Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite hot chocolate?

This is the story of Goldilocks and the three hot chocolates

Eden

Dec 07, 2023

I went through my whole life thinking I didn’t like chocolate, when in fact I just don’t like sweet milk chocolate. Maybe I’m old or maybe my palette is sophisticated, but I prefer more bitter dark chocolate. I also grew up making hot chocolate with water instead of milk, so I have a higher tolerance for a watery texture.

Lorenzo has always enjoyed chocolate and likes it sweet AF, he does not like dark chocolate much at all. He grew up making his hot chocolate with milk and scoffs at anything watered down. He also grew up drinking more Milo (similar to Ovaltine) than actual hot chocolate, so he enjoys a maltier flavor.

Which new hot chocolate was the winner of the past weekend? The answer will (probably not) surprise you!

Hot Chocolate #1 - The Liquid S’more from Rubyzaar Baked

📍Rubyzaar booth at the Union Square Holiday Market
💰 $8
😋 Sweet + thicc

Before we talk about taste, this hot chocolate immediately gets points for style because it’s served in a riff on the classic Anthora Coffee Cup (which I promise I will talk about in a future issue). But it loses points because you’ll be waiting in a long line for this one. Rubyzaar is an end booth on the east side of the market and when you get over there and see a line, this is what it’s for. I made Lorenzo get in line and I grabbed a treat from Wafels + Dinges to enjoy while we waited.

An essential line treat + my breakfast that day

Taste wise, this bad boy is sweet and thicc. It’s basically a cup full of melted chocolate, probably mixed with some milk to make it nearly drinkable. There’s a layer of torched marshmallow fluff on top with two graham crackers stuck in it. My tip for consuming this is to eat the grahams right away because they just get soggy and sink. I get that they’re needed to complete the s’mores trifecta, but they don’t do anything for this drink. Then you’ll need to spoon the chocolate out because the marshmallow covers the whole rim and prevents you from actually drinking this until it eventually all melts and combines.

Lorenzo enjoyed the sweetness and texture of this one, but agreed that the grahams were unnecessary. It was a bit too sweet for my taste and was something I could only take a few spoons of. It’s basically a meal on its own and isn’t something you can enjoy with a cookie or something, which is a shame because Rubyzaar’s cookies are great! We grabbed the Vietnamese coffee Hoi Ann + the butterscotch Sticky Fingers flavors. And here’s a tip - you don’t have to wait in the hot chocolate line if you just want to grab a cookie!

Verdict: If you have time to kill or a buddy who can divide and conquer the market with you, then it might be worth the wait. But if you’re staring at a long line, just grab a cookie and call it a day. You can make this at home with melted chocolate and fluff.

Hot Chocolate #2 - Hot Milo from The Boiis Co

📍The Boiis Co booth at the Union Square Holiday Market
💰 $8
😋 Watery + not too sweet

The Boiis Co are a Filipino company that have had their mookies (mochi cookies) available at various popups throughout the city the last couple years. This year they’re in the food court area of the market and in addition to their mookies, they have mochi squares (bibingka), mochi banana bread, and a couple drinks.

Their hot chocolate technically isn’t hot chocolate - it’s chocolate Milo! Milo is more popular in Asia + Australia, but it’s pretty similar to our Ovaltine. It adds some nice toasted malty notes to the chocolate flavor. They top the hot Milo with whipped cream, an ube marshmallow, and some ube dust. I love that ube is everywhere now because I fuckin love that flavor, but I also recognize that we’re gentrifying the shit out of this potato.

This drink wasn’t super thick because I suspect they mixed the Milo powder with water instead of steamed milk. Lorenzo said it was too watery, but I didn’t mind because it was easier to drink. It also wasn’t overly sweet because of the malt flavor, which I liked. This felt more like a drink I could enjoy with a little snack and if you know me, you know I like a little snack. I preferred the whipped cream topping to the liquid s’more’s marshmallow because it was easier to drink. But I was disappointed in the marshmallow - it just disappeared! I wanted to be able to eat the little ube mallow but it melted into my drink before I knew what had happened.

As for their other treats, I was a bit disappointed in their mookie. The mochi wasn’t very chewy and the ube flavor was pretty mild. I want to go back and try their mochi squares because those bad boys look mad squishy!

Verdict: Overall, this is a solid walk and sip option. You’re not going to make a mess trying to consume this and you’re not going to get a crazy sugar high. I also never saw the line get too long, so it’s a low time commitment. I don’t know if it’s the best hot chocolate, but it’s a good drink.

Share this post with your friend who insists on drinking sad packets of Swiss Miss

Hot Chocolate #3 - Dark Hot Chocolate from The Color of Chocolate

📍Urbanspace Vanderbilt Market
💰 $5 for a small
😋 Just right

This one requires a bit of a history lesson for those who aren’t familiar with the absolute institution that was City Bakery. City Bakery was open from 1990 to 2019 and was very well known for hot chocolate. They hosted a Hot Chocolate Festival each year and served up different flavors each day for a month. They were beloved. That’s why when I heard that the former owner, Maury Rubin, had a hot chocolate popup this year I was fuckin stoked.

The hot chocolate from Color of Chocolate is the only thing worth getting from Urbanspace Vanderbilt, so don’t even bother with anything else (we got very mid burgers and were sad). You order from a kiosk and then bring your receipt up to Maury to retrieve your hot chocolate. There are 3 flavors available daily and you can add alcohol during the week. I went with the Original Dark Hot Chocolate and as soon as I saw Maury making it, I knew this was gonna be the one.

Behind his little booth, there was a Willy Wonka-esque setup of multiple pots, ladles, and burners. When Maury takes your order ticket, he’ll ladle out some warm chocolate from a pot and put it into a tall cup. Then he’ll goes over to the old school milkshake mixer to froth that baby up. I ordered a small because I was already 2 hot chocolates deep, but Maury was generous with his ladles and gave me a large anyways. I thanked him and told him I was happy he was here and he said he was happy to be here, too. Y’all, it was so fuckin sweet!

Anyways, I think it goes without saying this was my favorite of the day. I’ll let Judy take it away:

The chocolate flavor was definitely more on the bitter end, but not so much that it was too strong. The texture was perfectly creamy, but not so much that you need to eat it with a spoon. I could absolutely have enjoyed this hot chocolate with a cookie. This hot chocolate had the least frills and gimmicks, nothing to hide behind but its own flavor. Lorenzo and I both agreed that this was the best of the day.

Verdict:

Honorable Mentions

I took Lorenzo on a hot chocolate crawl last year too! Here are some of our favorites from then. They’re also more mainstays rather than popups, so you can get that chocoaltey goodness all year round.

Lysee

Lysee is a very bougie Korean bakery that is set up to look like a museum. You can make a reservation to enjoy treats in their small cafe space or head upstairs to see their “exhibit” and order takeout. Their baked goods are as good as they look, but they are pretty pricey.

They offer a maemil hot chocolate for $11, which has notes of buckwheat alongside Valrhona chocolate and it’s topped with a vanilla marshmallow. I’ve gotten this hot chocolate multiple times and the strength of the buckwheat flavor has varied. I enjoyed it more buckwheatey, but Lorenzo liked when it was more chocolate forward. It has a great drinkable texture, not too watery but not so thick you need to eat it with a spoon. If you want something on the fancier side, this is a solid one. Also, it’s dairy free!

Bar Pisellino

I got a tea to help prime my stomach for the amount of chocolate and dairy I was about to consume

This was Lorenzo’s top pick from last year! Bar Pisellino is an Italian bar that serves coffee, wine, and cocktails, but they also have a cioccolato caldo nestled unassumingly on their beverage list for $8. Their hot chocolate is served in a cute teacup and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. It’s also served with some sparkling water on the side because Italian!

I know it might seem like I don’t enjoy a thick hot chocolate based on my earlier comments, but this one is an exception. It’s meant to be enjoyed and consumed slowly and it’s the perfect thickness for just that. It comes with a tiny spoon for those first few slurps with the whip. But it’s not too think that you can’t absolutely fucking down the rest of it when your cup gets too low for spooning. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. This would have been great to enjoy with a pastry, but this was our first stop and we were pacing ourselves.

What’s Good 😎

Santa Con is invading our city this weekend and depending on your age and temperament for crowds of drunk people, you’ll probably want to prepare for it differently. I’ll be hiding in my apartment, but if you plan on going out, The Boiis Co is offering free ginger salabat to the first 50 santas who stop by their booth!
‘Tis the season for gingerbread houses! Gotham West Market is hosting a Boozy Gingerbread House Building event on Dec 12. Tickets are $55, but that includes all of your building materials and a boozy milkshake, so that feels like a good deal for NYC.
If you prefer to look at gingerbread houses, you can visit the Museum of the City of NY (one of my fave museums) to see their Great Gingerbread Borough Bakeoff finalists. Bakers across the 5 boroughs create gingerbread house versions of famous landmarks and they are so much better than the dilapidated fucking gingerbread shanties I can make.
A few of my favorite places to eat are hosting a Coat Drive thru Dec 25. You can drop off a coat at the following locations to receive a free treat!
•8-Bit Bites is offering a free chicken sandwich
•Poetica Coffee is offering a free cafe drink
•7th Street Burger is offering a free burger
•Brain Food is offering a free smoothie
If you want to visit the Dyker Heights Holiday Lights, you can reference this very helpful guide written by a resident of the neighborhood for Gothamist. I’ve never been because I find the whole idea overwhelming, but let me know if you go and have a nice time!
Here’s a funny story - an old coworker’s uncle went viral online for posting pictures of the same breakfast every morning: an english muffin with peanut butter. He’s selling a calendar that has photos of his breakfast for every day of the year and I think this could be an excellent gift for someone.
Finishing up with a couple Holiday Markets that are open this weekend: Cafe Botani has a market on Sunday Dec 10, the Greenpointers Market is also on Sunday Dec 10, Mary’s Bar is hosting a Thrift Market on Dec 9, and Welcome to Chinatown is hosting a Ceramic Sale all weekend from Dec 8-10.

Thanks for letting me go a bit off script while I try to get my life together this week! Have you had any of these hot chocolates? Are there any good ones I missed?