4 irresistible iced chocolate ideas

Chill out with these iced chocolate drink recipes — perfect for hot days at home

We’ve already covered how to make the perfect iced coffee at home, but what if you want a little less caffeine and a little more chocolate? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. After all, drinking chocolate isn’t just for keeping cosy on a cold winter’s evening.

These irresistible iced chocolate ideas are easy to make, utterly delectable, and wonderfully refreshing. As the weather gets warmer, whip out your Velvetiser and bookmark the following recipes.

What is iced chocolate?

Iced chocolate is our name for a cold version of hot drinking chocolate.

While you often see iced coffee for sale in coffee shops and cafes, iced chocolate is less common. It’s so delicious, we’re not entirely sure why. It might be to do with the fact that some cafes don’t have a way of making their hot chocolate silky smooth and creamy, or the fact that some establishments use instant, powered drinking chocolate.

In our opinion, a way to velvety milk and real chocolate flakes are both crucial ingredients if you’re serious about making heavenly iced chocolate.

Neither of these things should be an issue at home, however. With our Velvetiser hot chocolate machine and fabulous high-cacao drinking chocolates made with real chocolate, you’ll be good to go.

What you need to make an iced chocolate beverage

With this in mind, equip yourself with the following before making your iced chocolate drinks:

• The Velvetiser — our fantastic hot chocolate machine, imagined and brought to you by a chocolatier. Our one-stop gadget for making velvety smooth drinks in the comfort of your own home. Why not learn more about our Velvetiser?

• High-quality drinking chocolate — those made with real, high-cacao chocolate make the best-tasting drinks. Remember, your drinking chocolate is your beverage. It’s what gives it its flavour. Better quality, better beverage. Explore our range of flavours.

• Milk — you’ll need your choice of milk — 220ml per drink. Cow’s milk, oat milk, almond milk. It’s up to you! Both dairy and plant-based milk drinks are compatible with the Velvetiser.

• A drinking glass — choose your favourite drinking glass for serving. Make sure it’s large enough to fit 220ml of beverage.

• Lots of ice — need we say more?

Iced hot chocolate recipes

Feel free to follow these suggestions to a T or put your own twist on things. These are some of our favourite ideas, but it’s hard to go too far wrong with iced chocolate. At the end of the day, it’s blissful chocolate, milk, and a fabulously frothed texture — whatever you create will be heavenly!

All our iced chocolate recipes feature our own real drinking chocolate (also referred to as hot chocolate) sachets. Though these were originally created for making indulgent hot chocolate, they work fabulously in our iced chocolate recipes.

The basic recipe

To make all our iced chocolate ideas, you’ll need to follow the same method:

1. Pour 120ml of milk into your Velvetiser. Add 100ml of cold milk to your glass.

2. Add around 6 – 8 ice cubes to your glass.

3. Sprinkle the contents of your drinking chocolate single-serve into the Velvetiser. (If you have one of our drinking chocolate pouches, add 5 heaped teaspoons (30g) of flakes).

4. Press the button and let the Velvetiser work its magic.

5. Pour your velvetised liquid chocolate into your glass, over the ice cubes.

Adding lots of ice to your glass will ensure your drink cools right down to an ‘iced beverage’ level of chilled. If you want to make sure it’s extra cold, you could always put your glass in the fridge for a few minutes before making your drink.

Classic Dark Iced Chocolate

A rich, dark, indulgent iced chocolate — perfect for dark chocolate devotees. This one stars our 70% Dark Chocolate Sachet. As mentioned, you’ll just need to add the contents of the sachet into your Velvetiser, set up your ice cube-filled glass, and away you go.

To serve

Garnish this dark chocolate iced drink with one of our dark chocolate batons, or create a twist on the classic ‘ice cream float’ by adding a truffle or two — we call it a ‘truffle float’.

Black Forest Gateau Iced Chocolate

For an iced chocolate with a little more intrigue, our Black Forest Chocolate Sachets deliver a combination of juicy morello and black cherries, chocolate sponge, and sweet whipped cream. If you adore decadent flavours and fancy a blend of dark and white chocolate, this one’s for you.

To serve

We think this Black Forest iced drink pairs beautifully with a garnish of frozen blueberries and raspberries. An extra addition of fresh cherries (in keeping with the palate of the drink) also tastes divine. Rich chocolate and sweet berries are a match made in heaven.

Nutmilk Iced Chocolate

If we’re listing our favourite iced chocolate ideas, we need to include at least one that’s suitable for vegans! Our 45% Nutmilk Chocolate Sachets unite staggeringly creamy chocolate with a hint of roasted hazelnut. This nutty, mellow chocolate is so indulgent, you’ll have a hard time believing it’s dairy-free.

To serve

This vegan drink also works well with a sprinkling of fresh berries. For those wanting a garnish on the more chocolatey side, our Raspberry Nutmilk Ganache Selector makes a zingy, creamy, vegan-friendly addition.

Peanut Butter Iced Chocolate

For a cool, fresh beverage that’s rich in cacao but also utterly nutty, use our Peanut Butter Chocolate Sachets. Salty peanut butter is blended with caramel-milk chocolate for that sublime sweetness and nuanced chocolate flavour.

To serve

Scatter a few real peanut pieces over your iced drink for a bit of crunch. You can also snap up a few pieces of our luxurious Chocolate Peanut Butter Slab and stir them into your drink. You’ll get to enjoy a piece of real chocolate every few sips — a rather indulgent addition!

Irresistible drinking chocolate from Hotel Chocolat

We hope you enjoy creating your chilled beverages. Don’t forget to explore all our drinking chocolate flavours, like Vanilla White, Salted Caramel, and many more. There’s enough to keep you experimenting with your chilled drinks all summer long!