In the heart of Kinsale, Co Cork, there’s a chocolate shop and cafe opposite the pier where the owners have a simple philosophy: they’ll only ever make hot chocolate with real, melted chocolate and powdered hot chocolate will never pass through the door.
It’s a more significant position than many of us might realise, with soaring cocoa prices in recent years prompting many hot chocolate vendors to save money (and horrify purists) by switching from melted chocolate to powder in their drinks.
Koko Kinsale, a family-run business founded by Frank Keane in 2012, is one of a number of Irish independent businesses that have committed to continuing to use melted chocolate.
As customers enjoy the chocolate shop and cafe in the seaside village, Keane works on the floor above perfecting his chocolate creations with an artistic flair developed from his previous work as a ceramicist.
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Koko offers white, milk and dark hot chocolates, and they are the biggest seller in the cafe – just over half of its hot drink sales are hot chocolate, coming just ahead of coffee. A regular hot chocolate is priced at €4.50, with most customers aged 25-45.
“We would’ve never, ever even thought about using hot chocolate powder,” says Emily Keane, Frank’s daughter. “[When cocoa prices rose] it was a really tricky time and we’re kind of still suffering from it, to be honest. The price of cocoa only came down reasonably in the last couple of months.
“We stopped wholesaling, and we’re lucky because we can rely on our local business, and the business we’ve built online. We weren’t making a loss, but we were just about keeping our head above water.”
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On a quiet day, Koko Kinsale sells 25 cups of hot chocolate, but in busier periods the team sells about 200 a day. Last winter, Koko sold 10,300 hot chocolates and the Keanes expect that number to increase by 2 per cent this winter.
“For us, hot chocolate sales over the last few years have been growing massively,” says Emily. “I came on board to the business in 2018, and I’ve noticed hot chocolate sales growing more and more each year.
“Once people try our hot chocolates, they come back again because it’s a completely different flavour profile than when you have a powdered hot chocolate. And sometimes when we make our hot chocolates, we’ll sprinkle big shavings of real chocolate on top. There are big clumps of chocolate that sink to the bottom, and you get a lovely bit of chocolate at the end of a hot chocolate.”
In Galway city, French chocolatier Truffle also crafts indulgent hot chocolates, chocolate treats and pastries. Visitors to its cafe can marvel at a wall of flowing melted chocolate, in an environment that feels like wandering into a chocolate-infused Parisian patisserie.
Founded by Alexandra Saivre and her husband Frederic Gervais, who also run the popular Le Petit Délice in the city, Truffle allows the couple to share their passion for chocolate.
“Some people ask if we use real chocolate in our hot chocolate, and when we tell them we do, it’s a great surprise for them,” says Saivre. “We just melt the chocolate in the milk. It’s not more difficult than making a hot chocolate with powder.
“Truffle specialises in chocolate, so it would’ve been crazy for us to ever use powdered hot chocolate. We use white, dark and milk chocolate, all in chocolate chip form.
“Even in our other shop in town – it’s bigger and busier than Truffle – we also use proper chocolate in our hot chocolates. But as it’s busier, the pastry chef makes the mix in the morning.”
This involves melting the chocolate chips in the milk and bottling it so it can be heated up later.
Truffle sold roughly 2,000 hot chocolates last winter (prices start at €4.10), but coffee is still the biggest seller. When it came to contending with the high cost of cocoa, the business decided to raise its prices slightly rather than consider powder.
“We didn’t even think about switching. We had to increase the price of our hot chocolate a bit,” she says, acknowledging that the couple’s wholesale business helped in tempering costs.
“We have access to better prices because we order pallets of chocolate to distribute to other businesses. So, the price [of cocoa] went up, of course, but probably it was cheaper for us than it would’ve been for other businesses.”
Saivre believes hot chocolate should have “the proper taste of chocolate” and says that when she’s buying outside her own cafe, she always tries to see what goes into it before ordering.
“I think it’s mainly powders as far as I can see in just regular coffee shops,” she says. “Then, of course, you have different types of powders – some are better quality than others.”
In a basement unit just across from City Hall in the centre of Belfast lies Daisies, a family-run chocolate shop that specialises in hot chocolate using raw cacao, which is mixed with small amounts of raw cane sugar and salt and ground into a powder.
Daisies owner Martin Giles has perfected his own cocoa-rich hot chocolate powder with a deep chocolate flavour. It’s distinct from most powdered hot chocolate on the market, which typically has more sugar than cocoa powder.
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“We use ethically sourced, 100 per cent raw cacao in our hot chocolate,” says Giles. “We melt the raw cacao down and add organic raw cane sugar and sea salt in small amounts.
“We alter the 100 per cent so it measures out that it’s a 70 per cent dark chocolate drink. We solidify our mix into a block which is shaved into a powder.”
This powder is then mixed with hot full-fat milk, to create the moreish, award-winning Daisies hot chocolate.
Giles says that last winter, Daisies sold more than 16,000 hot chocolates, and hot chocolate is consistently its biggest seller, making up over 80 per cent of their hot drink sales. A sit-in hot chocolate sells for £4.50.
“Our hot chocolate is creamy, it’s smooth and it’s really clean on the palate – other powders are so sugary you’d need to drink a bottle of water afterwards,” says Giles. “It’s a rich, velvety, decadent drink. It’s very much described as an ‘adult’ hot chocolate, but a lot of children really enjoy our hot chocolate also.”
He sees hot chocolate having gained “trend” status in recent years, particularly in “cosy” seasons.
Back in Kinsale, hot chocolate season is in full swing in Koko. Emily is happily serving customers the quintessential winter drink with a true chocolate taste.
“Hot chocolate is homely; it gives you comfort,” she says. “When you drink coffee, you almost get a high or a buzz off it, but hot chocolate is calm. It’s a really warm, comforting drink that’s perfect for dark, cold winter days.”
Chocolatiers’ sweetest memories
Emily Keane of Koko Kinsale
Best hot chocolate you’ve ever had?
It was in a little cafe in Paris. It was really thick. I don’t always like massively thick hot chocolate, but I just poured a little bit of cold milk in it and it was just amazing. I couldn’t have much of it, only a couple of sips, but it was so good.
Best chocolate you ever had?
It was in Greece. They had crystallised ginger dipped in dark chocolate, and it was just unreal. Doing crystallised ginger is a real artform, so when you get a piece of crystallised ginger which has that chewy fiery-ness to it and the dark chocolate balances it out, it’s just unbelievable.
Secret to a good hot chocolate?
You shouldn’t complicate hot chocolate. There shouldn’t be a long list of ingredients – it should be just the cocoa percentage, and if there’s milk added, there’s a bit of milk powder in the ingredients. Then it’s melted into the milk of your choice. Keeping it simple, a lot of the time, is more delicious.
Alexandra Saivre of Truffle, Galway
Best hot chocolate you’ve ever had?
It was in Barcelona. I went to a place that specialised in chocolate and the hot chocolate was in an espresso cup. It was really small and really thick; it was nearly like you were eating a chocolate sauce. It was amazing. It’s not something you’d have every day, but it was a real treat.
Best chocolate you’ve ever had?
I love a good dark chocolate bar with sesame seeds and sea salt.
Secret to a good hot chocolate?
Good quality chocolate – all you need is milk and chocolate.
Martin Giles of Daisies, Belfast
Best hot chocolate you’ve ever had?
It was in Barcelona. It was 85 per cent dark hot chocolate. It came out in a small cup on a little plate, and there was a little ramekin dish with chilli oil. I poured half of the ramekin into the chocolate and gave it a stir. The hotness mixed with the richness of the chocolate was absolutely divine.
Best chocolate you’ve ever had?
It’s by a company called Cocobros. They’re long-time friends of mine and amazing chocolate makers. The chocolate is called cherry kiss – it’s dark chocolate but it’s coloured purple and white. It’s got a really dark morello cherry filling inside.
Secret to a good hot chocolate?
Using full-fat milk, and ethically sourced raw cacao.
