Such A Good Idea, Such A Poor Execution! How Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate Fails.

The Good: Good flavor when made properly
The Bad: Expensive, Irksome packaging, Can only be properly made with milk, Shockingly high fat content
The Basics: Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate is a product I wanted to love, but found myself more and more disappointed with than I ever would have thought!


I am not a fan of the illusion of choice. I am a big believer in labeling things truthfully and letting consumers make an informed decision about the product they are considering purchasing. So, when I first came across Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate - when a tin canister of the powder was gifted to me - I was actually ecstatic. I am a big fan of (most) all things chocolate mint and Trader Joe's has a much-deserved reputation for high-quality products. Sadly, Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate is not one of those products because it offers the illusion of choice.

The packaging for the Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate indicates that the beverage may be made with water or milk - milk being the parenthetical addition to the directions. The truth, however, is that the Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate must be prepared with milk in order to get any seriously decent results. Whenever I get anything new, in terms of food and drink, I play culinary mad scientist and I begin by making up the product with scientific precision to the directions. In the case of the Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate, I tried three times to make the beverage with water, but each time I created a drink that was chunky, separated fast, and was a poor representation of the flavors. I tried again with milk and voila! Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate was absolutely delicious. The truth, however, is that there is no real choice in preparing the Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate: if one wants something other than a messy disappointment, they must make it with milk.

Basics

The Peppermint Hot Chocolate mix is part of the Trader Joe's premium Hot Chocolate line. The mix comes in an 8 oz. sealed foil package that is stuffed into a decorative tin that makes it a complete pain to try to get the powder out. The tin is cute, but the mix is fairly inaccessible from the tin given the relative size of the tin and the size of the packet that houses the actual hot chocolate mix.

As one might expect, the Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate is not an instant beverage; it is a powder that must be reconstituted into the promised hot chocolate.

Ease Of Preparation

The Peppermint Hot Chocolate mix is not all that simple to make. The tin that the packet comes in is cute, but the foil packet for the actual cocoa mix is stiff and quite a bit larger than the actual tin. And it's a tremendous pain to open. So, there's usually some loss of product simply by trying to open the packet of cocoa after extracting it from the tin. To get around this, I recommend using scissors to actually cut the foil packet, as opposed to trying to find a way to tear it open. Then, when done with the cocoa, fold the packet up so shoving it back into the tin does not cause it to disperse cocoa powder like a fungus releasing spores.

Once one has extracted the foil packet, measure out three Tablespoons of the powder into a mug that is at least eight ounces large. Then, heat up (at least) 3/4 cup of milk (or, if one is looking for a crappy, chunky, beverage, water) to just below boiling. Pour the heated fluid into the mug with the powder and stir vigorously. If you used milk, the drink will become a rich, creamy brown fluid. If you used water, you'll end up with a mostly brown beverage that will inevitably have some chunks still in it (or fused to the bottom of the mug).

Taste

Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate smells divine when it is properly prepared. The aroma of chocolate enters the nose immediately after the scent of peppermint invites the airway to open up and breathe in the scent. Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate smells absolutely amazing!

In the mouth, the Trader Joe's Peppermint Cocoa is delightfully minty. Trader Joe's did not skimp on the peppermint flavor and the mint flavor dominates with a cool, sweet flavor. The chocolate flavor in the Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate is not to be outdone, though and the dry, rich chocolate flavor asserts itself as soon as the peppermint flavoring allows. The result is a beverage that actually manages to embody well both promised flavors!

The Peppermint Hot Chocolate has a slightly sweet aftertaste that does not endure long in the mouth at all.

Nutrition

Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate is a Hot Chocolate mix and therefore not the most nutritious things ever, though the Peppermint flavor could be far less nutritious than it is. The Peppermint Hot Chocolate has a few ingredients that cannot be easily identified, which is nice. The primary ingredients are bittersweet chocolate, cane sugar, and coconut oil. It is not vegan compliant as a result of the milk powder in the mix. There is no actual mint in the ingredient list.

What is not a mystery is how high this product is in sugars. In each serving of Peppermint Hot Chocolate, there are 140 calories, sixty of which are from fat! There are a whopping five grams (25% RDA!) of saturated fat, so while one might be tempted to curl up and enjoy this while resting, they are likely to pay for it later on! There is no cholesterol (2 mg) and only 3% of one's recommended daily allowance of sodium out of a single serving of this beverage! There is a negligible amount of protein, but not enough to live off this. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product.

This product contains milk, soy and coconut. Because there are no notations on it, one must assume it is not Kosher or gluten-free.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Peppermint Hot Chocolate powder in its packet, in its tin canister, it ought to stay usable. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it. The tin I received a few days ago had an expiration date of September 12, 2019, so it's not a bad product to stock up on (if one likes it!).

Cleanup is very easy. If the product spills while dumping it into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water or milk into hot chocolate, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.

Overall

Trader Joe's Peppermint Hot Chocolate is a good idea that is tremendously expensive, fairly messy, obscenely fatty, but - when made properly with milk - yields a pretty fantastic result!

For other hot chocolate reviews, please check out:
Stephen’s Gourmet Chocolate Mint Truffle Hot Cocoa
Land O'Lakes S'mores Hot Cocoa
Swiss Miss Mint Premium Cocoa

4/10

For other beverage reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Just About The Right Blend, Stephen's Gourmet Chocolate Mint Truffle Hot Cocoa Satisfies!

The Good: Wonderful mint flavor, Environmental impact of canister, Good flavor, Fairly good ingredients
The Bad: Comparatively expensive, Chocolate flavor is not very strong.
The Basics: For those who love chocolate and mint flavors, Stephen’s Gourmet Chocolate Mint Truffle Hot Chocolate does a pretty good job of pleasing consumers!


It was not very long ago that I learned about the existence of Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoas. When I started buying and reviewing Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoas, I was pretty psyched to learn that they had a Chocolate Mint Truffle flavor cocoa. The Stephen's Gourmets that I found were all from my local discount store that has a completely random, constantly-rotating inventory. So, when I returned from my recent trip and they actually had the Stephen’s Gourmet Chocolate Mint Truffle Hot Chocolate, and in bulk, I was pleasantly surprised. I bought almost all of it . . . just to be sure I would have some if I actually liked it.

And I did.

Stephen’s Gourmet Chocolate Mint Truffle Hot Chocolate is flavorful and good, but the chocolate flavor is not quite as robust as I would hope, though the mint flavor in it is quite good.

Basics

The Chocolate Mint Truffle hot cocoa mix is part of the Stephen’s Gourmet premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a one-pound canister and is a flavorful blend. For each mug of cocoa, this not oppressively expensive, but it is pricier than most major brands of hot chocolate.

Ease Of Preparation

The Chocolate Mint Truffle hot cocoa mix is fairly easy to make. The cocoa is rather enduring and the new canister I bought late last week had an expiration date of May 12, 2018! Because it is resealable and has some preservatives in is, this is likely to last virtually forever unopened. A single serving is three rounded Tablespoons and ¾ cup of hot water. One needs to measure out the cocoa to reconstitute it.

As a result, preparation is not difficult, but requires some measuring that packets do not. The canister must be opened, the powder measured out into a mug that is at least eight ounces large. Then, simply pour hot (near-boiling) water over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of cocoa powder visible in the water or giving resistance from the bottom. The beverage will have a dark brown color to it and will be uniformly fluid.

Taste

Stephen’s Gourmet Chocolate Mint Truffle hot cocoa smells minty, but with a sweet milky quality to it. As a result, the aroma from the Stephen's Gourmet Chocolate Mint Truffle Hot Cocoa is not a cooling mint scent, but the aroma is recognizable as mint.

On the tongue, the Stephen’s Gourmet Chocolate Mint Truffle Cocoa has a very sweet flavor. The sweet, milky flavor is inviting, but then finishes with a delightful peppermint flavor. The chocolate flavor is incredibly subtle, while the peppermint flavor is clear, but sweetened and muted by the milky accents. The result is a drink that tastes like hot, sweet, peppermint milk where the chocolate flavor appears as a flavor that acts to mellow the coolness of the peppermint flavor.

The Chocolate Mint Truffle Hot Chocolate has a strongly sweet aftertaste which dissipates quickly after the last of the beverage is consumed.

Nutrition

Stephen’s Gourmet is a hot cocoa mix and therefore not the most nutritious things ever, though the Chocolate Mint Truffle flavor could be far less nutritious than it is. While I am used to reviewing things like all natural teas where the ingredients are all easily pronounceable and recognizable, the Chocolate Mint Truffle hot cocoa has very few ingredients that cannot be easily identified. The primary ingredients are sugar, dairy product solids and maltodextrin. It is not vegan compliant as a result of the whey and dry milk in the mix. This flavor of Stephen's Gourmet Cocoas is actually gluten-free.

What is not a mystery is how high this product is in sugars. In each cup of Chocolate Mint Truffle Hot Chocolate, there are 150 calories, twenty-five of which are from fat. There are two grams of saturated fat, so while one might be tempted to curl up and enjoy this while resting, they are likely to pay for it later on! There is no cholesterol, but a significant 8% of one's recommended daily allowance of sodium out of a single serving of this beverage! There is a little protein, 1 gram, but not enough to live off this. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product. But it is flavorful!

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Chocolate Mint Truffle powder in its canister, it ought to stay usable. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it. The canister, for those of us who consider the environmental impact of such things, are much more environmentally friendly and affordable than packets would be.

Cleanup is very easy. If the product spills while dispensing the powder into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.

Overall

Stephen’s Gourmet Chocolate Mint Truffle hot cocoa is good, but not an incredible balance of chocolate and mint flavors, which is what most consumers are likely to want out of it.

For other Stephen's Gourmet Cocoa reviews, please check out:
Pumpkin Spice Cocoa
Peanut Butter Cup Cocoa
Peppermint Candycane Cocoa

7.5/10

For other beverage reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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More Creamy Than Flavorful, Stephen's Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa Disappoints.

The Good: Affordable, Environmental impact of canister, Nothing truly bad in it!
The Bad: Weaker flavor than I'd want
The Basics: A surprise disappointment from Stephen’s Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa in that it has a fairly weak flavor that does not truly embody pumpkin spice.


I am a huge fan of hot and seasonal beverages. I love seasonal beverages and I am thrilled when autumn comes because it means the start of pumpkin spiced everything and peppermint mocha, which is one of my favorite combinations in the world. So, I was very excited when I found canisters of Stephen's Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa at my local discount store. I was very excited to try the hot cocoa and I was super disappointed by how the flavor does not represent actual pumpkin spice flavors.

Stephen’s Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa does not taste bad, but it does not taste authenticly flavored like pumpkin or the spices associated with pumpkin spice.

Basics

The Pumpkin Spice hot cocoa mix is part of the Stephen’s Gourmet premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a one-pound canister and is an aromatic powder that needs to be mixed with near boiling water to create a beverage. For each mug of cocoa, this not oppressively expensive, but it is pricier than most major brands of hot chocolate.

Ease Of Preparation

The Pumpkin Spice hot cocoa mix is fairly easy to make. This cocoa has a wonderful shelf life - the canister I bought a month ago had an expiration date of January 23, 2018, which is a good shelf life! Because it is resealable and has some preservatives in is, this is likely to last virtually forever unopened. A single serving is three rounded Tablespoons and ¾ cup of hot water. One needs to measure out the cocoa to reconstitute it properly.

As a result, preparation is not difficult, but requires some measuring that packets do not. The canister must be opened, the powder measured out into a mug that is at least eight ounces large. Then, simply pour hot (near-boiling) water over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of cocoa powder visible in the water or giving resistance from the bottom. The beverage will have a bright orange color to it and will be entirely fluid.

Taste

Stephen’s Gourmet Pumpkin Spice hot cocoa has a scent that is oddly subdued for a hot spiced beverage. The scent of vanilla and nutmeg. The spiced scents are definitely sublimated in the aroma to the scent of vanilla and something vaguely fruity. The thing is, the aroma is not even one of pumpkin, so the fruity portion of the aroma is not distinct in that way.

In the mouth, Stephen’s Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Cocoa tastes milky and sugary. The flavor transitions into a slightly sour (like fruity sour) as it finishes. The flavor is much stronger vanilla than anything else. When I think of pumpkin spice, I think of cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as some other spices and the Stephen's Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa is noticeably lacking in the flavor of any of those spices. Instead, the Stephen's Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa has a vaguely fruity and much stronger vanilla flavor. This is a milky-flavored beverage with only subtle fruity flavors to it.

The Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate has a sweet and slightly sour aftertaste which dissipates only a few seconds after the last of the cocoa is consumed!

Nutrition

Stephen’s Gourmet is a hot cocoa mix and therefore not the most nutritious things ever, though the Pumpkin Spice flavor could be far less nutritious than it is. While I am used to reviewing things like all natural teas where the ingredients are all easily pronounceable and recognizable, the Pumpkin Spice hot cocoa has very few ingredients that cannot be easily identified. The primary ingredients are sugar, sweet whey, and maltodextrin. It does not surprise me that the Stephen's Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa has no real flavor of either pumpkin or spiced flavor to it given that the ingredient's list has neither. It is not vegan compliant as a result of the whey and dry milk in the mix. It is, however, gluten-free.

In each serving of Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate, there are 150 calories, twenty-five of which are from fat. There are two grams of saturated fat, so it is not the most healthy beverage ever. There is no cholesterol, but a fair 8% of one's recommended daily allowance of sodium out of a single serving of this beverage! There is a little protein, 1 gram, but not enough to live off this. The only other notable nutrients in the Stephen's Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa is 8% of the RDA of Calcium. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product, though it does taste all right.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Pumpkin Spice powder in its canister, it ought to stay usable. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it. The canister, for those of us who consider the environmental impact of such things, are much more environmentally friendly and affordable than packets would be.

Cleanup is very easy. If the product spills while dispensing the powder into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up. Mugs may need to be soaked for those who want to get the peanut butter remnants out without using a spoon (ouch for the ears!) or their finger (highly recommended, except when in polite company!).

Overall

The Stephen's Gourmet Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa is not bad, but it is a poor representation of both pumpkin and spiced flavors; this is very much a milky, vanilla flavored beverage.

For other Stephen's Gourmet hot cocoa reviews, please check out:
Stephen's Gourmet Peppermint Candycane Hot Cocoa
Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa
Peanut Butter Cup

3.5/10

For other beverage reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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One Of The Best Cocoas Yet! Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Lives Up!

The Good: Amazing flavor, Not the worst on the nutrition front, Decent ingredients, Environmental impact of packaging
The Bad: Comparatively expensive, Requires milk to properly make
The Basics: Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Chocolate is an incredible balance of chocolate and peanut butter flavors, making for an ideal peanut butter flavored hot cocoa!


The recent trend in the grocery market that leaves me most baffled is the licensing of restaurant names to retail products. At home Taco Bell products bear no real resemblance to the in-restaurant products, for example. The obsession with brand name association is not a selling point for me and I'm of the mind that if a product is great, it does not need the name of a famous restaurant to sell it. Despite that, every now and then, I find something that intrigues me. My wife and I were out at the store recently when we saw the little cartons of new Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Cocoa. We do not live close to a Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream Parlor (reviewed here!) any more, but I have been delighted in the past by some of their ice cream treats.

That made me willing to try the Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Cocoa. And it was worth it! Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Cocoa might well be the best blend of chocolate and peanut butter flavors in a hot beverage I have yet found!

Basics

The Peanut Butter Cup Perfection hot cocoa mix is part of the Cold Stone Creamery premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a 10 ounce canister, which mimics an ice cream pint. The containers are cute and contain the hot cocoa powder inside and the wide-mouth top makes it very easy to access and properly measure the cocoa.

Ease Of Preparation

The Peanut Butter Cup Perfection hot cocoa mix is fairly easy to make, though it does require measuring to properly prepare it. The Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Cocoa has a decent shelf life - the canister we bought four days ago had an expiration date of November 11, 2017! Because it is resealable and has some preservatives in is, this is likely to last virtually forever unopened. A single serving is two rounded Tablespoons and 1 cup of hot milk. One needs to measure out the cocoa to reconstitute it properly.

As a result, preparation is not difficult, but requires some measuring that packets do not. The canister must be opened, the safety seal removed, the powder measured out into a mug that is at least eight ounces large. Then, simply pour hot (near-boiling) milk over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of cocoa powder visible in the milk or giving resistance from the bottom. The beverage will have a dark brown color to it and will be very much a fluid.

Taste

Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection hot cocoa smells surprisingly strongly of peanuts. The impressive thing is that the aroma is not that of peanut butter, but of actual peanuts (though, I suppose that makes it smell like all-natural peanut butter!). The peanut scent from the Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Cocoa is so potent that it made me concerned that the flavor would be dominated by the peanut butter flavor.

Fortunately, that is not the case at all. Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Cocoa has a very true, rich chocolate flavor to it that blends perfectly with the flavor of the peanut butter that the aroma hinted at. The chocolate flavoring is rendered as a dark chocolate flavor, perhaps because the peanut butter component to the flavor palate is similarly dry. The resulting flavor is true to both the chocolate and peanut butter flavors in a way that is both delightful and uncommon. This truly is the best blend of chocolate and peanut butter in a beverage that I have ever had. Interestingly, the Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Cocoa does not taste sweet in a generic or obvious way; the chocolate flavor is more true to cocoa, than it is to the overly-sweetened form of chocolate many people are accustomed to.

Perhaps what is most intriguing on the flavor front is that the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Chocolate has no real aftertaste to it. Given how dry the primary flavor is, I would have expected the Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Cocoa to bear a very dry aftertaste, but it does not. The rich chocolate flavor resonates in the mouth for several minutes after the beverage is consumed, but it is not oppressive or overly dry!

Nutrition

Cold Stone Creamery's hot cocoa mix is a sugary beverage and not intended to be excessively nutritious, though the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection flavor could be far less nutritious than it is. While I am used to reviewing things like all natural teas where the ingredients are all easily pronounceable and recognizable, the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection hot cocoa has very few ingredients that cannot be easily identified. The primary ingredients are sugar, cocoa and coconut oil. It is not vegan compliant as a result of the whey and dry milk in the mix. It is not considered gluten-free because it was manufactured on equipment that also processes wheat.

In each serving of Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Chocolate, there are 110 calories, fifteen of which are from fat. There are one and a half grams of saturated fat, so this is not the most fatty cocoa mix by a decent margin! There is no cholesterol, but a noticeable 7% of one's recommended daily allowance of sodium out of a single serving of this beverage! There is a tiny bit of protein in the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Ccoa. The only other notable nutrients in the Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Hot Cocoa is 4% of the RDA of Iron. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product, though it tastes amazing.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection powder in its carton, it ought to stay usable. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it. The canister, for those of us who consider the environmental impact of such things, are much more environmentally friendly and affordable than packets would be.

Cleanup is very easy. If the product spills while dispensing the powder into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up. This is a very dark colored hot cocoa, so avoiding stains might be difficult on lighter fabrics.

Overall

Cold Stone Creamery Peanut Butter Cup Perfection hot cocoa is the perfect balance between chocolate and peanut butter flavors . . . if only it was a little less expensive, that would be ideal!

For other hot cocoa reviews, please check out:
Stephen's Gourmet Peppermint Candycane Hot Cocoa
Land O’ Lakes S'mores Hot Cocoa
Pernigotti Hot Chocolate

9/10

For other beverage reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Obsession With Mug Remnants: Stephen's Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa Makes The Hunt Worthwhile!

The Good: Affordable, Environmental impact of canister, Good flavor for the peanut butter, Nothing truly bad in it!
The Bad: Barely any chocolate in the flavor!
The Basics: Stephen’s Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup Hot Chocolate is arguably the defining peanut butter flavored hot cocoa . . . even if it is more like peanut butter soup than anything chocolatey!


There is a weird new trend, it appears, in premium hot chocolates. That trend is to get flavor for the flavored cocoa through physical additives - chocolate chips, candy cane pieces, etc. In the case of Stephen's Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa, the additive is actual tiny peanut butter cups. The problem with so many of these additives in cocoas is that they end up simply coalescing at the bottom of one's mug and leaving a physical residue that sticks to the bottom of the mug. That is certainly what happens with the bulk of the peanut butter cups in the Stephen's Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa.

That said, the little peanut butter blobs stuck at the bottom of one's mug after one is done drinking the Stephen's Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa are very much worth fishing out!

Stephen’s Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup Hot Chocolate is flavorful and a very true embodiment of peanut butter in beverage form . . . even if it is not the most chocolatey drink!

Basics

The Peanut Butter Cup hot cocoa mix is part of the Stephen’s Gourmet premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a one-pound canister and is an aromatic powder that needs to be mixed with boiling water to create a beverage. For each mug of cocoa, this not oppressively expensive, but it is pricier than most major brands of hot chocolate.

Ease Of Preparation

The Peanut Butter Cup hot cocoa mix is fairly easy to make. The cocoa may or may not have a decent shelf life - the canister I bought three weeks ago had an expiration date of April 27, 2017, but because I found it at my local discount store it is entirely possible it ended up there because it was a little closer to its expiration date than some business wanted! Because it is resealable and has some preservatives in is, this is likely to last virtually forever unopened. A single serving is three and a half rounded Tablespoons and ¾ cup of hot water. One needs to measure out the cocoa to reconstitute it properly.

As a result, preparation is not difficult, but requires some measuring that packets do not. The canister must be opened, the powder measured out into a mug that is at least eight ounces large. Then, simply pour hot (near-boiling) water over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of cocoa powder visible in the water or giving resistance from the bottom. The beverage will have a dark brown color to it and will be fluid except for any of the peanut butter cups that are in it. Those will settle down, the chocolate coating on them will melt and one will end up with blobs of peanut butter at the bottom of one's mug.

Taste

Stephen’s Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup hot cocoa smells delightfully and recognizably like peanut butter. The aroma is very similar to that of chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips; the presence of the peanut butter in the scent overwhelms most of the scent of chocolate that wafts off this cocoa.

On the flavor front, Stephen’s Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup Cocoa lives up on the peanut butter flavor as well. In fact, if there were ever to be a beverage made of hot peanut butter, this might well be what it would taste like! Chocolate lovers are less likely to be thrilled by the Peanut Butter Cup Cocoa because the chocolate flavor is not assertive enough to even remotely hold its own with the nutty, creamy flavor of the peanut butter flavoring. That said, the authenticity of the peanut butter flavor is the key selling point of this cocoa, so it is hard not to call it a success for tasting so flavorfully of peanut butter!

The Peanut Butter Cup Hot Chocolate has a sweet, but dry, aftertaste which dissipates only a few seconds after the last of the cocoa is consumed!

Nutrition

Stephen’s Gourmet is a hot cocoa mix and therefore not the most nutritious things ever, though the Peanut Butter Cup flavor could be far less nutritious than it is. While I am used to reviewing things like all natural teas where the ingredients are all easily pronounceable and recognizable, the Peanut Butter Cup hot cocoa has very few ingredients that cannot be easily identified. The primary ingredients are sugar, sweet whey, and peanut butter cups (made primarily of sugar). It is not vegan compliant as a result of the whey and dry milk in the mix. It is, however, gluten-free.

In each serving of Peanut Butter Cup Hot Chocolate, there are 170 calories, thirty-five of which are from fat. There are three grams of saturated fat, so while one might be tempted to curl up and enjoy this while resting, that is not recommended! There is no cholesterol, but a hefty 10% of one's recommended daily allowance of sodium out of a single serving of this beverage! There is a little protein, 2 grams, but not enough to live off this. The only other notable nutrients in the Stephen's Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa is 8% of the RDA of Calcium and 4% of the RDA of Iron. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product, though it does taste good.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Peanut Butter Cup powder in its canister, it ought to stay usable. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it. The canister, for those of us who consider the environmental impact of such things, are much more environmentally friendly and affordable than packets would be.

Cleanup is very easy. If the product spills while dispensing the powder into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up. Mugs may need to be soaked for those who want to get the peanut butter remnants out without using a spoon (ouch for the ears!) or their finger (highly recommended, except when in polite company!).

Overall

Looking for a great peanut butter flavored hot beverage? Stephen’s Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup hot cocoa is it! Looking for an incredible blend of peanut butter and chocolate? The Stephen's Gourmet Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa is not quite there!

For other hot cocoa reviews, please check out:
Stephen's Gourmet Peppermint Candycane Hot Cocoa
Land O’ Lakes S'mores Hot Cocoa
Pernigotti Hot Chocolate

8/10

For other beverage reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Flavorful And Delightful, Stephen's Gourmet Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate Is Ideal In Many Ways!

The Good: Affordable, Environmental impact of canister, Good flavor, Nothing truly bad in it!
The Bad: Not the darkest chocolate flavor
The Basics: Stephen’s Gourmet Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate might be the ideal baseline cocoa, but it is not the archetype of dark chocolate flavor.


When it comes to hot cocoas, I find myself very eager to try different brands and flavors. I've never found one cocoa that makes me want to keep drinking only that brand and flavor the rest of my life. Until today, I had only tried one of Stephen's Gourmet hot cocoas, their Peppermint Candycane Hot Cocoa (reviewed here!). Today, though, I went with Stephen’s Gourmet Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate . . . and it is very good.

Stephen’s Gourmet Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate is flavorful and good, but it is more dark chocolate by lack of sweet and milky flavors than it is by having a powerful dark chocolate flavor of its own.

Basics

The Dark Chocolate hot cocoa mix is part of the Stephen’s Gourmet premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a one-pound canister and is a tasty mix. For each mug of cocoa, this not oppressively expensive, but it is pricier than most major brands of hot chocolate.

Ease Of Preparation

The Dark Chocolate hot cocoa mix is fairly easy to make. The cocoa is rather enduring and the new canister I bought last week had an expiration date of December 1, 2017! Because it is resealable and has some preservatives in is, this is likely to last virtually forever unopened. A single serving is three rounded Tablespoons and ¾ cup of hot water. One needs to measure out the cocoa to reconstitute it.

As a result, preparation is not difficult, but requires some measuring that packets do not. The canister must be opened, the powder measured out into a mug that is at least eight ounces large. Then, simply pour hot (near-boiling) water over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of cocoa powder visible in the water or giving resistance from the bottom. The beverage will have a dark brown color to it and will be uniformly fluid.

Taste

Stephen’s Gourmet Dark Chocolate hot cocoa smells strongly of chocolate. The aroma is one that is instantly recognizable to anyone who loveds chocolate. The scent is inviting and distinctive.

The Stephen’s Gourmet Dark Chocolate Cocoa has a strong chocolate flavor. The chocolate flavor is not muted by any milky or overly sweet taste. Instead, the Dark Chocolate cocoa is like a concentrated hot chocolate, without the typical dryness of a dark chocolate or ridiculous sweetness of a Milk Chocolate hot cocoa. The Stephen's Gourmet Dark Chocolate Cocoa is chocolatey and flavorful, without diminishing or tasting at all diluted. In many ways, this is an ideal hot chocolate.

The Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate has a slight sweet aftertaste which dissipates fairly quickly.

Nutrition

Stephen’s Gourmet is a hot cocoa mix and therefore not the most nutritious things ever, though the Dark Chocolate flavor could be far less nutritious than it is. While I am used to reviewing things like all natural teas where the ingredients are all easily pronounceable and recognizable, the Dark Chocolate hot cocoa has very few ingredients that cannot be easily identified. The primary ingredients are sugar, sweet whey, and maltodextrin. It is not vegan compliant as a result of the whey and dry milk in the mix. It is also not gluten-free.

What is not a mystery is how high this product is in sugars. In each cup of Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate, there are 150 calories, twenty-five of which are from fat. There are two grams of saturated fat, so while one might be tempted to curl up and enjoy this while resting, they are likely to pay for it later on! There is no cholesterol, but a whopping 11% of one's recommended daily allowance of sodium out of a single serving of this beverage! There is a little protein, 2 grams, but not enough to live off this. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product. But it is flavorful!

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Dark Chocolate powder in its canister, it ought to stay usable. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it. The canister, for those of us who consider the environmental impact of such things, are much more environmentally friendly and affordable than packets would be.

Cleanup is very easy. If the product spills while dispensing the powder into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.

Overall

Stephen’s Gourmet Dark Chocolate hot cocoa is a good hot cocoa and while it might not be the richest dark chocolate hot cocoa, it is more than satisfying for anyone who wants a genuine chocolate flavor for their hot cocoa!

For other hot cocoa reviews, please check out:
Swiss Miss Mint Premium Cocoa
Land O’ Lakes S'mores Hot Cocoa
Pernigotti Hot Chocolate

9/10

For other beverage reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Where's The Marshmallow?! Land O'Lakes S'Mores Cocoa Is Too Tough To Execute Properly!

The Good: Good flavor, Easy to prepare
The Bad: Fairly expensive in this form, Environmental impact of packaging, Doesn't actually have the marshmallow flavor of s'mores!
The Basics: Good, but not truly great, the Land O' Lakes S'mores Hot Cocoa is still worth trying!


I admire ambition, in all things I experience (and review). Ambitious movies, ambitious musical recordings, even ambitious foods impress me for the attempt, if not their execution. I was instantly impressed by the Land O'Lakes S'Mores Hot Cocoa. I love flavored hot cocoas and S'mores is a neat flavor. Following on the heels of their Chocolate Graham cocoa (reviewed here!), Land O'Lakes S'mores Cocoa seems like a flavor the company could conceivably pull off. Unfortunately, the flavor balance between the three key elements of S'mores - chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows - prove to be an impossible combination for the company to pull off in cocoa form.

The only real problem with the S'mores Cocoa is that it fails to live up to the flavor of marshmallows in its flavor palate.

Basics

The S'mores hot cocoa mix is part of the Land O' Lakes Cocoa Classics premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a 1 1/4 oz. sealed foil package and is a pretty delicious mix. Each 1 1/4 oz. packet is a single serving and these bear a relatively high price tag virtually everywhere I have found them of approximately three for two dollars. For a single mug of cocoa, this is expensive when compared to other make-at-home products, but about on par with getting a cocoa at a place like Starbucks.

Ease Of Preparation

The Cocoa Classics S'mores hot cocoa mix is ridiculously simple to make. Because it is sealed and has some artificial preservatives in is, this is likely to last virtually forever unopened. A single serving is the packet and six oz. of water. There is no measuring of the product involved!

As a result, preparation is ridiculously simple. The top of the envelope has a perforated edge and one need simply tear open the top, which is quite easy, and pour the contents of the packet into a mug that is at least eight ounces large. Then, simply pour hot water - near boiling, but not actually boiling as boiling water cooks the ingredients as opposed to simply dissolving them - over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of chocolate powder visible in the water or giving resistance from the bottom. The beverage will have a light brown color to it and will be uniformly smooth and creamy.

Taste

The S'mores cocoa has a wonderful aroma to it. The scent is strong with the aroma of graham crackers and there is enough in the aroma to hint at the chocolate flavor, too. There is nothing in the scent that screams "marshmallow," so the scent is very much the embodiment of graham crackers and chocolate.

On the flavor front, S'mores cocoa is a good balance of chocolate and graham cracker flavor. The milk chocolate flavor Land O' Lakes was striving for is balanced well by the cinnamon and graham flavor one would expect from a S'mores cocoa. This is a very sweet cocoa flavor, which is dominated by the graham cracker flavor over the chocolate. Even in the sweet aftertaste, there is not really any marshmallow in the S'mores cocoa's flavor.

Nutrition

Land O' Lakes Cocoa Classics are hot cocoa mix and therefore not the most nutritious things in the known world, though the S'mores flavor could be far less nutritious than it is. The S'mores hot cocoa has a few ingredients that cannot be easily identified. The primary ingredients are sugar, nonfat dry milk and whey. It is not vegan compliant as a result. There are no flavorings in the ingredient list that would define the beverage as graham cracker flavored!

What is not a mystery is how high this product is in sugars. In each cup of S'mores Cocoa Classics, there are 140 calories, twenty-five of which are from fat. There are 2.5 grams of saturated fat, so while one might be tempted to curl up and enjoy this while resting, they are likely to pay for it later on! While there is no cholesterol, a consumer gets 11% of their recommended daily allowance of salt out of a single packet of this beverage! There is a little protein, but not enough to live off this. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product.

This product contains soy and milk and because there are no notations on it, one must assume it is not Kosher or gluten-free.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the S'mores Cocoa Classic powder in its packet, it ought to stay usable. Given that it had an expiration date almost two years away - our package had an expiration date of February 27, 2017 - one assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it. The packets, for those of us who consider the environmental impact of such things, are terribly wasteful and expensive. The foil/plastic wrappers are not recyclable anywhere I've been.

Cleanup is very easy as well. If the product spills while dumping it into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.

Overall

Land O' Lakes Cocoa Classics are good, but the S'mores flavor does not add anything to the line that the Chocolate Graham did not already do. The result is a good flavor, but not quite all that the name promises!

For other Land O' Lakes hot chocolate drinks, please visit my reviews of:
Warm Oatmeal Cookie Cocoa
French Vanilla & Chocolate cocoa
Arctic White

7/10

For other food or drink reviews, please visit my Food & Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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So Much Effort For Something So Unimpressive: Pernigotti Hot Cocoa Disappoints!

The Good: Does not taste bad
The Bad: A lot of work to make, Environmental impact of the packaging, Utterly unremarkable flavor
The Basics: Pernigotti hot cocoa is depressingly unimpressive on the flavor front, which makes the extra effort one has to put into preparation injury that adds to the insult!


Locally, there is a nice little overstock store, which has been pretty awesome for me. I tend to find foods and products there that are incredible. Every now and then, they get in a random imported product and I feel excited to pick them up. One of the most recent ones I found was Pernigotti Hot Chocolate. Call me prejudiced, but I would have expected imported Italian cocoa to be good; sadly, it is mediocre on the flavor front, but difficult to make (without ruining). The result is a product that is impossible to recommend and one that I wouldn't buy again, should it ever arrive in my neck of the woods again.

Basics

The hot cocoa mix is part of the Pernigotti premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a 4 2/5 oz. box with five packages of cocoa. For a single mug of cocoa, this is affordable, but not cheap, especially when one factors in the additional cost of the milk which is required to make the cocoa.

Ease Of Preparation

The Pernigotti hot cocoa mix is a pain in the butt to make. While the portion is easy to measure - one packet is mixed with 110 ml of milk - the beverage is tough to make without risking burning it. 110 ml of milk is remarkably little, expecially in a saucepan, so while one is stirring vigorously to mix the cocoa powder with the milk, there is a pretty great risk of it boiling fast and burning. The cocoa powder and milk, while heated and stirred, reduces very fast into a thick chocolate fluid. Add milk to taste and stir until the two fluids mix and it forms the cocoa pretty fast.

Taste

The aroma of Pernigotti's hot cocoa is not overly strong of chocolate. This cocoa is harly aromatic and it is not very powerful or potent. The scent emanating from this cocoa is not so inviting as to tempt consumers with this beverage.

As for the flavor, the flavor of the chocolate is surprisingly light. The milk chocolate cocoa is like a diluted chocolate flavor; surprisingly dry and not overly sweet. In fact, the flavor is so mediocre that it almost makes one disappointed after all the effort that one puts into making it.

The Pernigotti cocoa has no real aftertaste to it.

Nutrition

Pernigotti hot cocoa mix is hot chocolate mix and therefore not the most nutritious thing in the world and the ingredients are almost indecipherable near the end of the ingredients list. The primary ingredients are sugar, giandula hazelnuts, and 22% cocoa chocolate powder. There is a milk derivative in this hot cocoa powder, so it is not Vegan compliant. It also contains soy and enough traces of peanuts to warrant an allergy warning.

What is not a mystery is how high this product is in sugars. In each cup of this hot cocoa, there are 114 calories. There are 3.8 grams of fat. There is no cholesterol in the Cocoa, but there is some Sodium. There is a little protein, but not enough to live off this. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Pernigotti Premium Hot Cocoa powder in its envelope, it ought to stay usable. I could find no expiration date on my envelopes, nor the boc.

Cleanup is very easy as well. If the product spills while dumping it into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with milk into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.

Overall

Pernigotti hot cocoa is disappointingly average, but with the added effort one has to put into it, it's just disappointing.

For other hot chocolate drinks, please visit my reviews of:
Land O' Lakes Raspberry And Chocolate Cocoa
Butterfinger Hot Cocoa
Forrelli Rich Chocolate Hot Cocoa

2/10

For other food or drink reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Liquid Hot Butterscotch: Land O’Lakes Butterscotch & Chocolate Cocoa Is Good, Not Great!

The Good: Good taste and aroma, Nothing truly bad in it!
The Bad: Very expensive in this form, Environmental impact of packaging
The Basics: Mostly meeting the needs of those who love the flavor of butterscotch, Land O’Lakes Butterscotch & Chocolate hot cocoa is not balanced between the chocolate and butterscotch flavors.


One of the nice things about the late summer is that, locally at least, prices for hot cocoa and tea seem to drop before people might actually start stocking up on them. As a result, I was thrilled to find a local grocery store that was discounting Land O’Lakes cocoas and there I found a flavor I had not yet tried: Land O’Lakes Butterscotch & Chocolate hot cocoa.

The Land O' Lakes Cocoa Classics Butterscotch & Chocolate hot cocoa is interesting, but not incredible and it does not find a good balance between the two promised flavors.

Basics

The Butterscotch & Chocolate hot cocoa mix is part of the Land O' Lakes Cocoa Classics premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a 1 1/4 oz. sealed foil package and is a delicious mix. Each 1 1/4 oz. packet is a single serving and these bear a relatively high price tag virtually everywhere I have found them (when they are not on sale). They tend to run approximately three for two dollars. For a single mug of cocoa, this is expensive when compared to other make-at-home products, but the Butterscotch & Chocolate is generally good enough to warrant the price tag!

Ease Of Preparation

The Cocoa Classics Butterscotch & Chocolate hot cocoa mix is very simple to make. The cocoa is rather enduring and the new packet I just bought did not expire until late 2016. Because it is sealed and has some artificial preservatives in is, this is likely to last virtually forever unopened. A single serving is the packet and six oz. of water. There is no measuring of the product involved!

As a result, preparation is ridiculously simple. The top of the envelope has a perforated edge and one need simply tear open the top, which is quite easy, and pour the contents of the packet into a mug that is at least eight ounces large. Then, simply pour hot water - near boiling, but not actually boiling as boiling water cooks the ingredients as opposed to simply dissolving them - over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of chocolate powder visible in the water or giving resistance from the bottom. The beverage will have a light brown color to it and will be uniformly smooth and creamy.

Taste

Land O' Lakes Cocoa Classics Butterscotch & Chocolate hot cocoa smells almost exclusively like butterscotch. The aroma is sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. The scent is muted as it is inhaled, so it starts like what one expects of butterscotch, but ends before it can fully reach its aromatic potential. It is an inviting scent, but not a completely true one.

On the tongue, the Butterscotch & Chocolate cocoa tastes sweet and buttery. The lightness of the flavor is not overbearing or lacking in substance; instead, it is a sweet, flavorful cocoa that accents the chocolate that finishes the palate. The flavor of chocolate manifests as a somewhat dry taste that cuts into the sweetness that erupts the moment this cocoa hits the tongue. This is a good flavor, but not the most robust one and certainly not the most balanced; those looking for a strong chocolate flavor will end up somewhat underwhelmed.

In addition to having a subtle taste, the cocoa has a slightly dry aftertaste to it that is distinctive to Butterscotch. This is not a terribly strong aftertaste and it does not endure for very long at all.

Nutrition

Land O' Lakes Cocoa Classics is a hot cocoa mix and therefore not the most nutritious things ever, though the Butterscotch & Chocolate flavor could be far less nutritious than it is. While I am used to reviewing things like all natural teas where the ingredients are all easily pronounceable and recognizable, the Butterscotch & Chocolate hot cocoa has a few ingredients that cannot be easily identified. The primary ingredients are sugar, nonfat dry milk and whey. It is not vegan compliant as a result. Ironically, there is nothing called Butterscotch or Butterscotch flavoring in the ingredient list, so it is surprising that it replicates the flavor of butterscotch so well.

What is not a mystery is how high this product is in sugars. In each cup of Butterscotch & Chocolate Cocoa Classics, there are 140 calories, twenty-five of which are from fat. There are two and a half grams of saturated fat, so while one might be tempted to curl up and enjoy this while resting, they are likely to pay for it later on! While there is no cholesterol, nor any measurable amounts of trans fats, a consumer gets 11% of their recommended daily allowance of sodium out of a single packet of this beverage! There is a little protein, but not enough to live off this. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product. But it is good!

This product contains soy and milk and because there are no notations on it, one must assume it is not Kosher or gluten-free.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Butterscotch & Chocolate Cocoa Classic powder in its packet, it ought to stay usable. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it. The packets, for those of us who consider the environmental impact of such things, are terribly wasteful and expensive. The foil/plastic wrappers are not recyclable anywhere I've been.

Cleanup is very easy. If the product spills while dumping it into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.

Overall

The Land O' Lakes Cocoa Classics Butterscotch & Chocolate is good as an occasional treat, but is more average than it is exceptional. The result is a cocoa worth trying and even stocking up on, but not one one will find themselves craving it frequently at all.

For other Land O’ Lakes hot cocoa reviews, please check out:
Double Fudge & Chocolate Cocoa
Chocolate Graham Hot Cocoa
Classic Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa

5/10

For other beverage reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Spiced Aroma, Absent Chocolate, Bellagio Holiday Spice Hot Cocoa Is A Mixed Mug!

The Good: Good taste and aroma, Nothing truly bad in it!
The Bad: Very expensive in this form, Environmental impact of packaging
The Basics: For my first experience with Bellagio, their Holiday Spice Hot Chocolate mix underwhelms me, but does not at all leave a bad taste in my mouth!


With the end of winter comes clearance hot cocoas! That’s always a good time for me as a reviewer. This year, one of the hot cocoas I was most eager to try (and was thrilled to pick up on clearance) was the Bellagio Holiday Spice Hot Chocolate mix.

Sadly, the anticipation did not make the great-smelling, somewhat unimpressive tasting, beverage into a perfect drink at all.

Basics

The Holiday Spice hot cocoa mix is part of the Bellagio premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a 1.25 oz. sealed paper package and is a good mix. Each 1.25 oz. packet is a single serving and these bear a relatively high price tag virtually everywhere I have found them. Locally, we have only found them for $1.10/ea! For a single mug of cocoa, this is expensive when compared to other make-at-home products. On the plus side, getting them on clearance for only $.59 took the sting out of the price for me, though!

Ease Of Preparation

The Holiday Spice hot cocoa mix is ridiculously simple to make. The cocoa is rather enduring and the new packet I just picked up would have expired in January of 2015. Because it is sealed and has some artificial preservatives in is, this is likely to last virtually forever unopened. A single serving is the packet and ¾ cup of water. There is no measuring of the product involved!

As a result, preparation is ridiculously simple. The top of the envelope is paper and one need simply tear open the top, which is quite easy, and pour the contents of the packet into a mug that is at least eight ounces large. Then, simply pour near-boiling water over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of cocoa powder visible in the water or giving resistance from the bottom. The beverage will have a very pale brown color to it and will be uniformly smooth and creamy.

Taste

Bellagio Holiday Spice hot cocoa has a scent that is appropriately spicy. The aroma of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon fills the nose as this hot beverage steams up and it smells much more like a vanilla chai drink than anything that contains chocolate.

As appropriately foreshadowed by the scent, the Holiday Spice hot chocolate is very mild on the chocolate flavoring. Instead, the dry, flavorful cocoa tastes like a number of somewhat nebulous (though tasty) spices. The chocolate flavor asserts itself more as a slightly sweet aftertaste after the primary flavor has passed. The mix of spices is certainly more intriguing to the tongue than plain milk chocolate cocoa, but it is not exceptionally chocolatey or distinctive.

Interestingly, the Bellagio Holiday Spice Cocoa leaves nothing in the way of an aftertaste; not even a milky flavor on the tongue.

Nutrition

Bellagio Hot Cocoa is a hot cocoa mix and therefore not the most nutritious things ever. While I am used to reviewing things like all natural teas where the ingredients are all easily pronounceable and recognizable, the Holiday Spice hot cocoa has a few ingredients that cannot be easily identified. The primary ingredients are sugar, non dairy creamer and Dipotassium Phosphate. It is not vegan compliant as a result. Ironically, there is nothing even resembling any of the spices this smells like in the ingredient list.

What is not a mystery is how high this product is in sugars. In each cup of Holiday Spice Cocoa Classics, there are 140 calories, thirty of which are from fat. There are three and a half grams of saturated fat, so while one might be tempted to curl up and enjoy this while resting, they are likely to pay for it later on! There is no cholesterol, but a consumer gets 4% of their recommended daily allowance of sodium out of a single packet of this beverage! There is a little protein, but not enough to live off this. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product.

This product contains milk and soy and because there are no notations on it, one must assume it is not Kosher or gluten-free.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Holiday Spice powder in its packet, it ought to stay usable. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it. The packets, for those of us who consider the environmental impact of such things, are terribly wasteful and expensive. The paper wrappers are not recyclable anywhere I've been.

Cleanup is very easy. If the product spills while dumping it into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.

Overall

The Bellagio Holiday Spice is good, but the novelty of a “holiday spice” flavor wears off quickly at the packet’s full price. Even so, it’s worth trying once at least; I know I’m glad I did.

For other hot cocoa reviews, please check out:
Land O’ Lakes Double Fudge & Chocolate Cocoa
Maud Borup Peppermint Drinking Chocolate
Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate With Marshmallows

5.5/10

For other beverage reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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More Chocolate Than Caramel, Starbucks Salted Caramel Is More Pricy Than Flavorful.

The Good: Tastes good
The Bad: Very expensive, Environmental impact of the packaging, A lot of work, More salty than caramel.
The Basics: Starbucks Salted Caramel hot cocoa is wonderfully, richly chocolate flavored but has very little of the promised caramel taste.


Around my household, a good gift for me is always new treats for me to enjoy and review. My wife has a tendency to pick me up things I am not likely to spend good money for on myself. Lately, that has taken the form of picking me up expensive coffees and cocoas. So, for example, she picked e up Starbucks Mint Chocolate Cocoa (reviewed here!) and Salted Caramel Cocoa, which I have been enjoying the last few nights. Unfortunately, I have not been enjoying the cocoa as much as I wanted to, mostly because it does not taste quite like I would have hoped.

The Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa is good, but great and barely caramel.

Basics

The Salted Caramel hot cocoa mix is part of the Starbucks premium hot cocoa line. The mix comes in a box of eight 1 oz. packets. Each box has eight servings and these bear an exceptionally high price of seven to nine dollars. For a single mug of cocoa, this is expensive when compared to other make-at-home products, especially when one factors in the additional cost of the milk.

Ease Of Preparation

The Starbucks Salted Caramel hot cocoa mix is a pain in the butt to make. Each serving comes in a 1 oz. package and requires a cup of milk to make it into a hot beverage. There is no fuss on the measuring front with this hot beverage; each packet is a single serving. Simply open the envelope and dump the powder in a cup. Unfortunately, one needs to bring a cup of milk to a near-boil for each serving. Making sure the milk is not boiling so it does not curdle is important and requires the consumer to pay attention to cooking the cocoa. It is important to note that this cannot be mixed with milk and then heated, even when one is making the cocoa in bulk.

Taste

The Starbucks's Salted Caramel hot cocoa smells strongly of chocolate. There is a slight hint of salt in the latter part of the aroma, but this is not a sweet-smelling beverage.

In the mouth, the Salted Caramel hot cocoa is very dry and it has a dark, rich flavor to it. After the thick, dark chocolate flavor passes, there is a very faint sweetness to it that is smothered by the dry, slightly salty taste of the drink. There is almost none of the buttery flavor I associate with caramel and this flavor is strongly and delightfully chocolate flavor with very little in a secondary flavor to sell it as caramel.

While this leaves a dry taste in the mouth, it has no recognizable aftertaste.

Nutrition

Starbucks Salted Caramel premium hot cocoa mix is hot cocoa mix and therefore not the most nutritious thing in the world, though there is nothing truly awful in this beverage. The primary ingredients are sugar, cocoa and natural flavors. There is a milk derivative in this hot cocoa powder, so it is not Vegan compliant.

What is not a mystery is how high this product is in sugars. In each cup of Salted Caramel, there are 120 calories, thirty of which are from fat. There are two and a half grams of saturated fat, but no trans fats! There is no cholesterol, but there is 130 mg of sodium in the Salted Caramel Cocoa, which is not as bad as it could be. There is a little protein, but not enough to live off this. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product.

This product contains soy and wheat, so it is not gluten-free. There are also allergy warnings against peanuts, tree nuts, milk, and eggs for the mix. It is, however, marked as Kosher.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Starbucks Salted Caramel Premium Hot Cocoa powder in its envelope, it ought to stay usable. The box my wife gave me for Easter expires on December 6, 2013, but I imagine it will be gone well before then (given that I have already gone through half the packets).

Cleanup is very easy as well. If the product spills while dumping it into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with milk into hot cocoa, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.

Overall

Starbucks Salted Caramel hot cocoa is not at all bad, but it is not richly caramel flavored and as a result, it doesn’t quite live up to my standards . . . or the standards of anyone who wants their drinks to taste like they claim.

For other Starbucks products, please visit my reviews of:
Via Colombia coffee
Via Vanilla instant coffee
Via Iced Coffee
Cafe Estima Coffee

4/10

For other food or drink reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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