The best hot chocolate in Boston

When it comes to all things cacao, this New Hampshire-based chocolatier is one of the biggest names in the Boston area, with chocolate cafés in Back Bay and Harvard Square. Their old-school, European-style hot chocolate—or “drinking chocolate,” as Burdick bills it—is made with either Burdick’s dark, milk or white chocolate blends, or with single source varietals, e.g. robust mineral-flavored cacao from Grenada.

This waterfront restaurant located in the Seaport offers a Mexican-style hot chocolate with an optional kick. The beverage is made with Taza stone ground Mexican chocolate—it’s organic, fair trade and crafted right over in Somerville—and topped with fresh whipped cream. Want a little extra zip? You can also have this rich drink spiked with tequila!

This Newbury Street favorite offers a creamy hot chocolate made with not one, but two different types of chocolate. This decadent drink is topped with house made whipped cream and chocolate chips. You can kick this one up with a shot of vanilla vodka, or just sip on the original and enjoy its sober sweetness.

The contemporary French restaurant right in the heart of Back Bay, Rochambeau, offered one of our favorite hot chocolate cocktails last winter. A warm cocktail with amaro and anise-flavored Pernord. Finish your holiday shopping at the Pru and then head next door for Rochambeau’s hot chocolate this season as well.

Don’t want to choose between all the excellent hot chocolate options? Stephanie’s Hot Chocolate Experience allows you to mix and match different gourmet hot chocolates in a flight of four. Available both regular or spiked, if you love one, you can also order a single flavor instead of a flight.

Last winter they had: Classic milk chocolate, pumpkin spice white chocolate, peppermint milk chocolate, and espresso mocha. We can’t wait to see what they come up with this year!

A small French café tucked away in downtown crossing, Café Bonjour is the perfect spot to cozy up with a mug of hot chocolate and some crepes.

This bright, modern café located on Newbury St. is the perfect oasis from the cold. Recharge with a cup of hot chocolate, hand-picked selection of fine coffees and teas, fresh juices and exquisite baked goods. 

The grand dame of Cambridge’s many coffeehouses serves cups of hot chocolate that you'll want to savor. Both locations—Inman Square and Central Square—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.

Located at Bow Market in Somerville, chocolate shop Gâté Comme Des Filles offers an incredibly rich Parisian-style hot chocolate. Order the chocolat chaud avec crème chantilly maison, this thick hot chocolate topped with homemade whipped cream topped; watch for seasonal flavor specials.

Curio, located in Cambridge, may be known for their Liège waffles but in the winter you can pair your waffle with a cup of hot chocolate made with Taza chocolate. The perfect warm treat for a cold day.

At Flour, James Beard Award-winning baker Joanne Chang spices up hot chocolate with chili and cayenne peppers. It makes a perfect pairing with one of the many light, flaky pastries on offer—perhaps a coconut cream tartlette or ginger molasses cookie.

Both locations of this Southern-style restaurant serve up an absolutely decadent mug of hot cocoa. Bourbon Hot Chocolate is made with homemade Luxardo cherry jam, rich creamy chocolate, torched fluff and—you guessed it— bourbon. Stop by the Back Bay or Arsenal Yards to get a taste of this rich beverage. 

This Cambridge newcomer 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.

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.

Thinking Cup calls its hot chocolate French-style, which means it is made with melted chocolate—in this case, industry bigwig Valrhona’s Tainori, which has a fruity, yeasty flavor and 64% cocoa solid count (that's wicked high for milk chocolate).

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 the welcoming, European-style cafe.