Is the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Worth it?
All new Velvetiser
I love hot chocolate. But I was a bit skeptical of an appliance dedicated to making it. After all, it's not like I drink chocolate every day. But here's the thing. Because the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser was designed specifically to make hot chocolate (and now cold chocolate) it yields a very high-quality and luscious beverage more similar to what you'd find at a cafe than from cocoa powders or mixes at home. It's so good, you may find yourself, as I did, looking for an excuse to indulge in drinking chocolate more often than ever before.
What is the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser?
Hotel Chocolat all new Velvetisers
The Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser is a small appliance that makes single servings of chocolate beverages. Similar to an electric kettle, it has a magnetically attached petal whisk that blends chocolate flakes or powder with milk to make a rich, smooth and foamy but not frothy beverage. The distinction between foamy and frothy is an important one to Hotel Chocolat. While you will find much less expensive appliances that make hot chocolate, which are also frothers, the Velvetiser does not froth because it is not intended for that purpose.
Classic Version Velvetiser
The classic version Velvetiser makes only hot chocolate and sells for $110. The all-new Velvetiser makes hot and cold chocolate, it sells for $179 and comes in three colors, Pebble, Pewter, and Chalk, and includes a PodCup, a PodGlass, and a 10-pack of hot and cold drinking chocolate.
Hotel Chocolat is a British brand, though recently acquired by Mars. You may or may not have seen their chocolate confections or been to one of their stores, they have 160 shops in the United Kingdom and three shops in and around Chicago and are expanding.
How does it work?
Hotel Chocolate Velvetiser in action
The second-generation Velvetiser has a custom-designed petal whisk that fits magnetically inside the pitcher with inner ridges to create micro vortexes. It has the ability to make hot or cold chocolate beverages in under 3 minutes. It is very easy to operate. You add any kind of milk you like to the indicated line inside the pitcher, with no need to actually measure it beforehand. You add the chocolate packet ingredients, cover the lid, slide the button to hot or cold, then push it and wait a few minutes. Pour the creamy chocolate beverage into a cup and admire the foam and light texture.
In addition to being easy to make, it's easy to clean, much easier than a saucepan you might make hot chocolate in. It's also aesthetically beautiful. The pitcher was inspired by the shape of a cacao pod, and the whisk was inspired by a cacao blossom, and it has a lovely solid ash handle. The Velvetiser is designed to be used with Hotel Chocolat's line of drinking chocolates. Can you use it with other cocoa and chocolate products? Hotel Chocolat does not recommend it, but I tried it with other brands and even with matcha with success.
Is it Worth it?
Price of the machine
Price of the chocolate
Serving size
Versatility (or lack thereof)
The Velvetiser is an investment. The chocolate costs more than most on the market, at $25 for a box of 10 packets, or $2.50 per serving. And like many espresso machines, it only makes one serving at a time. But that doesn't seem to be keeping people from buying it. Since it launched in 2018, Hotel Chocolat has sold over 1.5 million Velvetisers. Hotel Chocolat's US digital GM Ollie Thirwell- Pearce shares, "The latest version of the Velvetiser is the result of our obsession with drinking chocolate and making it as good as it can be." He adds that their mantra is more cocoa, less sugar. The library of chocolates designed to be used in the Velvetiser includes 100%, 85%, 79% and 50% chocolate versions and chocolate with flavors including mint, orange, and salted caramel. The brand skews to a "grown-up palate."
How versatile it is will depend upon how creative you want to get. It does not froth milk, but Thirwell-Pearce says, "It makes brilliant milk for a latte or a flat white and it gives you that sort of silky micro foam texture. But it won't make a cappuccino." He also shares that in addition to recipes for various drinks and desserts such as a microwave lava cake, one of his favorite ways to use it is to make an affogato style dessert with ice cream but using a concentrated chocolate instead of espresso.
If you're trying to decide between the old and the new version, Thirwell-Pearce says that there are three main advantages to the new version: "First is the hot and cold functionality. The second is the texture of the drink, and the third is the design and ergonomics of the machine." It feels very gifty, but having tested it for a few weeks, it's also a worthy personal indulgence.