Hot chocolate: What’s hot and what’s not on Main Street
Hot chocolate is a miracle drink. It has the power to warm the body in the midst of a Logan winter.
The moment you lift the cup to your lips and the piping hot liquid streams into your mouth, one of two things is sure to happen. Most of the time, it burns your tongue. Then you spend a week trying to taste food with half the taste bud capacity. But if you get lucky, you come across a cup of hot chocolate that is just the right temperature — not too hot, and not too cold. It glides down the pipe and warms your entire body from your freezing face to your stiff toes.
There is nothing worse than looking forward to a good cup of hot chocolate and being disappointed. Temperature and flavor need to be perfect. Just a few degrees off in either direction and you are either killing more taste buds or drinking chocolate milk. Both are bad when you expect hot chocolate. Flavor should be sweet and strong. It should taste like a liquid candy bar and not an aggravating imitation. Thou shalt not mock the power of liquid chocolate and what it can do for a freezing body.
Take a sip at these locations on Main Street in Logan. Some are sure to please and some… well, some will still leave your toes frozen.
7-Eleven: 1395 N. Main Street
Temp test: just right
Flavors: chocolate
Cost: $1.33 – $1.85
Number of creamers: 15
Extras: vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate powders you can shake into your drink, plus mini-marshmallows.
Final grade: B
A good solid option. Not too flashy, but it definitely hits the spot in terms of flavor and temperature.
Chevron: 398 N. Main Street
Temp test: hot
Flavors: chocolate
Number of creamers: five
Extras: mini-marshmallows
Cost: Any size for 99 cents
Final Grade: A
Who doesn’t want a huge ol’ cup of steaming hot chocolate for 99 cents?
Yogurtland: 1007 N. Main Street
Temp test: cold
Flavors: peppermint, eggnog, coconut, pumpkin, Mexican, salted caramel and plain Jane
Extras: whipped topping, plus mix-and-match any add-ins for 25 cents
Cost: $2
Final grade: F
Long wait…10 minutes. It’s a super small cup for the cost. The worst thing… my drink was cold. As cold as the frozen yogurt they serve. Sin!
Starbucks: 1620 N. Main Street
Temp test: just right
Flavors: 16 and counting
Extras: whipped topping
Cost: $2.75 – $3.45
Final Grade: B
These are rugged, natural flavors. There’s really not an overwhelming amount of sweetness. A little pricey for a college student, but quite the hopping place to grab a hot cup of cocoa and hang out.
Chevron: 1936 N. Main Street
Temp test: just right
Flavors: Swiss hot cocoa, pumpkin spice, strawberry steamer
Number of creamers: 10
Extras: Whipped topping
Cost: $1.39 – $1.59
Grade: A
The night I tried it, the flavors came out as water. The next day they were working fine again. So hit it on a good night and you’ll be pleased if you mix the strawberry and chocolate. Yum.
— Ellie Dalton is a really old sophomore studying agricultural communications and journalism because she wants to be the next female Baxter Black. She loves all food, especially popcorn and soft serve ice cream… but not together. You can email her at elizabeth.dalton@aggiemail.usu.edu or message her @eddthegirl.