get your hot chocolate on

Unlike Christopher Elbow, we don't charge $4 dollars a mug and we publish the recipe. The key, as always, are fine ingredients. Here's what you'll need.

Freshly roasted, freshly ground coffee, suggest Broadway Coffee Sumatra Mandheling.
1/2 and 1/2, suggest Shatto Farms.
Giradeli Ground Chocolate.
Lindt Dark Chocolate w/ Chilis.
Dash of fresh vanilla.
Twist of orange rind.
Crystallized ginger, soft peppermints, or homemade marshmallows (recipe to follow).

To begin. Grind your coffee for French press. Boil some water in a teapot. If your concerned about calories, you'll probably want to make chamomile tea. This hot cacao isn't something you'd drink everyday.

Use heavy mugs (your favorite) for this because it's special. For each cup of hot chocolate you'll need 1 tablespoon of ground chocolate and 2 squares (approx. 25 g. or about 1 oz.) of chocolate. Stir the ground chocolate into the 1/2 and 1/2 and then slowly heat over a very gentle flame. Add the chocolate and continue stirring to melt the chocolate. Do not boil. Add a dash of vanilla.

Once your water reaches the proper temperature for making coffee, pour it into the french press and let it steep for 5 minutes. Pour the melted chocolate mixture to fill about a third of the cup, then add coffee to the remaining. Stir to incorporate. Garnish with orange twist, candied ginger, peppermints, or marshmallows. Serve fireside.

Note: OK, given your income level you can go up with the ingredients (i.e. use a better chocolate) or you can go down a notch (i.e. use milk and hersey's cocoa. But using freshly, ground and perfectly roasted coffee is key here. Over-roasted coffees will overwhelm the chocolate flavors.