Cocoa quest | a hot choccy odyssey in Launceston
Why should coffee drinkers have all the fun?
Coffee. Chances are you love it - and here in Launceston we're spoilt for choice when it comes to a fantastic cup of Joe. However, if you're not a coffee drinker, the pickings get a little slimmer. Teas, chai lattes, and arguably the best winter treat of all - a hot chocolate - become your go-tos. Yeah, yeah; laugh all you want at the grown adults sipping their hot choccies. This blog is for them.
But first, a little history...
For a drink to become as common as a cup of tea or coffee, it has to have gone through some pretty rigorous social integration.
It is commonly believed that the first to enjoy a cocoa-based drink were the Mayans, who are known to have made a cocoa concoction as early as 500BCE - that's 2,525 years ago! However, the reality is that the consumption of cocoa drinks likely goes back even further, originating with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is now Ecuador at least 5300 years ago.
The Mayans made their chocolate drinks by mixing ground cocoa seeds with water, cornmeal, chilli peppers, vanilla and other ingredients, before pouring it back and forth from a cup to a pot until a thick foam formed. This beverage was enjoyed by all social classes, but by 1400AD, when cocoa drinks became part of Aztec culture, they were enjoyed almost exclusively by the elite. It was considered a bad omen for commoners to drink chocolate, and cacao became a form of currency throughout Mesoamerica.
Because sugar had not yet been introduced to the Americas, the cocoa drinks enjoyed by these cultures were said to be an acquired taste; they were spicy and bitter, with a gritty texture that would likely be highly unpleasant to modern palates. They were often consumed for ritual or medicinal purposes, rather than enjoyed as a tasty treat.
José de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the late 16th century, described chocolate drinks as:
Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the 'Indians' [local indigenous peoples], where with they feast noble men who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolate. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that 'chilli'; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh*.
The colonisation of Mesoamerica in the early 1500s inevitably led to Europeans bringing cocoa drinks back home, where they slowly gained popularity. The imperial court of Emperor Charles V famously appropriated the beverage, and drinkable chocolate became fashionable and popular with the Spanish upper class. Cocoa was even given as a dowry when members of the Spanish royal family married other European aristocrats.
It wasn't until the 17th century that hot chocolate evolved into something closer to the modern version we enjoy today; when it was sweetened with sugar, introduced across Europe and eventually became a luxury item among the broader European nobility. The first Chocolate House (picture a super swanky, exclusive cafe where members of the nobility got rowdy) opened in London in 1657, serving hot chocolate mixed with spices for 50 to 75 pence a serve - that might not sound like much, but in 2025, that would be equivalent to roughly $117 - $169 AUD!
With all of that history in mind, aren't we glad to live in a time and place where hot chocolate is sweet, smooth, delicious and available to all? We'd be crazy not to make the most of that.
Every cafe in Launceston serves at least a basic hot chocolate - view all listings for that here. This blog is going to focus on venues that go above and beyond to serve a delicious variety of specialty hot chocolates! Read on to find out where you can get your hands on some of the tastiest hot choccies around.
The Devil's Own Ice Creamery
Devil's Own is renowned for their handcrafted ice creams, but did you know they also make their own hot chocolate from ganache AND marshmallows from scratch? Each hot chocolate is served with one of their delicious marshmallows.
- Original ganache hot chocolate
- Hazelnut ganache hot chocolate
- Peanut ganache hot chocolate
- Parisian hot chocolate, made with 100g of 70% dark chocolate for a thick and rich finish; served with Chantilly whipped cream and fingers of sweet Belgian waffles
Unique bonus for non-coffee drinkers: they also serve a butterbeer latte!
Fun fact: everything served at Devil's Own is also gluten free.
📍 Find The Devil's Own Ice Creamery at 20 Lawrence Street
Coal River Farm
This chocolatier serves rich hot chocolates made with real gourmet chocolate, blending it with milk for a velvety, creamy finish.
- Milk hot chocolate
- Dark hot chocolate
- White hot chocolate
You can also purchase drinking chocolate melts to take home!
📍 Find Coal River Farm at 82 George Street
Cake O'Clock
Cake O'Clock serves hot chocolate made from Mörk cocoa, a Melbourne-based producer that focuses on the traceability, quality and unique origin of the ingredients they use. If you care about the richness/darkness of your chocolate, this is a great option.
- Junior dark 50%
- Dark milk & salt 65%
- Original dark 70%
- Even darker 85%
Unique bonus for non-coffee drinkers: they also serve taro lattes!
📍 Find Cake O'Clock at Shop 3, 13 Quadrant Mall
Charlie's Dessert House
Charlie's hot chocolates are made with premium couverture chocolate from Anvers, and can be served with marshmallows. They have so many tempting flavours, you might want to work your way through trying them all!
- Red velvet
- Mint
- Peanut butter
- Salted caramel
- Nutella
- Vanilla
- Chilli
- Macadamia
- Jaffa
- Caramel
- Bounty
- White chocolate
- Irish cream
📍 Find Charlie's Dessert House at 74 Charles Street
San Churro
This national chain doesn't skimp on decadence. They serve a wide variety of hot chocolates all made from real chocolate, with the option to add different toppings.
Couverture hot chocolates:
- Milk
- Dark
- White
- Mocha
- Cookie butter
Thick Spanish-style hot chocolates:
- Classic
- Azteca (chilli and cinnamon)
Add-ons:
- Vanilla gelato
- Toasted marshmallow
- Whipped cream
📍 Find San Churro at 74-82 Saint John Street
Other places with specialty hot chocolates
- Launnie Heights Cafe offer a pistachio hot chocolate
- Frankie's Coffee House offers white hot chocolate and white matcha hot chocolate
- Mad Apple Cafe has a rotating special board for hot chocolates; recent flavours include marble and Biscoff
- Tinka Coffee Brewers offer salted caramel and white hot chocolate
- Urban Espresso offers white and marbled hot chocolate
- LeKoh offers a Nutella hot chocolate
- Maple Cafe offers white, mint choc and Nutella hot chocolates
- M&B Cafe and Smoothie Bar offers white, top deck and Nutella hot chocolates
- Coffee Republic offers a peanut butter hot chocolate
- Sweetbrew offers a single source hot chocolate in milk and dark chocolate
- The Grain Grocer sells incredible ceremonial cacao that you can prepare at home
