Sacramento, CAHot Chocolate

Sactown Magazine's hot chocolate roundup names owner Ginger Elizabeth Hahn's Oaxacan Spicy Hot Chocolate, built on Valrhona 53 percent cacao with a ginger, vanilla, chile and cinnamon syrup steeped for 24 hours, topped with house-made marshmallows or whipped cream. CBS Sacramento's own hot chocolate feature separately calls the cup here rich, creamy and very chocolatey, a step past a commercial powder mix. Order the Oaxacan Spicy Hot Chocolate with the house marshmallows for the version both outlets single out.

Sactown Magazine lists Temple's seasonal Drinking Chocolate in its hot chocolate roundup, a 66 percent cacao organic, fair-trade chocolate garnished with sea salt, with the magazine noting tasting notes of coffee, dried cherries and currants that run through New Year's Day. The S Street cafe is Temple's flagship, next to its own roastery. Order the Drinking Chocolate with the sea salt garnish while it is on the winter menu, rather than a standard cocoa.

Sactown Magazine's roundup includes this East Sacramento coffeehouse for the Mocha Thai, a blend of Ghirardelli and Ibarra chocolates steamed with milk and espresso, then finished with condensed milk for what the magazine describes as a fudge-like texture. It is the one drink on the list built on espresso as well as chocolate, closer to a spiked mocha than a plain cocoa. Order the Mocha Thai rather than a standard hot chocolate for the espresso and condensed milk combination the magazine calls out.

CBS Sacramento's hot chocolate feature names this L Street roaster and bakery for its quality hot chocolate, made in the same brick building where the shop roasts its own coffee and bakes from scratch. Sactown Magazine and The Sacramento Bee separately cover Old Soul's coffee program, the Tier A standing behind a cafe whose hot chocolate shares the same kitchen as its pastries. Order the hot chocolate with something from the bakery case, the same house that makes both.