Adelaide’s best hot chocolate
The best hot chocolates in Adelaide are at these CDB sweet-eries.
Winter has struck. The pilled old coats have been dusted off and removed from the hibernation locale in the closet, set for wear in the CityMag office – orange and navy tartan is this reporter’s jacket of choice.
Though many cultural drinks we’ve come across have unknown history, the origins of the hot chocolate seem to be pretty clear. It’s said its origins began in 500BC in Mexico when the Mayans would have ground-up cocoa seeds mixed with water, cornmeal and chilli.
Different to the drink we know today, the hot chocolate has since evolved into a sweet treat with – as we found on our quest around Adelaide – many different variations from cookies and cream to your straight chocolate and whipped cream and marshmallow-infused options.
If you’re a seasoned CityMag ‘best of’ reader, then skip this par. If you’re new here, let us explain how we play: the Grammable score is ranked from one to five on how we’d post them on Instagram – no post (one), Close Friends story (two), story (three), in a photo dump (four), main post on the grid (five) – we score them as if we’re influencers who post on Instagram daily.
The rest of the ratings are scored from one to 10, then averaged out. Do note with the ‘richness’ category, 10 shouldn’t be considered perfect, but too rich. 10 would be untouched melted dark chocolate in a cup, whereas one would be hot water with two specks of home-brand choc powder.
This is the drinker’s choice, as our perfect level of richness would reach a six or seven score rating.
Also, note that location does not just consider the hard address, but the vibe of the place, the interiors, and everything one can note from the hot chocolate’s whereabouts.
So read on, drink up and take a winter tour of the best hot chocolates we found around Adelaide.
‘Justin Bliss’
Richness: 6.8 | Tastiness: 9.3 | Fun: 8.3 | Location: 6.6 | Grammable: Dump
This unassuming Gawler Place location just off Rundle Mall caught our attention once we spotted its cabinets filled with rows of decadent chocolate. Another that boasted multiple hot chocolate options on the menu, we opted for the Vienna, which humbly wore a swirl of whipped cream and a drizzle of melted chocolate on top. This was, dare we state the obvious: blissful. This hot choc earned its name from an autocorrect fumble as a too-eager-for-a-sweet-treat reporter hastily sent the location to the group chat. Much like stumbling across a poster of a teen heartthrob in an early 2000s magazine, Justin was just what a girl needs after a rough week. The well-frothed hot chocolate wasn’t too thick or sickly, but an indulgent treat. The mezzanine dining area is a secluded spot to enjoy your hot choc in peace, with a good book – or the latest issue of CityMag.
‘The Sensible Fellow’
Richness: 7 | Tastiness: 8.3 | Fun: 4 | Location: 9.3 | Grammable: No post
This hot chocolate was a couverture hot chocolate. And if you, dear reader, were to remember one thing from this listicle, it’s that this hot chocolate is the luxury Belgian type (it’s God tier, basically). And Exchange’s use of the God tier kind did not go unnoticed. It was rich without being sickening, it was sweet without being overbearing, and it was – dare I say it – the perfect sweet treat after a hard day on the tools (that being the laptops). But there was something oh so sensible about Exchange’s hot chocolate. If we were to look up a hot chocolate on Google Images, this is what we’d find. It came in the most appropriate mug that fit the palm of our hands perfectly. This Exchange exchange was just neat! The autumn leaves fell gracefully on our heads as we sipped out hot drinks outside on a cool (but sunny) winter day.
‘Pillowy pizzaz’
Richness: 3.6 | Tastiness: 6 | Fun: 9 | Location: 5.3 | Grammable: Dump
We visited Shibui early in our hot chocolate search, enamoured by the marshmallow-rimmed drink we first saw on TikTok. We’ve since discovered it’s quite the trend, with other cafes trying their hand at it. Shibui offers this sweet treat in five varieties, including matcha, Milo and Biscoff but we opted for the classic hot choc. Our reporters were apprehensive; would this be too much even for the sweet tooth among us? But this was not your average marshmallow. Lightly toasted, it tasted like the middle child in a family of marshmallow and méringue siblings. It definitely levels up a hot chocolate that, candidly, wouldn’t have made the list without the fluffy gimmick. Located a short walk from Chinatown, we’ve deducted points due to having to wait until 7pm to try this fluffy bad boy. But, for a sweet spot after grabbing dinner in the nearby foodie precinct, it does the job.
‘When I was in Paris’
Richness: 7.3 | Tastiness: 9 | Fun: 9.3 | Location: 6.3 | Grammable: Grid post
Emulating that Parisian feel, Cha Cha’s hot chocolate was a delight. But this hot chocolate worked differently: a glass with rich chocolate, a cup of whipped cream and an accompanying bar of dark chocolate and a strawberry. This meant we could add the whipped cream as we pleased to make the hot chocolate as rich and tasty as we liked – tick. This rated highly all around, and we admit, this was Grammable (there’s proof!), but in our case, it was for the wrong, unfortunate reasons. One of our clumsier reporters took a hearty sip from the deep centre and spilt it all over the table. Oh no! The tasty, yummy sweet treat we wanted was empty, left with nothing but a cup of whipped cream and a big ol’ mess. This was an otherwise perfect hot chocolate drinking experience, had it not been for user error.
‘The DIY’
Richness: 7.2 | Tastiness: 6.2 | Fun: 8 | Location: 10 | Grammable: Story
Picture this: you have had a big morning at work. Rough meetings, the boss is not happy, you desperately need a pick me up. But your calendar is full – you don’t have time to relax for a sit-down hot chocolate. Never fear, everybody’s favourite Rundle Mall French takeaway shop has exactly what you need to get your day back on track. Les Deux Coqs’ hot chocolate spoon allows you to take back control. Keep it at your desk until you really need it, heat up some milk in your favourite mug, and get stirring. You can choose your flavour, but this sweet tooth went with a milk chocolate spoon. Allow the delectable, rich chocolate to melt into the milk, leaving behind the perfect amount of melted chocolate just begging to be licked off the spoon. With two marshmallows just waiting to be dropped in, this is the ideal office sweet treat for when you really need it.
‘Location, location, location!’
Richness: 7.2 | Tastiness: 6.2 | Fun: 8 | Location: 10 | Grammable: Story
Nestled against floor-to-ceiling windows among more books than you could poke a stick at, Dymocks’ Script & Bean café offers an unprecedented number of hot chocolate flavours (11, to be exact). So much so that this group of reporters had to go back a second time! Incredibly taxing work, as you can imagine. After taste-testing orange, raspberry, and hazelnut hot chocolates, we decided on Script & Bean’s cookies and cream option. Served on a cute little board adorned with a single heart chocolate and marshmallows, the toasty beverage’s flavour was somewhere between that of cookies and cream and a traditional hot chocolate. It goes without saying, but make sure you add the marshmallows to this one. Something in their gooey, melted flavour took this not-too-sweet hot choccie to the next level. Probably all the sugar.
This article first appeared in our 40 Under 40 2024 edition.
