Indianapolis, INHot Chocolate

Indianapolis Monthly calls the chocolate milk at this Zionsville dairy farm a legend in its own right, and says the cold weather hot chocolate version made from the same base is every bit as tasty. The farm store sits beside the working creamery and its restaurant, The Loft, on Moore Road northwest of the city. The magazine also flags the eggnog as worth trying while you are there. Order the hot chocolate first, then the eggnog on a second visit, both built on the same rich dairy the farm is known for.

BRICS built its name on ice cream, but Indianapolis Monthly says the Broad Ripple shop is just as much a cold weather destination, pouring cream topped mugs of cocoa alongside a DIY s'mores kit. The pairing lets a table work through toasting their own marshmallows over the cocoa rather than ordering a finished drink. Order the hot chocolate with the s'mores kit rather than on its own, which is the combination the magazine singles out as the shop's real trick beyond its ice cream case.

Indianapolis Monthly says this Broad Ripple bakery does not take a no-frills approach to hot chocolate, offering two routes depending on how far a cup should go. The beloved classic keeps things simple, while a cream based sipping chocolate pushes toward dessert territory. The shop has since expanded with a Carmel City Center location and built a following well beyond hot chocolate for its layer cakes. Order the cream based sipping chocolate if the classic cup already sounds too restrained for the occasion.

This downtown outpost of the South Bend based chocolatier serves a mean cup of the classic hot chocolate, per Indianapolis Monthly, but the magazine steers drinkers toward the more adventurous variants. The cayenne spiked Mexican twist gets singled out as worth the trip outside a classic comfort zone, a spicier route than the shop's fudge and truffle cases usually suggest. Order the Mexican hot chocolate for the cayenne kick, saving the classic cup for a visit when something milder is wanted.