If you've ever stood in front of our hot chocolate shelf going back and forth between flavours, this box is our answer: you don't have to choose! Inside you'll find Classic, Mexican, Cinnamon Roll, Chai Spiced, and Peppermint, plus Gingerbread, back for this box only, baby!
Think of it as a sampler with a purpose.
Work through the tins over a few weeks, and you'll know exactly which deluxe tin to come back for. Or open them all at once on a cold night, hand out mugs, and let everyone steal sips from everyone else. (Fair warning: there will be trading.)
Shopping for someone else? This is about as safe a bet as gifts get. It covers the hot chocolate obsessive, the friend who's impossible to shop for, and the host of your next dinner party, and nobody has to guess which flavour they'll like best. They get to figure that out themselves, one mug at a time.
Where It All Starts
Every tin in the 6 Pack Hot Chocolate Tasting Collection starts with the same base: dark drinking chocolate from Guittard, a family-owned chocolate maker founded in San Francisco in 1868.
Guittard makes the drinking chocolate we use on a segregated line without milk protein. Milk ingredients are present elsewhere in its facility, though, so if you have a severe milk allergy, check the label and their website before you make the call that’s right for you.
Because we don't add milk powder, all 6 tins work with whatever milk you drink. That makes this box a safe gift for the oat milk drinker and the whole milk loyalist alike.
This is real chocolate rather than instant cocoa, which means it tastes darker and less sweet than a grocery-store packet. For the full story on why we chose Guittard and left out dairy, read Spicewalla's Hot Chocolates & Why They're Different.
Meet the Six
Classic is Guittard chocolate with salt and a little cinnamon. The cinnamon never announces itself. It rounds off the edges so the chocolate tastes deeper, the way a pinch of salt makes caramel taste more like caramel. Start here if you want to know what our base tastes like on its own.
Mexican adds cinnamon, cayenne, and nutmeg. Chocolate and chilli shared a cup in Mesoamerica for centuries before sugar ever reached the Americas. The cayenne brings real heat, so if you're heat-shy, start with a little less blend. Nutmeg sits underneath for depth.
Cinnamon Roll brings brown sugar, cinnamon, and Madagascar vanilla. The brown sugar adds a molasses note, and the extra vanilla on top of what's already in the chocolate pushes it toward the bakery case. It's one of the two sweeter tins in the box.
Chai Spiced is our chai masala folded into chocolate: ginger, cinnamon, green cardamom, black pepper, clove, and allspice. Ginger and black pepper lead, and they give it real bite. Along with Mexican, it's one of the two spicy tins in the box. If you don't love spice, start with a tablespoon and work up.
Peppermint pairs the chocolate with additional sugar and peppermint flavour. The mint lands cool on the finish. Of the six, it's the closest to the hot chocolate most of us grew up with, which makes it a good bridge for anyone who finds the others too dark.
Gingerbread is back from its limited run. All the flavour of your favorite holiday cookie, stirred into a cup of hot chocolate. There's no deluxe tin of it on our shelves right now, so this box is how to get it!
How to Make the Perfect Cup
Two tablespoons of blend, one cup of milk. Each tin holds enough for two cups at that ratio.
- Heat the milk. Warm 1 cup of dairy or plant milk over medium-low until it steams. Keep it below a boil.
- Start with a splash. Stir 2 tablespoons of blend into a little of the hot milk until no dry spots remain. Skipping this is how lumps happen.
- Whisk in the rest. A small whisk or frother gives you a smoother, foamier cup than a spoon can.
Notice a fine layer at the bottom? That's ground spice, which doesn't dissolve the way sugar does. One stir halfway through takes care of it.
From here, you can really make it your own! Stir in sugar or maple syrup for a sweeter cup, a splash of heavy whipping cream for a richer one, or an extra tablespoon of blend for more chocolate.
Please note: for Mexican and Chai Spiced, start with 1 tablespoon if you're sensitive to heat.
Recipes for the Rest of the Box
Each blend is sweetened chocolate with the spices already built in, which makes it a strong shortcut in baking and behind the bar. A few places to start:
- Haute Chocolate Brownies: fudgy brownies with our Classic blend in the batter.
- Hot Chocolate Truffles: from our culinary director, Alyse Baca, made with your choice of Classic, Chai Spiced, or Mexican. Roll a batch to tuck in beside the box when you give it.
- Highlander Mountain House's Peppermint Hot Chocolate Espresso Martini: a cocktail built on the Peppermint blend.
Six flavours, twelve cups, and Gingerbread back for another round! Grab the 6 Pack Hot Chocolate Tasting Collection for yourself and a few for the people on your list, or browse the full hot chocolate collection once you've found your favorite.
