Spice Up Your Hot Chocolate

Hey, look! It's January and it finally decided to turn into winter. With temps nose-diving down into the teens, I'm whipping up hot chocolate at home.

I recently went on News Channel 8's Let's Talk Live to chat about ways to spice up your standard hot cocoa — from exotic spices to booze infusions.

Check out the video (also known as the one in which I try to get Natasha Barrett drunk) and follow these tips and recipes for creating rich, bold hot cocoa at home:

Cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, dried chipotle peppers and ginger all make excellent infusions.

• The foundation of good hot chocolate is, of course, great milk and quality chocolate. Look for milk from grass-fed cows, and leave your fat fears at the door. Go all out with whole milk. Your cocoa will thank you. For choosing chocolate, I love the bitter intensity of dark chocolate. Look for a cocoa percentage up in the 70s to create that strong flavor.

• Think of the milk like water for tea — you can add whatever spices you like to infuse the cocoa.

A few of my favorite recipes:

• For Mexican-inspired flavors, try Weekly Greens' Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate.
• For a boozy version, try Baked's Spiked Hot Chocolate.
• Love chai? Try Bon Appetit's Chai-Spiced Hot Chocolate.


I like you. Have you liked Metrocurean on Facebook?

I like you. Have you liked Metrocurean on Facebook?