The best hot chocolate in NYC

It looks like magic but really, it’s just dessert-world ingenuity—pastry maestro Dominique Ansel crowns his rich cup of hot cocoa with a marshmallow flower that’s wrapped in a band of chocolate. When the chocolate hits the warm liquid, it melts and the flower “blooms” and reveals a chocolate truffle in the middle. 

You'll have to wait until February to try the myriad incarnations presented during the bakery's annual Hot Chocolate Festival; for now, sate your sweet tooth with an oversize serving of the traditional version. Thick and potent, the cult favorite can be ordered with a dense, gooey, housemade marshmallow that bobs at the bubbly surface.

Steamed to order, this indulgent version of the wintry classic gets a distinctive essence  from Venezuelan gianduja milk chocolate and Tonda Gentile hazelnut chips. Cut only with a hint of white cane sugar and whole milk, the nutty flavors from the chocolate and the chips come through very clearly without being cloyingly sweet. 

What better accompaniment for the bakery's exceptional chocolate-chip cookies than a steamy mug of creamy hot cocoa made with melted dark chocolate and infused with dried lavender. $3.50

The Middle Eastern booza may is the coolest ice cream of them all, with a stretchy, soft-cheese texture that you can try. For the winter season, they're rolling out variations on hot chocolate, like Hot Vanilla topped with toasted marshmallows, Hot Horchata topped with cinnamon, and Hot Salted Oreo topped with crushed Oreos—all have sahlab to mimick the creamy consistency of hot chocolate.

No need to spoon it from the jar anymore—Nutella nuts can glug down this hot cup at Yann de Rochefort’s tapas bar instead, where two tablespoons of the hazelnut spread are splashed with a shot of oaky, lightly nutty brandy. 

Get a little woozy with this Mexican hot chocolate spiked with tequila. The drink is made with heavy cream, dark chocolate and cocoa mixed with toasted cinnamon and cayenne pepper and garnished with a think, homemade marshmallow laced with a mellowing CBD.

This pared-down cup brims with a ganache made of artisanal chocolates that's whipped with milk until smooth and creamy. A big ol' house-made marshmallow is plopped on top for even more sweetness. $4.95

Hungry Ghost in the bustling marketplace is serving this hot chocolate with soothing green cardamom, star anise, fennel seeds and cloves mixed with, of course, cocoa. There's also cinnamon, confection sugar and turmeric to give it that extra kick.