gingerbread dark hot chocolate

Let's talk festive drinks.  The holidays start for me when my friends on the southside host Oktoberfest in their home.  This is the first year I've missed it -- good company and mulled wine.  This is wine you add spices to in a slow cooker.  It's wonderful.  I hear you can do cider and wassail this way, too but have yet to try either.  

Of course there's tea for this time of year.  I like chai brewed in soy milk, or that Constant Comment you get in the grocery store.  Both very Christmassy.  But I also like the occasional hot chocolate and wanted something besides a mix.  

I wanted to experiment with dark cocoa to make my own hot chocolate and I think I have a recipe now.  For every 1 cup of milk, add: 

• 1 tablespoon dark cocoa
  
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar

Most recipes call for 2 tablespoons sugar but that's really sweet.  Start with 1 and add more to taste.  I think less sugar makes it more like dark chocolate.

This version is created in a pan on the stove over medium heat.  Stir with a whisk to keep it from sticking and to give it some volume.  I've made some, put the extra in a jar, and reheated it later in the microwave.  It works.  

When it's done, serve in a mug, mini marshmallows optional.     

Variations: 

• flavored syrups like you use for coffee -- a teaspoon of sea salt caramel is crazy good in dark hot chocolate.      
• coffee for a poor man's mocha
  
• gingerbread spice my newest addition.  Tried 1/2 tablespoon today and it was better than any drink I've had at Starbucks.  (That's no stock photo above.  That's my actual homemade concoction in an actual peach mug.  And some photo filtering.)      
• non-dairy milks may seem less frothy but they don't need as much attention on the stove and they taste great.  I've tried vanilla soy and coconut.  

If you're drinking eggnog and wondering where it is on my list, you're probably drunk.  Go home.

What's your favorite festive drink?