardens, all of them. They have actors throughout recreating historic moments that happened here and involving the public as more than willing extras. It is really impressive what they have done.

But my purpose here was to visit the Chocolate Kitchens. For years this room was closed off to the public and used to store gardening materials. But one day they discovered that this wasn’t just another room in a very big house, this was the chocolate room, where Thomas Tosier, chocolate maker to George I and George II would make the King’s daily hot chocolate.

I practically ran past everyone else to visit the Chocolate Kitchens and started the audio tour just before arriving. The audio tour says pretty much nothing about the chocolate kitchens (especially given how much detail it provides on every other aspect of the Palace). The chocolate kitchen itself is a simple, empty room with very little information. So much happened here and I was disappointed that they weren’t sharing all of that with a visitors! But I stood there, alone, for ages just taking it in. I imagined how the chocolate was prepared here, I could almost smell it at one point.

This, understandably, got me in a hot chocolate kind of mood so I made my way to the closest café within the Palace to see if maybe they offered an interesting hot chocolate given that they have such a rich chocolate history. Well they don’t. They use Cadbury chocolate powder in lukewarm milk and it still had little clumps of powder floating around the top. Stay away.

But I loved my time here and highly recommend visiting the Palace if you are visiting London. You could spend a whole day here and still wish you had more time and, again, this is coming from a don’t ever plan to visit Palaces when I visit a new city. Well at least I used to be that kind of person until Hampton Court.

Verdict: Please Hampton Court Palace, offer a historic hot chocolate in your café. It would just be the cherry on the top of a really fantastic programme you have for visitors. I’ll be back Hampton Court Palace…I’ll be back with a thermos full of Port Hot Chocolate to enjoy in the gardens. Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey

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Whenever I plan to travel to a new city, I always research the best local hot chocolate options. This honestly isn’t easy to do. First step is to look for craft chocolate makers. If they offer hot chocolates in their stores, these are pretty much guaranteed to be amazing. Second, I’ll look at chocolatiers who, if they offer any drinks usually make these with whatever (hopefully) high quality couverture they use to make their chocolates. Last, but not least, I look to see what the trendy options are, the ones the media or Instagrammers think are the best. These are almost certainly not good tasting hot chocolates, but are also almost certainly great experiences. Sometimes, just sometimes, they are also yummy.

The hot chocolate at at Chin Chin in London, looks a bit like a heart attack in a paper mug. It is a mug full of a thick, pudding like hot chocolate made using, wait for it, Valrhona dark couverture chocolate. They scoop a generous amount of marshmallow fluff on top and then torch that to a golden brown crisp. Everything they serve at Chin Chin is ridiculously and beautifully over the top but equally quite delicious. It is all a bit of a choose your own adventure experience. Pick an ice cream ( for example cinnamon bun, banana miso, or black Sesame Tahnini), then choose a topping or sauce (for example pandan whipped cream, bee pollen honeycomb, or hazelnut sand). If you can’t decide, they have plenty of their own creations to chose from, sticky toffee pudding Sundays or vegan griddled cookie dough. But start with the hot chocolate…and visit with a friend you really like or even a date if you can. How one person can finish this whole drink is beyond me!

Chin Chin Ice Cream, 54 Greek Street, London, UK. Hours: 13:00-22:00. www.chinchinicecream.com @chinchinicecream

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London Chocolate is a recent addition to the London chocolate scene, open in 2021. This is a good thing. I used to live not too far away, across from Paddington Station and if London Chocolate had been open when I lived there, I would have been seriously distracted. Their little boutique on Connaught Village next to Marble Arch station has a café serving a range of drinks and sweets. Downstairs is the chocolate factory where everything is produced. 

London Chocolate has stunning packaging that visually highlights the different origins the beans used to make that particular chocolate are from, countries ranging from India, via Mexico through Tanzania to name but a few. The chocolates are made with just two ingredients: cocoa beans and sugar. The hot chocolate, made using their chocolate, was, not surprisingly, beautiful.

London Chocolate: 17 Connaught St, St George’s Fields, London W2 2AY, United Kingdom Open 10:30 to 6:30 Tuesday through to Saturday. Londonchocolate.co.uk

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Fortnum and Mason has been open at 181 Piccadilly since 1707. Up on the first floor, their café called The Parlour, is like walking into a pink marshmallow. It is sweet from head to toe, in décor and in menu. My 85% dark chocolate (made with beans from Colombia) tasted sweet just by association, really sweet. But gosh was it a pretty picture. This little café is known more for its ‘create your own’ ice cream sundae so I looked out of place with my hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate shavings (and also available in milk or salted caramel flavours). But it’s a great, albeit expensive, spot to rest tired legs after walking around central London and to watch the people of Fortnum. If you enjoy their hot chocolate, it is also available to buy in tins to make at home.

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Note: I realise that this post is from October but somehow I forgot to post it!

I was really excited that my trip to Zurich coincided with the London Chocolate Festival. I rushed from the airport, dropped off my suitcase at the hotel and made my way, literally as fast as I could to the London Chocolate Show.

I’m not a big sweet tooth. I love dark chocolate, and hot chocolate but I’m not a big chocolate bar and sweets kind of girl. The London Chocolate Show is your heaven if you are a chocolate bar and sweets kind of person. They had brownies and cakes, truffles and bars packed in colourful and eye catching wrappers. There were sculptures and art works made out of chocolate, even dresses made out of chocolate.

But if you really wanted to learn more about chocolate, where it comes from, there were very few opportunities to do so. The opportunities that did exsist only had room for a small handful of people to visit. It was also really interesting to listen to the different chocolatiers and shop owners at the various stalls explain their chocolate to visitors, most of whom knew very little about the story behind chocolate. There was a lot of telling them what they wanted to hear rather than really educating them which was unfortunate. To be fair, I was perhaps already in a bad mood because there was no hot chocolate at the chocolate festival. Their chocolate bar didn’t serve any hot chocolate but rather alcohol so I was already a bit on edge. I did find, amongst all that sweetness, some real jewels, amazing bean to bar makers from countries I had never thought would be here, Denmark, different Asian countries, all with great products.

But my absolute highlight was York Cocoa House and once I discovered their stand I felt drawn to it like a magnet and couldn’t leave it. They probably thought I was stalking them because I spent so much time just standing there listening and watching. The staff were amazing. Every time they opened their mouth or someone asked a question they took the opportunity to educate all those who were close about chocolate, where it comes from, how it is made, how you can tell the quality of the chocolate. And visitors were eating it up. They brought some machines to literally show visitors how they go from bean to bar and let visitors touch and try themselves. They didn’t serve any hot chocolate but they did sell some bags of hot chocolate shavings (55%) and I bought one with peppermint flavours to make at home. It was amazing and if I could buy a bucket load I would.

The London Chocolate Show takes place every year in October and is the UK’s biggest celebration of chocolate.

Verdict: I need to find a way to get to York…soon. I warn you to be careful if you visit their website. You might too find yourself buying a ticket to a city you never thought you would be visiting just to have a hot chocolate. Very impressed with York Cocoa House and their hot chocolate was beautiful. York Cocoa House

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Today was a strange day in London. I had a few hours before I had to get to the airport and one hot chocolate I absolutely wanted to try. I rushed over, ran pretty much but when I got there a very tall and thin young lady informed me that I couldn’t just come in to have a hot chocolate, that I had to make a reservation. So in the little time I had left I had a quick think about where around Oxford Circus I could go to get a good hot chocolate, or at least a hot chocolate I hadn’t had before and I remembered: choccywoccydoodah.

Once upon a time, what seems like years ago, I really wanted to go here. We arrived, with stroller but a) it was way too busy and b) it is pretty difficult if not impossible to visit with a stroller because the café is upstairs, above the wonderland chocolate shop below. When I say wonderland, I mean wonderland. It is amazing what they have been able to create with chocolate and it is all showcased below. I visited just before Halloween and they had really gone with it. It was a chocolate haunted house with cobwebs connecting various masterpieces, most made out of chocolate. Of course this is a concept born in innovative Brighton and I’m sad I missed their mothership when I was there last. Next time.

I arrived just as some dark clouds were rolling in. I checked my phone: 0% chance of rain. But the sky was strange and turned from a dreary grey to a pink/purple colour. If you ask anyone who was in London that day, they will probably remember exactly what day I am talking about. It didn’t rain, but it was very, lets say, Haloweeny. So just like that everyone rushed indoors and I was lucky to get the best table in the house, right in the corner by the window.

There are a few options for hot chocolates. This is paradise for a sweet tooth and a lot of fun. Their menu proudly states that they use pure molten chocolate stirred into warm milk (molten chocolate is not a term that I am familiar with when it comes to hot chocolates, but gosh it does sound decadent doesn’t it). You can choose from milk (34%), dark (60%) or white chocolate (29% cocoa butter). I ordered the pure molten chocolate topped with whipped cream and served with marshmallows and a chocolate straw.

They also have salted caramel, mocha, spicy ginger, minty chocolate. Or you can really go all out with their decadent drinking chocolate, a mug of molten chocolate topped with a caramel stroopwafel (?) which is then topped with a scoop of ice cream, whipped cream, marshmallows, drizzled chocolate, 2 chocolate straws (I’m guessing they think this should be shared?) and a top up of chocolate buttons. Next time, maybe.

One of the best things about Choccywoccydoodah (yes that is really the name of this place) is that it is right in the heart of London, just off of fantastic Carnaby street, a pedestrian street full of interesting shops, street art, great food and a fun atmosphere.

Verdict: This place will put you in a good mood, regardless of how your day has been, and pump you full of enough sugar to make the rest of your day pretty great too. The staff are amongst the friendliest and more charming I have ever encountered in a chocolate shop; just as sweet as their surroundings (cue violins). Choccywoccydoodah, 30-32 Fouberts Place, London, UK @choccywoccyshop

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I’m not really one for celebrities…but some chocolate makers, chocolatiers and even the chocolate itself have become the celebrities that I follow and that I hope that someday I’ll have the chance to visit. Rococo was one of these places, and still is. It was perhaps the first quality chocolate company I’d heard of before I was into this type of things. I lived in London for years, somehow completely unaware that it was located not that far away from where I lived.

So today we decided we would dedicate the day to visiting Rococo and the ritzy neighbourhood that the flagship store is located in. Rococo’s Chantal Coady started off selling chocolate at Harrods but left to create her own chocolate emporium. There are even rumors that Chantal may have been the inspiration behind Joanne Harris’ book Chocolate (my favourite movie of course). After 31 years of chocolate magic Chantal was awarded an O.B.E in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. No small feat.

I love so much about Rococo. It is really just in a class on its own, not only in London but much further beyond as well. Rococo has its own cocoa farm in Grenada owned in partnership with the Grenada Chocolate Company which makes it one of the few tree to bar chocolates in the world. Grenada is known as the spice island so the organic Trinitario beans they grow create a beautiful chocolate. This chocolate is used in Rococo’s house blend, their single estate bars and their Grenada Chocolate Company bars.

The front area is dedicated to the shop and their gorgeous selection of chocolates. The packaging is beautiful and made me want to buy them all. I fell in love with the cardamom dark chocolate bar and the mint dark chocolate. I could not believe how beautiful the texture was, it just melted in my mouth. Just amazing. They have so many interesting flavours including basil & Persian lime, crystalized ginger and even a rose and violet selection (very English no?). Their white chocolate bars are also incredible (and very popular), including my other favourite, the cardamom white chocolate bar.

Towards the back of this small store there is the chocolate café with little tables where you can sit, sip your hot chocolate and admire all the products. On the floor there is a window (yes, on the floor) that gives you a view down into the room where they make some of their chocolate. There is a steep set of stairs that goes down where you can watch the chocolate makers as well.

This staircase also brings you down to a beautiful Morrocan-style garden planted by the founder itself. It has colourful mosaic tiles surrounded by rose, lavender, geranium, mint, jasmine and even a coffee plant. There are old mirrors lying around, and it’s equally popular with the local birdlife. It is a gem, a secret hideout that I wish I could recreate in my own backyard. And this one comes with perfect hot chocolates.

We had their house hot chocolate, organic 70% dark chocolate with extra cocoa butter and extra cocoa powder. It was accompanied by a perfect, and generous, house made blackcurrent marshmellow. Needless to say it was a pretty perfect moment. We just took it all in, enjoyed our private terrace (no one else ventured outside today) and stayed until they closed for the day.

Verdict: Thank you. Rococo, 5 Motcomb St, London, United Kingdom

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One Aldwych is a luxury hotel in the heart of the Theatre District of London. The building itself was originally built in 1907 to host the Morning Post newspaper. Over the years it has also housed the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Works, Lloyds Bank and a popular London Brasserie known as the Aldwych Brassieri. In 1998 it opened its doors to one of the few independent hotels in London.

The space is really something special. Service is impeccable and the rooms are modern yet cozy with great views of the city. The hotel has a collection of over 400 pieces of art around the building, many conversation starters. As if the hotel needed any more wow factor, there are also stunning floral arrangements on display throughout the hotel created by the talented Mark Siredzuk.

Just across the street from One Aldwych is the beginning of the Theatre District including the Theatre Royal Drury Lane which is showing Roald Dahl’s tale of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In honour of this, One Adlwych created their Charlie inspired afternoon tea, which we just had to try. The menus, illustrated by Mark Thompson, show the costume designs from the musical across the road. Everyone else sitting around us was here to celebrate something; an anniversary, a birthday which gave the room a special glow.

The cocktail they start you off with is serious stuff. It will get you tipsy, which is the point I assume. It is Dalmore whisky mixed with Luxardo Cherry Sangue Morlacco, chocolate bitters, grapefuit juice and cherry syrup, topped with champagne. This is served with dry ice giving it a magical mist. This was followed by a cup of chocolate tea, a blend of Indian Assam, Chinese Yunnan black, Peruvian cocoa nibs and Madagascan vanilla pop. We were also served a mini glass bottle filled with chocolate caramel milk and a red and white stripped straw. So I figure, the combination of these three things makes for a very interesting hot chocolate!

And that was just the beginning. The food was great fun. It started with a range of tiny sandwiches and tarts with smoked salmon, roast beef, stilton and all the English classics. When I think afternoon tea I think grand buffets filled with a steady supply of these mini delights. This wasn’t quite that and we were left craving more. Next the sweets arrived. There was a gold chocolate egg filled with vanilla cheesecake and mango, a mini eton mess, and some homemade candy floss. The lemon and raspberry cake pops are fun as are the blueberry brioches. I loved the cocoa bean financier and could have easily had a second one. Finally, as is required for a good afternoon tea, there were mini scones served with berry jam, apple and meadowsweet compote and Devonshire clotted cream.

We spent most of the afternoon discussing what kind of hot chocolate Willy Wonka would have had in his office every morning when he started work. We came up with something wonderful exciting butI have no idea how it could be reproduced. I’m going to try and I’ll share all the details with you soon!

We sat in the dining area but we had the option to take our tea downstairs in the hotel lobby/bar. I wish we had done that. To be honest, the dining area decor was a little dull and dreary compared to the rest of the hotel which is energetic, bright and colourful. Downstairs the lobby/bar area is bright and airy, with lots of beautiful details, fresh flowers, and artwork. It is after all one of the top five hotel bars in the world according to The Sunday Telegraph. If you are reading this and planning to enjoy this, book it in the lobby.

After you enjoy your afternoon tea you will be ready to hit the town to go see a musical. You are, after all, in the theatre district. Charlie is still playing just around the corner but you also have a lot of choice. The London West end has the highest level of commercial theatres in the English-speaking world. The Mousetrap has been open for 63 years, Les Miserable for 31 years and Phantom of the Opera for 30 years. Walk down to and along the River Thames which is just a couple of blocks away. I like to cross to the other side and walk to the left, past the Southbank Centre, Tate Modern, Shakespeare Globe and even as far Borough Market, City Hall and Tower Bridge!

Verdict: Book early as reservations fill up months ahead…unless you stay at the hotel. Then they can usually find you something if you ask when you book. One Aldwych, 1 Aldwych, London, United Kingdom

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Yumchaa is huge by London standards. It is big and airy and beautiful. That is why we originally walked through the doors. In fact we had no idea what they sold when we first decided to walk in. The counter is at the very far end of the space and it is pretty difficult to see from the window what is on offer.

But from the moment I walked in I loved this space and we went back several times.  I’ve probably mentioned this many times before on this blog but a good hot chocolate is about a lot of things; the chocolate of course but also the location, the feeling of the environment in which you are sipping it. Yumchaa gets points for that.

The thing about Yumchaa that I should probably mention now is that it is, as we soon realised as we approached the back counter, all about tea. Because of that, I wasn’t expecting much for the hot chocolate, in fact I’ll tell you right upfront it was just ok. It wasn’t bad at all, it just wasn’t anything that special. But I still wanted to write up Yumchaa because it was a lot of fun.

Yumchaa is all about loose leaf tea to be precise and they are very particular about it. A typical tea bag contains mostly tea dust and broken leaf particles which do not have the same amount of essential oils that larger leaves have. So Yumchaa says no to the bag and instead provides a range of loose leaf teas and insist that you wait at least 2 minutes before you drink them to give time for the tea goodness to be created.

The tea was lovely, as were the range of tempting cakes they also sell to go with your tea. I had both the tea and the hot chocolate and would come back here for the tea any day. They had a long list of all their tea offerings on display along with little white ceramic pots with a handful of leaves inside for you to smell. My choice was the Chelsea Chai with cardamom, ginger, black pepper, spearmint brittle and sencha green tea.

So back to the hot chocolate. If you are, like me, a hot chocolate drinker, I think you will still enjoy their hot chocolate. As I mentioned it is fine, but, and I know I don’t say this…ever… I would suggest you take a little tiny break and enjoy a tea as well. Perhaps they have a blend of tea that has a bit of chocolate in it? While you are enjoying your tea think about, as I did, how incredible it would be to have a place just like this that specialises in hot chocolate. The counter would have little pots with samples of different kinds of chocolates to smell and choose from. Any entrepreneurs reading this blog willing to give that a go? Invite me please.

Verdict: Great spot. I’d love to visit a hot chocolate café that does with chocolate what Yumchaa has done with tea. Now that would be the ultimate hot chocolate! There are locations all around London including a range of stalls at some of the coolest London markets. yumchaa, 9/11 Tottenham Street, London, UK

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