Who doesn't love a steamy cup of creamy hot chocolate on a cold, snowy day? I've been drinking hot chocolate (made with milk, not water) for as long as I can remember. From back in the day when I liked Carnation hot chocolate with those tiny melty marshmallows to the insanely creamy, dreamy hot chocolate I sampled years ago in Paris at Cafe Angelina. So, I've decided to round up a few gourmet brands for a little taste test. The best part about hot chocolate? It takes less than five minutes to make! Brand: Chokola’j Thinkage: This looks like a ground up chocolate bar with a mix of coarse chunks and powder. I recommend making sure your milk is extra hot otherwise the chunks won't melt as expected. Clean chocolate taste. Ingredients: Organic dark chocolate, vanilla beans. Sweet Factor: 1 (out of 5) Price: $14/12-ounce bag Brand: Max Brenner Thinkage: The mix is a powder with visible sugar crystals and smells like hazelnuts. Has a bit of a artificial vanilla taste, those that like vanilla flavoring will enjoy this version. Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa powder, potato starch, flavor and odor enhancers, salt, stabilizers. Sweet Factor: 3 (out of 5) Price: $10.90/5.25-ounces Brand: Lake Champlain Old World Hot Chocolate Thinkage: The small chocolate shavings quickly melted in hot milk with a slight tropical chocolate flavor. This was also the creamiest hot chocolate out of the bunch. Ingredients: Dark chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soybean lecithin, vanilla). Sweet Factor: 3 (out of 5) Price: $13/9.5-ounces Brand: La Maison du Chocolate Tasse de Chocolat Thinkage: Tiny glossy pearls that melt quite easily. One of the sweeter mixes. Ingredients: 64% Cocoa paste, sugar, cocoa butter, glazing agents: maltodextrins et gum lac, emulsifier: soy lecithin, natural vanilla extract. Sweet Factor: 4 (out of 5) Price: $18/.55-pound Brand: Taza Thinkage: To make hot chocolate one must break off a piece of the hockey puck-sized chocolate bar. Because the chocolate starts as a solid mass it takes a bit longer to melt but has a clean chocolate flavor like similar to Chokola'j. Ingredients: Organic cane sugar, organic cacao beans, organic whole vanilla beans. Sweet Factor: 2 (out of 5) Price: $4.50/.2.7 ounces Check out last month's taste test on nut butters here.