Chocolate vs. Cocoa

Hot chocolate and hot cocoa: What's the difference?

Most people -- and some manufacturers -- use the terms "hot chocolate" and "hot cocoa" interchangeably, but these terms actually describe two different beverages.

We can't state the difference any better than Wikipedia: "Hot cocoa is made from a powdered mix of cocoa, sugar and thickeners, without cocoa butter. Hot chocolate is made directly from bar chocolate, which already contains cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter. Thus the major difference between the two is the cocoa butter, which makes hot cocoa significantly lower in fat than chocolate, while still preserving all the intrinsic health-giving properties of chocolate."

As you can infer from the above paragraph, a cupful of a rich, dark, imported hot chocolate like Schokinag or Jacques Torres is the equivalent of eating a candy bar, while mixes labeled "hot cocoa" are a bit more forgiving in terms of their fat (but not sugar) content. That said, either hot cocoa or hot chocolate can be prepared with milk or water, depending on the mix.