22 August 2011

Cafe Direct - Sao Tome: Luxury Hot Chocolate (Sainsbury’s) [By @Cinabar]



I do like a cup of hot chocolate, so when I heard Cafe Direct where releasing a new instant variety I was very interested in tracking it down. So much was my enthusiasm for the product that I made an unprecedented hot chocolate drink at lunchtime on a Sunday, i.e. the second I got back from the shops!
The first thing I noted was how light the powder is. The chocolate is both light in colour and in weight, much more so than a regular cocoa. The instructions on the back said to use 3-4 teaspoons per drink, so I went with four heaped ones for maximum impact.
I have to say it dissolved pleasingly well. I hate fighting which hot chocolate potions to remove the lumps, so I give this one a thumbs up for easy preparation.
Sadly the drink was a little disappointing. It didn’t have the strongest flavour, and it wasn’t overly sweet. It was an acceptable hot chocolate, but it was a long way off being indulgent. I find it hard to understand how adding what looked like so much powder to the cup could resort in such a mild taste? The flavour was subtle cocoa, watery, and gently sweet. If you ordered it in a cafe, you wouldn’t send it back, but you wouldn’t make a point of having it again either.
Now I know I’m picky when it comes to hot chocolate, and I realise instants are a difficult market. However microwaving a cup of milk takes under two minute and mixing in to that some proper Cafe Direct drinking chocolate isn’t that much effort and it provides a rich chocolaty drink which is on another level to this one.
By Cinabar

2 comments:

Lot-O-Choc said...

Shame it wasnt all that nice :( youd think with it being from sao tome and branded as luxury it would be a bit nicer

cinabar said...

Totally agree with you. It is much better to get their cocoa that mixes with hot milk - it is so much tastier.