Warm Up with a Cup of Joy: Hot Chocolate Edition

The Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival 2025

This year is the 15th annual Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival. Just FYI, that’s Vancouver, BC, Canada, not our nearby neighbour Vancouver, Washington.

My husband and I have been going every year for the past handful of years at least. I don’t think the whole 15 years because we probably didn’t know about it when it first started.

The hot chocolate festival runs January 18th until February 14th each year, right in the middle of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere – even though it’s on the West Coast, so we don’t get as cold as the rest of Canada, this year we’ve been in a little cold snap (cold for us West Coasters that is which is 0-5 or 6 degrees Celsius (that’s 32-41/42F). Perfect temps for traipsing around town for hot chocolates on a regular basis!

Even though we’ve only tried a small handful of the hot chocolates from a total of 81 vendors (cafes and chocolatiers), with 180 flavours and 124 locations around what’s called the Lower Mainland (the cluster of various cities around Vancouver, including Vancouver itself), it’s been enjoyable. I’ve ended up having a total of 7, my husband, by the end of this week will have had a total of 9.

And as like last year, I made a spreadsheet! Yes, I’m one of those people! I went through all the vendors and made a note of all the hot chocolates that sounded nice, that both I and my husband would like, along with location and the time period the hot chocolate is offered, and a price column. Mainly cafes/chocolatiers participating had 2 (sometimes more!) offerings – one for the first half of the festival from January 18th – 31st, and a second one (stopping the first one) for the second half from February 1st – 14th. Though some places did run both drinks for the whole length of the festival. Or as I said, there’s a small amount that have 3 or maybe 4 drinks on offer.

The Festival is probably a lot of work for all participating vendors, but the hope for them is to get new business. People come to try their fancy hot chocolates, and get an idea of what they offer, and maybe decide to come back again, perhaps becoming regular customers.

But without further ado, let’s get into the hot chocolates, shall we?!

Because there’s just something about hot chocolate (or hot cocoa) that soothes the soul, and brings a dose of joy isn’t there?

Day 1 January 18th

We kicked off day 1 of the festival at Melt Confectionary – a chocolate shop found on busy Main Street (a place that my husband and I, whenever we happen to (rarely) go to Main Street, always want to explore more – there’s lots of great cafes and restaurants and shops!). We went late at night, at 7pm since they were open until 8 and we didn’t want to risk it being busy. It was a TINY place with only 4 seats, and thankfully there was 2 free! Our first hot chocolate festival offering we went for was their DELICIOUS biscoff cookie butter hot chocolate and even more delicious and AAAAAMAZING espresso ganache tart! Price was $14. So a bit of sticker shock, but on average the prices range from around $9.50 to $15. Plus that tart was the best thing ever. And remains the best treat of the festival. We both complained it was tiny, but then again it was so rich, I think if it was bigger it would be too sickly. Right away this was top of the list and we knew it would be hard to beat! The chocolate garnish on the drink also tasted of biscoff cookie butter!

January 19th

Day 2 we went for another hot chocolate. Yes, the next day! This one was called Hot Buttered Rum Meets Stroopwafel Hot Chocolate, from my favourite café in town – To Live For (and it’s vegan. I’m not vegan, but I’m happy to eat plant based where I can!). It was delish! I’m not a huge fan of rum flavour but it wasn’t too rummy – just the perfect amount! And it perfectly melts the stroopwafel. The stroopwafel, though tasty, was a bit disappointing as a treat because…you can get them anywhere, really. Still good though, as expected from my fave café (and a regular stop on my running route!). Price was $11.25 (Canadian). Not as heart attack inducing as Melt!

January 23rd

My husband went to a café on his own (he was in the area for work) and went to Doughgirls Comfort Kitchen and Bakeshop for their ‘Blondes Have More Crumb’ hot chocolate – which was a white hot chocolate inspired by Miss Betty Grable with an infusion of citrus and gingersnap, accompanied by a peaches n cream crumb bar with cream cheese rugulah crumb and layered with cream cheese filling. It looked and sounded delicious and he said it was! And it was the cheapest of all the hot chocolates at $9. He’s also going back there again for his final drink on Wednesday (Feb 12th), for their ‘Samba Queen’ inspired by Carmen Miranda – an intensely dark hot chocolate with coconut cream and tropical fruit paired with a traditional Brazilian Brigadeiro with their own spin.

January 25th

Our day 3 of the festival was a few days later. Giving ourselves a break from sugar overload! This time we went to local café and donut chain Parallel 49 coffee and Lucky’s donuts. Their offering was called ‘golden cocoa’. It was a turmeric hot chocolate with a chocolate cream filled turmeric glazed donut 🍩 . This was the first hot chocolate that was actually hot! Many, we’ve found over the years, end up being just warm. And the donut was yum and a good size. Like a full sized donut. And reasonably priced at $11! Not greasy at all. Checkmark for Lucky’s donuts!

February 1st

This was #4 (for me, #5 for my husband M who had had another one without me – how dare him!). We’d tried to go to another café, Chez Christophe, to get their Campfire Smore’s hot chocolate which sounded nice (with a toasted marshmallow rim around the cup and graham cracker crumbles) but they were sold out. Maybe because it was the first day of this drink offering, and it was 3pm. But the chocolatier didn’t close ‘til 5!

So instead we headed nearby to another café participating in the HCF – Caffe Artigiano – a local chain that has quite a few locations around town. I was really looking forward to the (apparently) ‘fresh and warm’ beignet in the hot chocolate that I wanted to try. I got the Hazelnut Praline hot chocolate with a hazelnut chocolate filled donut and hubby M got the Orange Creamsicle with orange whip and orange dust and dark chocolate dipped orange wafer. Price $9.75. This was one of the more reasonable hot chocolates, but also kind of disappointing.

First of all, neither of us are fans of whipped cream…unnecessary extra sugar that takes away from the hot chocolate itself (in my opinion, others may differ!). My hot choc had chocolate hazelnut spread and crushed hazelnuts around the edge of my cup, which was nice (but also difficult to get off!). And I was disappointed in my tiny donut, because it felt stale, and also had hardly any chocolate hazelnut filling!

My husband enjoyed his orange hot chocolate but was disappointed by his wafer which was just a thin triangle – think like an ice cream cone. When we heard wafer, we were thinking more of those layered wafers, you know? And the fact that it came in a to-go cup, even though we sat in, was kinda…meh. Last year we went and had their offering (a spiced hot chocolate with a churro!) and it was served in an actual mug. But I guess they have their reasons.

February 5th

We tried Chez Christophe once again, this time a bit earlier in the day at 1:30pm, but again they were sold out (this time of their treat which was a pain Suisse pastry). So, sorry Chez Christophe, 2 strikes and you’re out! We aren’t bothering trying a 3rd time.

So we headed a little bit across town and went back to To Live For bakery and cafe for their 2nd festival option with their DELICIOUS cinnamon bun hot chocolate and mini monkey bread cake topped with crunchy sugar and (vegan) butter!

The whip and drizzle topping and cake were so yum! And the hot chocolate was tasty as well! $10.75 so fairly reasonably priced and cheaper than their first one. My only complaint was the size of the cake – it was tiny! But it was delicious. Another win for TLF! (As mentioned, they’re fave bakery - in Vancouver anyway!)

February 7th

On this Friday, I had #6 (#7 for M) with the most flavourful hot chocolate yet from vegan café and little grocery store on Commercial Drive (the kind of ‘hippie’ neighbourhood of the city) with their Bananas in Pajamas banana bread hot chocolate!

It was so banana-y! It was topped with a coconut whip and house made caramel drizzle, and served with a few slices of banana on a skewer and their ‘shortbread’ cookie with caramel and a pecan on the end. And it was deliciously thick as well. And nice and hot too!

I loved the shortbread cookie because I don't normally like shortbread, but since this is vegan, it didn't have the same texture as "normal" shortbread, so I really liked it! (M wasn't as a fan, but he loves shortbread). I thought it was a tasty cookie nonetheless. And I liked that we had 2 things to dip in our drinks – the banana and the cookie! The hot chocolate was ACTUALLY hot as well! So many are just tepid/lukewarm.

I think this is #1 hot chocolate for me – for the drink itself anyway. #1 treat is still that espresso ganache tart from the very first place we went! Price $11.50, again pretty reasonable. Well, pricey, for a drink and a small treat, but it is a special festival so, it’s to be expected!

February 8th

My final hot chocolate - #7 for me (#8 for M!) at La Saison de Patisserie – a French/Asian fusion café.

I got the Golden Phoenix which was salted duck egg custard cold foam hot chocolate with a salted duck egg yolk palmier.

M had the Quetzacoatl - hot chocolate with smoked paprika and hot pepper topped with light chocolate espuma paired with a Mexican chilli palmier.

The palmier was delicious! My Golden Phoenix was quite a let down to be honest. I was expecting more salted duck egg yolk custard looking at photos I'd seen of it on social media but mine was just the slightest drizzle! That’s mainly what I was looking forward to! It did have pretty crunchy edible golden pearls on top. But the drink was underwhelming to say the least. It was slightly salty, but besides that, kind of bland. But M loved his spicy hot chocolate! He said it was his favourite hot chocolate by far. I wish I had that instead! I had a sip, it was tasty. The chocolate espuma was nice and it had a nice smokey flavour. Oh and price was $13.50. Which made mine even more disappointing for the cost! But we do want to go back to try some of their cakes in future.

And that’s all for this year’s Hot Chocolate Festival! I hope you enjoyed my recounting of our experience - and if you’re ever visiting Vancouver around mid-January to mid-February, check out the Hot Chocolate Festival at hotchochocolatefest.com.

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