GIFT: Gourmet Cocoa And Hot Chocolate

December 12, 2013 at 1:26 pm · Filed under Beverages, Fair Trade, Food Holidays, Kosher Nibbles

Winter Hot Chocolate is a classic cocoa mix
with a touch of vanilla. Photo courtesy Lake
Champlain Chocolates.

“Forget Christmas gifts this year,” said our friend Gerard, when he called to invite us to his annual party and gifting frenzy. “At this point in our lives, none of us needs another scarf, another basket of Kiehl’s products, another tzotchke, another random book.”

“Can we bring some gourmet cocoa?” we suggested. “Sure,” he responded.

That’s why we love food gifts. They can readily be consumed by the recipient, his guests or his family members.

And you don’t have to go far to find something good. Any upscale supermarket has gourmet chocolate bars, fine olive oil and gourmet hot chocolate.

We passed by all of them at Whole Foods yesterday, including these gifty hot chocolate canisters from Lake Champlain Chocolates (also available directly from Lake Champlain Chocolates). They’re just $10.50 for a festively-designed one-pound canister (one pound makes approximately 21 eight-ounce servings). You can package the gifts with some handmade marshmallows in the confections section.

Lake Champlain’s hot chocolate is certified kosher by Star-D, and is Fair Trade Certified, which means that it’s a feel-good product, right for the holiday season.

Fair trade certification allows farmers to receive higher prices than they would in the conventional market. It means that the farmers are paid a fair price for their product and are not exploited by middlemen who pay them less than their crop is worth.

Read more about Fair Trade.

25 WAYS TO GLAMORIZE A CUP OF COCOA

From adding flavors—banana, cinnamon, chai, hot spices, mint—to liqueurs, we’ve got 25 ways to make an already delicious cup of cocoa even more memorable.

Check ‘em out.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COCOA & HOT
CHOCOLATE

December 12th is National Cocoa Day. What’s the difference between cocoa and hot chocolate?

Most people use the terms interchangeably, but they’re actually different.

Cocoa is a drink made from cocoa powder.

Hot chocolate is a drink made from actual chocolate, usually ground or shaved into small bits. Chocolate has more cocoa butter than cocoa powder, so it makes a richer drink, all things being equal (the same type of milk, e.g.).