5 great places to grab a steamy cup of hot cocoa in Dayton

It’s maybe one of the most reliable things in the world — a mug of hot cocoa wrapped between your warm hands.

While delicious any time of year, it’s no secret that the best time to enjoy hot chocolate are the days when your nose is frozen and your soul needs a little warmth. Here are 5 places in Dayton to sip a quality hot cocoa:

Did we miss your favorite hot chocolate? Drop us a line and we’ll check it out: contact@dayton.com.

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☕Spice Paradise 

Credit: Spice Paradise Facebook

Credit: Spice Paradise Facebook

Spice Paradise offers handmade spices and mixes for those wanting to dabble in the hot chocolate arts at home. Owner Ulrike Massey says you can add anything and everything from cayenne pepper, lavender sugar, ground espresso powder, and cinnamon.

8 Brown St., Dayton | Facebook

Winans Chocolates & Coffees 

What more can you expect from a coffee shop that also specializes in decadent chocolates? There are plenty of Winans locations all across the Dayton area. So you won’t have to travel far no matter where you are, when you feel that chill creeping in that only hot cocoa can cure.

The age-old debate of peppermint versus spearmint can be tried and tested here. The cafe boasts a peppermint hot chocolate and a crème de menthe variety that pours the color of money. You can also find salted caramel and s’mores hot chocolates, but perhaps the most eyebrow-raising are the banana white chocolate and coconut selections.

And for those who love Winans classic hot chocolate, the mixture is available for take home. You just have to know to ask for it.

LocationsWebsite

Press Coffee Bar 

There’s only one hot chocolate on the menu here, and for many that’s just the right number. The classic take on the warm drink here is made with Ghirardelli dark chocolate and whole milk, steamed to perfection.

257 Wayne Ave., Dayton | Website

☕Starbucks 

Starbucks mixes up three hot chocolate varieties and allows its customers to customize their hot chocolate from a variety of fresh dairy selections and combinations of syrups and toppings.

Among its classic hot chocolate and peppermint hot chocolate variety is a salted caramel hot chocolate made with steamed milk, mocha sauce and toffee nut and vanilla syrups, and topped with sweetened whipped cream, caramel sauce and a mixture of turbinado sugar and sea salt.

LocationsWebsite 

☕Phebe’s Cafe

Credit: Phebe's

Credit: Phebe's

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Late last year, The Ohio Coffee Co., on the first floor of the Fifth Third Center at 1 S. Main St. in downtown Dayton, morphed into Phebe's Cafe, named for owner, Lonnie Sholar’s, 7-year-old daughter, who has autism.

The sole hot chocolate on this menu is a Peppermint Patty, a chocolate peppermint mocha made with Monin’s chocolate sauce and peppermint syrup. Phebe’s uses only real cane sugar and the owner said you won’t be able to find corn syrup in his recipes.

1 South Main St., Dayton | Website 

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