Milwaukee, WIHot Chocolate

OnMilwaukee singles out this bean-to-bar shop's housemade drinking chocolate, made from single-origin cacao that carries a strong fruitiness on top of the base chocolate flavor. The writer recommends stopping in to sample the house hot chocolate or the smaller, more intense sipping chocolate rather than only buying the retail bars. Both come made with full-fat dairy or with coconut milk, which keeps the fruitiness but thins the mouthfeel. Order the sipping chocolate in the shop for the more concentrated version.

A Brady Street fixture since 1995, and OnMilwaukee calls out its Bhakti chai chocolate as a stellar mash-up of chai and Indulgence Chocolatiers dark chocolate hot cocoa, finished with a pop of freshly pressed ginger, whipped cream and a bit more cocoa and sea salt on top. Milwaukee Magazine separately names the cafe's hot chocolate phenomenal, available in peppermint or original. Order the Bhakti chai chocolate for the ginger and sea salt finish, or the original if you want the plainer cocoa.

OnMilwaukee highlights this Saint Francis cafe's Mexican hot chocolate, made with Abuelita chocolate, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and steamed milk, smooth and creamy with a touch of warming spice and a slight kick. The writer also flags the housemade champurrado, made with Ibarra chocolate, cinnamon, star anise, piloncillo, oat milk and masa, a traditional and dairy-free option that sells out. Order the Mexican hot chocolate for the cayenne kick, or ask for champurrado if it hasn't run out yet.

This Wauwatosa ice cream shop, set in a converted 1930s gas station, keeps a full hot chocolate program for the colder months, OnMilwaukee reports: a cup made with whole milk and premium dark chocolate sauce, also available with oat milk, that can be ordered as a hot chocolate float poured over ice cream or brueled with caramelized marshmallow fluff on top. Order the hot chocolate flight, four minis in traditional, gingerbread, peppermint and caramel brulee, the guide's own pick for tasting the range in one visit.

OnMilwaukee frames this Wauwatosa French patisserie as the next best thing to a trip to France, and singles out its house hot chocolate alongside the buttery housemade croissants. The method is simple and the writer credits it for the result: Valrhona chocolate grated into warmed whole milk rather than a syrup or powder base, producing a rich, chocolate drink worth lingering over. Order it with a croissant from the pastry case, which is what the room is built around.