Who doesn't love a hot chocolate - and with an ever growing number of brands on offer at supermarkets we decided to put some of the most well known brands to the test.
After recently discovering that Costa now sells tubs of hot chocolate in Tesco, we thought it was only right to try it out and see how it compares to other brands on taste and price.
With the Cadbury's and Options brands among some of the most dominant in the market, we included them within the trial.
All were purchased from Tesco.
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Options Belgian Chocolate:
A firm favourite among many, when mixed with a little milk before adding the boiling water this produces a perfectly delicious and smooth hot chocolate. The Options hot chocolate drinks have produced many flavour varieties over the years, but the Belgian Chocolate remains a firm favourite.
With a unique sweet and chocolatey taste, Options is a great choice for anyone grabbing a quick hot chocolate while at work.
As you make by mixing the powder with boiling water, it's also a lower calorie option.
But with some of the other drinks we reviewed here milk must be used.
A perfectly pleasant choice, we certainly would not turn down a mug of Options Belgian hot chocolate if offered. And the brand must score points for the variety it offers - with a vegan Belgian hot chocolate drink now among its portfolio.
Price: £3 for 220g
Our rating: 7/10
Cadbury Instant Hot Chocolate:
This has a very different taste to the Options brand. While it's much more traditionally chocolatey, it does not quite emulate the taste of a Cadbury's chocolate bar.
"But as it's an entirely different product this is perhaps an unfair comparison. Made by mixing hot chocolate powder with boiling after, this is another similar choice to the Options brand. It's easy to take with you to work and will provide you with a warming chocolatey fix on a busy day - or just if you fancy one.
It's a close call for us between this product and the Options Belgian Hot Chocolate drink. Both have a very different taste and are equally enjoyable. It is very difficult to chose between these two products for second place in this review. We'd be happy to enjoy both. Let's call it a draw - although Cadbury's wins on price.
Price: £2.50 for 400g
Our rating: 7/10
Costa Hot Chocolate:
At a discounted Clubcard price of £2, the Costa hot chocolate available to buy exclusively at Tesco seems like a bargain when you compare it to the roughly £3 you can expect to pay for one drink when visiting a branch of Costa.
And it did not disappoint. While it might not be quite as delicious as the hot chocolate drinks you get directly from Costa, this product is still hands down the best store bought hot chocolate this reviewer has ever tried. The taste is slightly different to that of those served when you visit an actual Costa but it still has the rich, creamy chocolate taste. This product is designed to be mixed with hot milk - not water. So perhaps it has an unfair advantage over the instant brands you mix with water. Attention should also be paid to the packaging here. The stylish tin adds to its appeal. It's the clear winner of this review for us.
That being said, at £2 (Clubcard price) for a 300g tub it felt like great value.
Price: £2 for 300g (Clubcard price until February 15, 2022) £3 regular price
Our rating: 9/10
Cadbury Bournville Cocoa:
It might be cheating slightly to include this one within our view, as it's technically a cocoa and used by many for baking, but as it is also an option to be used as a drink we thought we would give it a try.
The instructions state to mix one teaspoon with milk to create your drink. While it's easy enough to make and certainly a pleasant drink, it's much more bitter - as you would perhaps expect from the dark chocolate brand - and doesn't have the same sweet, chocolatey flavour as the others.
But it's perhaps an unfair comparison and does live up to expectations of the dark chocolate brand when it comes to taste.
Price: £2.99 for 250g
Our rating: 6/10
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