"hot beverages" news and stories

Writing about the personality-warming effects of heat, got me thinking about Buddha bowls. Have you seen these? They're large cups eagerly awaiting any warm tastiness that you want to pour in -- coffee, tea, cocoa, soup, cereal. This is one of those funky, pricey ($19 a pop!) products that actually has a functional use because the bowls are shaped to perfectly fit in the palm of your hand.

The curves and handle are curved in such a way that it feels like the cup has molded to your hand, making it wonderfully comfortable for holding and getting the most out of the heat that's emitted -- the Goldilocks bed of mugs. It's the sort of vessel you grab when you want to curl up and slowly sip on your hot drink without putting the cup back down.

And it sure beats some of the other options out there. Have you ever tried drinking super-hot coffee out of one of those regular-sized mugs that has a tiny circle for a handle? They're so hard to drink from -- flashy style should never get in the way of your coffee or warm beverage indulgence.

I've loved experimenting with drinking chocolates this winter. Swirling shaved chocolate into a saucepan of milk produces a far better result than anything I achieve with hot cocoa mix. I usually use dark chocolate, and sometimes add sugar until the mixture reaches my desired sweetness. That is, until recently -- the mother of my close friend is Colombian, and she brought us a bar of Colombian chocolate designed for melting into hot beverages. I can't get enough of it.

The bar is already sweetened perfectly, so you just add it to hot milk and allow it to melt. Once melted, you beat the mixture with a molinillo -- a chocolate whisker with designs native to Colombia, Mexico and other Latin American countries. The result is a deliciously foamy drink with a great chocolate kick. The product I used is called Sweet Chocolate, and the brand is Sol. I found the cheapest bar ($3.99) at Latin Pantry. But I'm sure there are others out there from Colombia as well as from other countries, so please share your favorites!

If you don't have a molinillo, you can use a normal whisk to achieve ideal foaminess. Feel free to add cinnamon as they do in Colombia, or syrups and extracts of your choice.

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