MAP: Forget coffee, these 5 hot chocolates deserve the spotlight this winter

Let’s face it, winter in Southern California isn’t as chilly as the rest of the country, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want that cozy, warm feeling we get from sipping a hot beverage this season.

Coffee may get all the hype for its caffeinated boost, but hot chocolate deserves its own high praise.

The hot chocolate we know today didn’t appear overnight; it evolved over centuries. Mesoamericans such as the Mayans and Aztecs believed that chocolate was a divine gift from the gods, and they may have been onto something.

The chocolate that early Ingenious tribes drank wasn’t served sweet or hot. It was drunk as a cold, bitter, energizing beverage spiced with chili peppers known as xocolatl, which the Aztecs used for rituals, to prepare for war, and as medicine for ailments such as coughs and muscle pain.

The exact arrival of chocolate in Spain is disputed, but by the late 1500s, the Spanish experienced a chocolate craze that led to their version of hot chocolate. The drink was served hot, sweetened, mixed with cinnamon and other common spices and flavorings, and without chili peppers. Then, in the 1700s, Sir Hans Sloane, an 18th-century Irish physician, while in Jamaica, adapted the beverage by adding milk and sugar, paving the way for the hot chocolate we drink today.

Twists on this ancient beverage are still happening at coffee shops and restaurants across the world, including in Southern California. Some shops are still serving spicy hot chocolates, while others innovate the beverage by adding ingredients such as lavender, caramel and chocolate from other regions of the world.

Here are five unique hot chocolates to keep you cozy throughout the winter in Southern California.

Amara Café & Restaurant

7:30 a.m.- 3 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 55 S Raymond Ave, Pasadena. 626-744-1765. amaracafe.com.

Amara Café & Restaurant in Pasadena is not only a must-try for its Venezuelan cuisine, known for its cachapas, the savory-sweet corn pancakes, but it also has an excellent hot chocolate. The shop serves a couple of hot chocolates made with Chef Amara Barroeta’s own recipe, which includes Criollo cacao beans, organic cocoa powder, and cane sugar. Amara Café & Restaurant serves a few hot chocolates, including a spicy Mexican one that packs a serious kick, but the one that stole the spotlight was the Raymond. This Venezuelan hot chocolate blend has a dark, thick caramel texture with a s’mores-style marshmallow that melts into the cup and your mouth with every sip. The Raymond is ultra chocolatey, so if you’re not a certified chocolate lover, beware. The restaurant also sells a pack for you to make at home when it’s too cold or gloomy to venture out.

Arcade Downtown

7 a.m.- 4 p.m. daily. 3870 Main St #101, Riverside, CA 92501. 951-394-3809. arcadecoffeeroasters.com.

Some hot chocolate recipes experiment with how much chocolate richness can be packed into a cup, but what happens when the beverage is devoid of chocolate altogether? Before you pick up your pitchforks and gather an angry mob with banners exclaiming, “I thought this was a hot chocolate round up!” hear me out. Arcade Downtown in Riverside serves hot chocolate with vanilla only and your choice of milk, crafting a beverage that tastes like cookies and cream, but with slightly less of the cookie flavor. The result is a beautiful white beverage that resembles a warm cup of melted snow and is a twist on a classic that usually centers on chocolate, making it a rarity in its own right. Are we ready to move on from hot chocolate altogether? Of course not, but expanding our taste buds while staying cozy never hurt anyone.

ChocoVivo

Noon- 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Noon- 9 p.m. Friday-Sunday. 12469 Washington Blvd, Los Angeles. 310-845-6259. chocovivo.com.

Chocovivo in Los Angeles serves a hot chocolate that is closer to the beverage’s indigenous roots, sourcing its cacao beans from a family-owned farm in Tabasco, Mexico. The shop’s chocolate beverages, along with its other products, are bean-to-bar, meaning the cacao beans are stone-ground using lava stones, just as they were over 2,000 years ago. Because the chocolate is minimally processed, it maintains its purity and nutrients and is made fresh every week. The shop does not use any flavorings, extracts or additional cacao butter, so you can really taste the natural flavors. Chocovivo customers go through three steps when ordering, beginning with choosing their drink, which ranges from American- or European-style hot chocolate to frozen or iced chocolate. Then they can choose the cacao percentage they want, and for the last step, their milk choice. The Sipping Hot Chocolate on the menu is a European iteration made with a thick shot of hot chocolate. I went with a 58% cacao level chocolate dubbed the Mayan, made with cinnamon, almonds and chiles, giving it thickness and spicy cinnamon taste reminiscent of champurrado.

El Moro Churrería

6 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 6 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2300 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa. northgatemarket.com.

El Moro Churrería originated in Mexico City and has been in the region since 1935. It opened its first U.S. location at the Mercado González Northgate Market in Costa Mesa late in 2023 and plans to open another in Echo Park. The Churrería, which serves hot chocolates made with organic Tabasco cocoa alongside vegan churros, has its origins in Spain. In 1933, Francisco Iriarte, who arrived in Mexico with his churro recipe featuring cinnamon sugar, elevated the snack throughout the region and the country. The Español is a sweet and thick hot chocolate made to be the perfect dipping beverage for the shop’s churros. Top the beverage with marshmallows for that extra layer of decadence.

Pandor Artisan Bakery and Café

7 a.m.- 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-9 p.m.13124 Jamboree Road, Irvine. 949-535-0777. pandorbakery.com.

Pandor Artisan Bakery and Café has a few locations in Orange County, serving French fare and pastries. Among the tasty beverages are the cafe’s hot chocolates. While the shop sells a killer hot chocolate truffle, the most unique iteration of the beverage is the lavender hot chocolate. The beverage offers subtle hints of lavender, the fragrant flowering evergreen plant in the mint family, but lets the chocolate flavor do all the work. Pair it with one of the shop’s pastries for the best sweet tooth satisfaction.