The best hot chocolate in Boston

When it comes to all things chocolate, this New Hampshire-based chocolatier is top tier. With cafés in Back Bay, Harvard Square and newly in Brookline serving pastries and specialty drinks, the appeal of L.A. Burdick goes beyond artisanal bonbons. The old-school, European-style hot chocolate—or “drinking chocolate,” as the menu reads—is made with your choice of dark, milk or white chocolate blends, or with a single-source varietal. Chocolate lovers should try the robust cacao from Grenada. Flavored drinking chocolates are also available for purchase by the bag. 

Founded by chocolatier Perla Rosario and her partner, Leo Baez, Cacao crafts beautiful bonbons, roasted nuts, drinking chocolate and other treats inspired by their shared heritage. The couple met in Boston, but Rosario's family owns a cacao farm in the Domincan Republic, where Baez grew up around cashew farms. Today, they have chocolate cafés in the South End, Newton Highlands and downtown on Broad Street, which all serve decadent hot chocolate infused with warm spices, plus several riffs including extra dark, spicy (with cayenne pepper), dulce de leche (with a rich caramel base) and fleur de sel. They also serve iced hot chocolate and frozen peanut butter hot chocolate.

You might not necessarily think about having a hot drink from this ice cream instution, but J.P. Licks has excellent options. The company has roasted its own small-batch, fair trade coffee beans at its Jamaica Plain headquarters since 1999, and its hot cocoa is also legendary, with a hint of cinnamon and velvety richness. Available at all locations with your choice of milk, J.P. Licks hot chocolate mix is also available to take home.

This quintessential North End coffee shop serves up piping hot authentic cioccolatto caldo (aka Italian-style hot chocolate). Whether you consider this a drink or dessert, the secret ingredient of corn starch thickens the mixture into a creamy cup of melted chocolate served with whipped cream. For the adult set, there are two boozy options – the Sleigh Ride (hot chocolate, Godiva liqueur, and Baileys) and the Italia (hot cocoa, hazelnut liqueur, kahlua, and brandy).

Sit fireside at Avery Bar Chocolat and sip on cocoa topped with all the goodies during this annual table-side hot cocoa service, starting October 28 through the holidays in the luxurious Four-Star hotel. With an option to keep your cocoa “perfectly nice” or make it “sinfully naughty” by adding your favorite spirit, choose from toppings curated by Ritz-Carlton, Boston pastry chef Christoper Goluszka, including house-made vanilla bean marshmallows and caramel whipped cream, along with candy cane shortbread cookies and double fudge brownies. Pair your cup with a selection of decadent sweets and pastries.

This Eastie gastropub’s hot chocolate is anything but child’s play. From the bar, patrons can order up the You Sexy Thing cocoa cocktail, Cunard Tavern’s homemade hot chocolate made with unsweetened cocoa powder, whole milk and vanilla syrup—spiked with black rum and topped with handshaken cinnamon amaro whipped cream. Sexy indeed.

At all locations of Flour, James Beard Award-winning baker Joanne Chang whips up a hot chocolate that’s incredibly rich and luscious thanks to the chocolate ganache and milk. The ganache is bittersweet Belgian chocolate mixed with heavy cream. The whole thing is steamed with milk until hot and frothy. 

This Cambridge spot is a must for cocoa. Created by celebrated pastry chef Brian Mercury, Cafe Beatrice’s Taza hot chocolate features the local chocolatier’s dark variety, which is ground up and combined with cocoa powder, cinnamon and a sprinkle of salt.

When you want a bit of a kick—and plenty of chocolate—Trident’s Chocolatino does you one better than the typical hot cocoa. Espresso is mixed with steamed chocolate milk and topped with whipped cream, cocoa, and chocolate syrup. Grab your favorite read and snuggle up with a cup.

Southern comfort in a cup is bourbon hot chocolate. Available at chef Jason Santos' Buttermilk & Bourbon restaurants in Back Bay and Watertown, this decadent drink of creamy chocolate includes homemade Luxardo cherry jam and torched marshmallow Fluff topping. With the signature spike of bourbon, it will warm you to your core.

This spot in Cambridge may be known for its Liège waffles (Belgian street waffles with pearl sugar), but in the winter you can pair your waffle with a cup of hot chocolate made with Taza chocolate, vanilla bean syrup, and steamed milk for the perfect warm treat on a chilly day.

The grand dame of Cambridge’s many coffeehouses serves cups of hot chocolate that you'll want to savor. Both locations—Inman and Central squares—offer a variety of Dutch cocoa-based hot chocolates including a standard version, a spicy Mexican cup with chipotle and cinnamon, and the decadent Almond Joy, which is prepared with almond syrup and coconut.

When Andre Sadowski, co-owner of The Thinking Cup, created the café's French Hot Chocolate, he was having a oui bit of nostalgia. "Our French hot chocolate was the idea I had from memories of my trips to Paris," he recalls of the moment this very dense melted chocolate drink came to fruition. They use melted 64% Tainori Valhrona single origin drinking chocolate, a high end alternative to typical powder, and the delight is served in a warmed porcelain cup. Whether or not to enjoy this treat doesn't take much thinking.

This red velvet hot chocolate cake-in-a-cup gives the dessert a run for its money. With a brilliant pink hue from the rouge cocoa used to prepare it, it also has velvety cream cheese notes that add a unique richness, and powdered chocolate sprinkles. It's thick and rich—dessert would be proud—so sip it slowly from the latte mug. With seven locations in Boston, Cambridge and Salem, Jaho also offers cookies-and-cream, PB&J, and regular hot cocoa, if you prefer to stick with tradition.

For something a little different, Tatte serves up a cup of cocoa that uses Belgian white chocolate. Steamed milk is poured over white chocolate morsels, then the creamy concoction is hand-mixed. It's a delightful sweet treat to enjoy while lingering in any location of this European-style cafe.