From chocolate orange to vegan hot chocolate, here are some of our favourite varieties of the comforting drink.
Pump Street Bakery, Orford
No visit to the picturesque coastal village of Orford is complete without a stop at the Pump Street Bakery.
Visit for breakfast or lunch, making sure you try their homemade bread or pastries alongside their hot chocolate.
The warming drink is made from their own Single Farm Drinking Chocolate, which is also available to buy in the shop to take home and enjoy.
This drinking chocolate is made in Suffolk from beans sourced from the Hacienda Limon Estate by the Guantupi River in Ecuador. Chocolate made from the beans is shaved into flakes for melting into warm milk.
ICE Café, Rougham
The Infusions Group, the people behind the ICE Café in Rougham, really know their stuff when it comes to food and drink and ingredients.
Their hot chocolate is made from Belgian dark and milk chocolate pistoles and steamed and frothed milk.
Or go fully loaded and enjoy it topped with whipped cream and marshmallows.
Hot chocolate aficionados can buy the Belgian milk, dark and white chocolate pistoles in bulk from the Infusions 4 Chefs website too. It's ideal to use in confectionery and chocolate fountains as well as hot chocolate.
Hank's Deli, Ipswich
If you're looking for a vegan version of the comforting drink, head to Hank's Deli in Ipswich.
The drink is made with plant milk, and can be topped with vegan cream and marshmallows too.
This vegan café and deli in Lloyds Avenue currently stocks a mouth-watering range of festive cakes as well as plenty of savoury options for lunch.
Hank's is open late, until 9pm, on Friday nights until Christmas, and Hank's Pub and Food is set to open in the new year.
Marimba Cocoa House, Sudbury
Marimba are the chocolate experts based in west Suffolk.
Their chocolatiers in Bury St Edmunds make the Marimba Hot Chocolate Melt range in white, milk, dark, sugar-free and ruby varieties.
Top quality cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Equador are used in the chocolate flakes.
Buy them at the Sudbury shop or online and combine them with hot milk to enjoy, or try it out at the Sudbury Cocoa House.
Applaud Coffee, Ipswich
This award-winning café in Ipswich town centre is well-known for single origin coffee and breakfasts, lunches and cakes, but they also offer hot chocolate.
Their festive take on the drink this year is orange hot chocolate, accompanied by slices of chocolate orange.
Hot chocolate is one of the drinks available with their festive afternoon tea this year too.
Merry Christmas to us.
The Parlour, Lavenham
It's not just gorgeous ice creams which leave this petite parlour. No, Jane Hadley's lovely shop is also known for its magnificent, award-winning hot chocolates. Made with local milk and single estate chocolate, the warming treat is served with a handmade marshmallow. Look out for the hot chocolate at events in Suffolk too.
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