I have been rereading a number of archived stories. In one of those stories, I read about fixing hot chocolate and in the next sentence the drink was called hot cocoa.
To me hot cocoa and hot chocolate are two different drinks. Is this a regional usage or is it just me.
I use both names for both; the kind you make from scratch, or the kind that comes in paper pouches... again, it might just be me...
For me, Chocolate Milk is made with milk and Hershey's chocolate syrup. Cocoa is made with Hershey's cocoa power. The flavor is different.
I suppose there are substitutes, but that is what I grew up with.
ah memories...as kids we made chocolate milk with milk and chocolate powder, and chocolate syrup was used on vanilla ice cream...ok ok I still do! :D
if we were out of chocolate syrup we made our own using chocolate powder and a little milk then poured the thick concoction over the ice cream...
SunSeeker
For me, Chocolate Milk is made with milk and Hershey's chocolate syrup.
In my experience, that kind of chocolate milk is made and served cold.
Growing up in Canada in the 60's/70's they were the one and the same...still are as far as I am concerned
SunSeeker
The main difference is ingredients: hot cocoa uses cocoa powder (low fat), making it thinner and sweeter with added sugar, while hot chocolate uses melted real chocolatehot chocolatehot cocoa uses cocoa powder (low fat), making it thinner and sweeter with added sugar, while hot chocolate uses melted real chocolate (with cocoa butter), making it richer, denser, and more bittersweet, often with a silkier texture. Hot cocoa is powder-based (cocoa + sugar/milk powder), while hot chocolate melts solid chocolate into liquid.
Google AI's opinion of the difference between Cocoa and Chocolate. I've cut and paste so those mistakes are Google's fault.
AJ
I think "Hot Cocoa" as a term has been around a lot longer than cocoa powder. My grandmother's collection had cook books from the mid-1800's that described making Hot Cocoa from scratch. Shaving chocolate off a bar of hard chocolate.
To me hot cocoa and hot chocolate are two different drinks. Is this a regional usage or is it just me.
I think they're pretty much interchangeable these days, but IIRC, hot cocoa was made with cocoa powder, milk/cream and sugar, while hot chocolate was made with melted chocolate and milk/cream (like thin ganache.)
How do cocoa and chocolate compare for theobromine content?
It depends on the amount of cocoa solids in the chocolate product and that depends on the manufacturers recipe.
https://www.whitakerschocolates.com/blogs/blog/how-much-theobromine-in-chocolate-dark-milk-and-white/
Hot cocoa is made with cocoa powder, sugar, and hot milk or hot water, while for hot chocolate milk is essential, but may be already fully contained in the chocolate powder so you need only hot water. Depending on the recipe of the used chocolate, hot chocolate may contain some other ingredients like vanillin, lecithin, salt, ... which are not in hot cocoa.
BTW, I still have an about 60 years old metal can for cocoa from "Koninklijke C.J. van Houten & Zoon N.V. Weesp-Holland" with instructions in four languages. The English reads:
DIRECTIONS FOR USE
Put a teaspoon-ful of van Houten Cocoa and two of sugar in a cup and mix together. Add boiling milk or water and stir continuously.
HM.
while for hot chocolate milk is essential,
I disagree, although most people take it that way because, on its own, chocolate is bitter. And milk is cheaper than chocolate so manufacturers inflate their margins by adding milk.
AJ
I was rereading an authors story and the author used the terms hot chocolate and hot cocoa interchangeably. I believe they are two different, but similar, drinks. So far, the posts seem to be about the posters' preference and how to make their preferred drink.
So back to my question. Is the usage of the terms 'hot chocolate' and 'hot cocoa' to mean the same thing a regional usage or perhaps habit is a better term?
Most of the replies above seem to agree that the two are different, but everyone has a different opinion of what the difference is.
Based on the differences between the opinions above, there seem to be some versions that would be classified as hot cocoa by some and as hot chocolate by others.
I suggest that it is reasonable for those without strong opinions to feel that the two names apply to the same drink.
So back to my question. Is the usage of the terms 'hot chocolate' and 'hot cocoa' to mean the same thing a regional usage or perhaps habit is a better term?
It is and it isn't. The topic came up on a long distance hike in the US and was discussed with people from all over the country. My impression is that whether it's called chocolate or cocoa is as much regional as it is cultural, and age may also play a role. Sweet foods are one of the main topics at camp when you're 1500 miles into a hike with week long resupplies bought at tiny general stores and gas stations, and when you're at least a thousand calories short of what you burn every day for months, just thinking about getting a hot chocolate/cocoa at your next town stop gets you all euphoric.
Technically, Cocoa is derived from the coca plant, not a damn powder mix, thus is has a harsher bitter taste, requiring additional sugar to counter.
Chocolate shouldn't taste sweet, just as the ancient chocolates weren't re: the Ancient Aztec. But then again, they sacrificed each other by cutter their hearts out after playing a ball game with them, so who can account for such reasoning. Yet again, that only occurred at the bitter end of their ancient empire, when it was already in full collapse, crumbling around them. So, no wonder they went crazy, eating ALL the bitter chocolate, but bitter turns one … bitter.
Who'd a thunkit?