STRANGE BUT TRUE

I was born in the UK and lived there for 21 years and it was very rare to come across anyone who didn't drink tea or coffee....well that would be the case unless you came across Moi! 

For 21 years I never drank any hot drinks...strange but true..lol. "Why not" you may ask and my reply would be the same today as it was then...I don't like the taste of either and its as simple as that. I am a self confessed chocoholic yet the last choc in the box could be the coffee cream and there it would stay..

Yes sometimes I may have thought how nice it would be on a cold winters day to hug a big mug of tea or coffee but really it never appealed to me enough to partake in the bean or the leaf.....people often told me it was an acquired taste but I never remember chocolate or SD'S being an acquired taste it was "love" at first taste.

 I really only started to drink hot chocs when I came to live in SA and even then its a small window of opportunity as the summer temperatures of 30c+ isn't really conducive to hugging a hot drink so its confined to the winter months...After saying this I love the whole concept of Cafe culture and I join in but with a Hot Chocolate..

Thanks to Wikipedia for the below overview of Hot Chocolate.

Hot chocolate (also known as hot cocoa) is a heated beverage typically consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar. Drinking chocolate is similar to hot chocolate, but is made from melted chocolate shavings or paste, rather than a powdered mix that is soluble in water. Also, drinking chocolate usually is not as sweet as hot chocolate.

The first chocolate beverage is believed to have been created by the Mayas around 2,000 years ago, and a cocoa beverage was an essential part of Aztec culture by 1400 AD. The beverage became popular in Europe after being introduced from Mexico in the New World, and has undergone multiple changes since then. Until the 19th century, hot chocolate was even used medicinally to treat ailments such as stomach diseases. Today, hot chocolate is consumed throughout the world and comes in multiple variations including the very thick cioccolata densa served in Italy, and the thinner hot cocoa that is typically consumed in the United States.

Interesting this is... but my perfect Hot Choc has to be made with hot full cream milk (no skinny's for me) it must be rich,creamy and preferably have  some form of separate chocolate to melt into it...Oh! and cream on top or at least a nice thick foam and the choc powder on top to finish it off.

My preferred hot chocolate in SA is  from the franchised chain called Vida e caffe...www.vidaecaffe.com

“vida e caffè” is Portuguese for “life and coffee”.

As I regularly travel around South Africa it has enabled me to try many hot chocolates and I find vida e to be consistently good and rarely fails to hit the spot in order to give me my fix for the day. The Chocolate Quente R24 is actually made with Lindt chocolate discs....yummy

CHOCOLATE QUENTE 

   

Don't forget to ask for a loyalty card at vida e caffè to accumulate 5% “cash back” in points.