By Michaela Steil
It’s starting to feel like fall, for real this time. The plummet in temperature can only mean one thing: hot cocoa season. Step aside Pumpkin Spice Lattes, sometimes your caffeine- free sweet tooth takes center stage and demands attention.
Most people, including me, consider hot chocolate a comfort food, so what better time to indulge than midterms (and soon finals, which are approaching much faster than I would like). In the United States, hot chocolate is mostly made from instant powder mixes, but there are various ways to make it.
Living on campus can be inconvenient, especially if you’re in a dorm. When it’s midnight and those chocolatey cravings set in, you don’t have many options besides what’s in your room. I took it upon myself to discover which home-made “instant” hot cocoa method is best– based on what you can buy in the Emporium at East Side Dining (and use dining dollars to buy!)
Just before we get started, let me lead with this: I am not a good cook. If anything that should be really reassuring to you; if I can do it, so can you.
Method 1: Hershey’s Syrup
You will need:
- a mug
- milk
- Hershey’s Syrup
Steps:
- Pour the milk into your mug
- Add the desired amount of chocolate syrup
- Microwave for 1.5 minutes
First add milk, then the syrup, before microwaving.
The finished look of the first hot chocolate attempt.
The best part of this recipe is that the syrup mixes with the milk really well so it’s smooth. Once heated though, it was very underwhelming. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of the Hershey’s syrup taste, and surprise, that’s what this one tasted like. The best part this one was that it was quick, easy, and the syrup is multifunctional (you can use it for chocolate milk and ice cream as well).
Final result: 2/5
Method 2: Nutella
Nutella and Milk
You will need:
- a mug
- milk
- Nutella
Steps:
- Pour the milk in your mug
- Add about a spoonful of Nutella (we’re not really working with specifics here)
- In 30 second increments, microwave the milk, take it out and stir, repeat
The try with Nutella. Take a spoonful… or about one. (We may have overdone it a smidgen)
For this hot cocoa we decided to do two 30 second increments, and then just one final minute. When it’s done, take it out and stir.
Sadly the Nutella did not completely dissolve, but I’m not surprised because this really isn’t it’s intended use. When done, there were still some flecks of Nutella floating around, but it’s Nutella, so I’m not complaining.
Taste wise it was very obviously Nutella. The hazelnut taste was very apparent as well. If that’s a positive or a negative, that really depends on you preference. The only problem was that making this one was definitely the hardest and most tedious.
Final Result: 4/5
Method 3: Packet Mix
You will need:
- a mug
- milk (or water)
- one packet of hot chocolate mix
Steps:
**NOTE: the directions I used are different than those on the box. According to the box you should have two mugs, one to pour the powder it, another to heat the milk. Then you should gradually pour the milk as you mix the powder. In the true spirit of dorm life, I only had one mug… so I did things a bit different.
- Pour the milk into your mug
- Microwave the milk for one minute
- Gradually stir in the powder mix into the warm milk
We used the Swiss Miss instant hot chocolate that you can buy in the Emporium. One box comes with 10 packets.
Gradually pouring in the powder with the warm milk.
For the three methods, the last was using a traditional packet mix. This specific one was Swiss Miss with mini marshmallows– the only option that included marshmallows, so that’s already a plus.
Mess wise, this was definitely the worst. I ripped open the whole packet, so pouring it was messier than the others. Oops. Another way I messed up was that it was a bit bland. I was using a fairly large mug and did not anticipate that the powder to milk ration was a bit off. So if you are making a mug of hot chocolate, keep that in mind! Otherwise it was a good mug of hot cocoa.
Final result: 3.5/5
BONUS ROUND
My pride and joy: the Franken-cocoa
In the honor of Halloween, when I did this little experiment, it was decided to mix the two best mixes. A “Franken-cocoa” if you will. With the Swiss Miss we already had that was not as chocolatey I added a spoonful of Nutella. Add the Nutella and microwave it for one full minute. When it is done, stir the drink to ensure all the Nutella is mixed evenly with the rest of it.
It was definitely the best of all of them. While the Swiss Miss was lacking in flavor, the Nutella added, and when the Nutella taste was too overpowering originally, the Swiss Miss helped tone it down.
Results: 5/5
Conclusion
While none of the results looked picture perfect, they tasted good enough, and that’s what matters. In the end, it’s really going to be opinion on what you like the most. If you prefer convenience and love the taste of Hershey’s syrup, go for that one. If you’re a Nutella lover, like I am, go for the jar! Most importantly though, if you have the time and needs, experiment and come up with your own mix, use different kinds of milk, and just have fun with it. If you’re going to go through the time to make your own hot cocoa, you definitely want to be satisfied with the finished product.
