I’ve done a lot in the past month and a half. I could write about all the crazy things I’ve done in London, my day and weekend trips, or my life at UCL. But for some reason I really just want to talk about one thing, and that is hot chocolate. I don’t know what happened, but my friends and I have somehow found ourselves on a quest to find the best hot chocolate in London, and maybe, the UK. It all started the chocolate store Dark Sugars in Shoreditch. I’m a chocoholic. It’s my favorite food. I eat it every single day. And I’m telling you this store changed my perceptions on chocolate, and possibly even MY LIFE. Maybe it was the insane

 generosity when it came to free samples (and this store isn’t exactly cheap), maybe it was trying the raw cacao beans they have in store, maybe it was the pink champagne or gin and lime truffles. But their hot chocolate is a chocoholic’s DREAM. We tried just the plain flavour (but they had several spice flavors like cinnamon and chili). They take big blocks of dark, white, and milk chocolate and chop and grate it down, mix it with warm frothy milk and cocoa powder and put even more shavings on top. When you get about halfway done it turns basically to thick, melted chocolate. This store is truly my happy place.

While I’ve yet to find a hot chocolate in London that has surpassed the one at dark sugars, that hasn’t stopped me from trying to find one. The most memorable are as follows:

 

-Choccywoccydoodah, Soho: this place is insane–the vibe is a mix of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory, the tea party in Alice in Wonderland, and a Hot Topic. With a name like Choccywoccydoodah, we knew it had to be good and it didn’t disappoint. I got the dark chocolate and cherry hot chocolate and a slice of their six-layer taster cake. Need I say more?

 

-Chin Chin Labs, Camden Market: I’ve heard that this is the best place in London for hot chocolate–while I don’t think it topped my Dark Sugars experience, I can definitely see why it has such a good reputation. The place gets points for location alone– smack dab in the middle of Camden Lock Market, one of the best street food scenes in London, and their Nitro ice cream is supposed to be phenomenal. Their hot chocolates were delicious and not too sweet, and the dollop of bruleed marshmallow fluff on top made my day.

-Mary’s Milk Bar, Edinburgh. Okay, so this one isn’t in London, but I couldn’t not include it. This little place wasn’t far from our hostel in Edinburgh’s grassmarket neighborhood, and is Buzzfeed and Insta famous. They serve their hot chocolate as floats, with a scoop of any one of their homemade ice creams. They suggested the salted caramel. It was a good suggestion. The only thing I didn’t like about this place was their limited hours so we couldn’t come back and get it again!

-Said, Soho: This was a bit of a different take, but was still great. Served in an espresso mug, this little shot of chocolate was intense and super thick, and it tasted like drinking brownie batter. Heaven.

Location: Wc1x 0hd