Charlotte, NCHot Chocolate

Charlotte Magazine calls out the Tout Petit Chocolat Chaud at this NoDa French bakery and cafe, a seasonally flavored dark chocolate ganache paired with milk and finished with a decadent whipped cream topping. The magazine lists flavors that run from peppermint to raspberry to cinnamon through the winter menu, and calls the cup a love song for serious chocolate lovers. Order the Tout Petit Chocolat Chaud in whatever flavor is running that week, and settle into the cafe's couch seating while it cools enough to drink.

Charlotte Magazine singles out the Spiced Hot Chocolate at this bakery for the kick of cinnamon, cayenne and chili powder running through it, mellowed with vanilla, cloves, sugar and nutmeg and blended with milk and bittersweet chocolate chips. It is the spiciest cup in the magazine's own roundup of the city's cocoa, built to warm a room up rather than play it safe. Order the Spiced Hot Chocolate rather than a plain cup, and pick a pastry from the case while it cools past the first sip.

Charlotte Magazine points to the Mexican Hot Chocolate at this Plaza Midwood boutique and coffee shop, a creamy cup built on Mexican chocolate syrup with a kick of sweet cinnamon and the smallest bite of hot Mexican chili powder. The magazine calls it the version worth indulging in on a rainy, chilly day, ahead of the shop's other coffee and tea drinks. Order the Mexican Hot Chocolate rather than a standard cup, and browse the global gifts and art on the shelves around the coffee counter while it steeps.