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Winter Warmers

SOME HOT DRINKS—LIKE A VENTE LATTE WITH A DOUBLE ESPRESSO SHOT—ARE PERFECT TO KICK START THE DAY. Others, such as a healthful Chinese green tea, are ideal for all-day sipping. But then there are the specialty drinks, the warm beverage treats that soothe both body and soul, that are becoming a thriving market.

“Comfort and indulgent products and flavors are absolutely on trend this season,” notes Sarah Stroker, marketing and communications specialist for specialty syrup supplier Torani, South San Francisco, Calif. In fact, the hot beverage category is so strong that this year, the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) added an Outstanding Hot Beverage category to its sofi™ Awards (formerly Product Awards Competition) to better honor the specialty products in this area.

Hot Chocolate 2.0
Call it drinking chocolate, sipping chocolate or premium cocoa, this winter beverage category is booming, catering to a variety of distinguished palates. It continues to grow in popularity—and in market size—as customers learn the difference between new cocoa indulgences and the Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa packets of their youth.

MarieBelle New York, a Manhattan-based producer and retailer of fine chocolates and confections, has seen this increase firsthand. The company has offered a line of Aztec Hot Chocolates since 2001 but in the past year, notes Paula Keung, director of marketing, hot chocolate sales are up 30 percent. MarieBelle’s products are made with pure chocolate rather than alkalized cocoa powder, which is the main ingredient in mass-produced hot cocoa, she explains. The retailer uses a single-origin Colombian cacao (63-72 percent) for its line of smoky tasting hot chocolate. Its newest product, Maya Hot Chocolate, contains no sugar or sugar substitutes. “It’s great sipped like an espresso and can be made with water or milk,” notes Keung.

Like MarieBelle, other manufacturers find success with products that fare well with both a milk or water option. For example, Seattle’s Fran’s Chocolates reformatted its 2007 sofiTM Gold Award winning Premium Hot Chocolate several years ago so that it could be made with both milk or water, complementing European and American tastes. “It tastes almost like a liquid truffle,” describes Sean Seedlock, vice president of sales and marketing.

“I definitely think customers are looking for something that’s different and comforting,” observes Evelyn Ignatow, owner of Hyde Park Gourmet Food and Wine, Cincinnati. One example of this is Guittard Chocolate Company, Burlingame, Calif., a 2007 sofi™ Silver Award winner for its E. Guittard Grand Cacao Drinking Chocolate. The creamy texture and intense chocolate flavor of this red-brown, dark hot chocolate has homemade, pudding-like baked chocolate aromas.

Italian cocoa powder and unique cocoa pistoles from high-end chocolate makers are appearing at many specialty outlets. Liberty Heights Fresh in Salt Lake City, Utah, favors “mochas made with espresso, steamed milk and cocoa powder—we like the Venchi cocoa powder,” notes Chief Eating Officer Steven Rosenberg.

“Our customers are always excited about new and novel products, especially during the holidays when they can share their finds with family and friends,” says Kate Dunham, assistant grocery buyer at San Francisco’s Bi-Rite Market. “This year we brought in Michael Recchiuti’s Dark Hot Chocolate Pistoles (instead of powder). It’s rich and decadent.”

Full-On Flavors
Who says hot chocolate has to be a traditional dark brown drink with floating marshmallows? “Our customers were screaming for a hot chocolate made from white chocolate, so we began offering Schokinag European Drinking Chocolate,” notes Ignatow. Schokinag has eight flavors of its Drinking Chocolates including Dulce de Leche, made with real bits of white chocolate and caramel, and White Chocolate with Strawberries, made with natural strawberry. Other flavors include Moroccan Spice, Extreme Dark, German Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Mint.

Mint is emerging as a leading flavor profile. The King’s Cupboard, Red Lodge, Mont., and Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York City, recently launched Mint Chocolate Chunk Hot Chocolate and Mint Hot Chocolate Tube, respectively.

Guests enjoy creating their own flavors at hot chocolate salons and bars like Manhattan’s Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven, notes Elisabeth Buckley, manager. “Customers begin with Classic Hot Chocolate or Wicked Hot Chocolate and mix in treats like dried candied oranges, caramel sauce or even the homemade peanut butter that Jacques makes on-site,” she says. The chocolate bar also serves a White Hot Chocolate with Chai Spice.

Creative Complements
Manufacturers are focusing on accoutrements to soothing drinks, particularly during holiday season. The Barefoot Contessa offers a Fireside Grab and Go gift package combining its Sinful Hot Chocolate Mix, Homemade Marshmallow Mix and a silicone kitchen spatula. Heather Foley, owner and chocolatier of Azure Chocolat, Centerport, N.Y., has created an unusual twist on hot chocolate—Haute Chocolat Stirs—molded dark Belgium chocolate with a touch of sea salt and aromatic cardamom, topped with brown sugar on the end of a six-inch cinnamon stick. “You warm your choice of milk or water and dip the Haute Chocolat Stirs. They melt easily, don’t form a film and create a perfectly spiced hot chocolate,” says Foley. For the holidays, she also offers the Haute Chocolat Stirs over a peppermint stick. They are sold individually or in a gift box of six.

Special Occasion Teas
Uncommon teas are also ideal for gifts, serving guests or for the occasional indulgence. Numi Organic Tea’s Exotic Flowering Tea is distinct in its presentation, especially the Golden Jasmine, which has jasmine-scented, golden-tipped black tea with chocolate undertones. It slowly unwraps into a basket of leaves and a garland of white billowy flowers. The company also offers Sunset Oolong made with wild oolong leaves and an orange lily surrounding a ruby amaranth flower. “An oolong hasn’t been done before as a flowering tea,” says Anna Hartman, Numi’s public relations manager. For the 2007 holiday season the company has released a Dancing Leaves Tea Pot, which includes five flowering teas within a glass pot.

“Spiced teas, chai and fuller flavor teas have been doing well for us,” notes Hyde Park Gourmet’s Ignatow. “We love David Rio’s teas including the Tahitian Tangerine and the Fuji Apple, and Whittard of Chelsea’s Spice Imperial is also popular.” Ignatow also notes a related spike in honey sales.

Commanding Coffees
Super premium and special occasion coffees are making a mark. For the first time in 30 years, Starbucks is introducing a super premium espresso blend for coffee connoisseurs called Espresso Regalo, according to Anthony Carroll, manager, Green Coffee Quality. It’s made using 100 percent certified-organic Arabica coffee beans from Ethiopia’s Yergacheffe and Costa Rica’s central valley. Different from Starbucks’ other espresso roast, its flavor is more delicate, with floral, cocoa and peppery spice notes with a hint of citrus. “It is also a coffee that we see being served as a single shot,” says Carroll.

Meanwhile, Ignatow singles out Single Estate Grande Cru organic coffees from Compagnia Dell’Arabica. “They are amazing,” she notes. “They come from Sumatra, Malawi and other places. They are definitely an indulgence—you couldn’t drink them everyday.”

Drinkable Treats
Part of the appeal of winter beverages is their innovative use of flavors, recipes and alcohol—all offering a range of sampling opportunities.

“We brew and sample many hot winter beverages from fresh cider and hot chocolate, to green, white or red teas,” says Liberty Heights’ Rosenberg. “We brew fresh and have air-pots ready to go to get our guests into the spirit of the season. We also have a local dairy that makes wicked egg nog—great served hot with a sprinkle of fresh nutmeg,” he adds. The favorite: hot fresh pressed cider made from a secret blend of eight apple varieties and then seasoned for ten days to get the complete character of each variety’s flavor contribution.

Drinkable desserts are also trendy and provide an opportunity for festive in-store tasting. “People love a decadent way to end their meal,” says Kristine Ford, marketing director of Stirrings, Fall River, Mass. One suggestion is the Apple Pie a la Mode, made with the company’s Spiced Apple Mixer heated with hot water, vanilla vodka and garnished with Stirrings Pie Crust Rimmer and a dollop of cold whipped cream. The company has also introduced its newest flavor, Egg Nog, which can be served heated with spiced rum.

Inspired by the trend of comforting flavors, Torani recently introduced a Peanut Butter Syrup and a Brown Sugar Cinnamon Syrup for retail and foodservice and a Pumpkin Pie Sauce and Mayan Chocolate Sauce for foodservice, all available in sugar-free. “The Mayan Chocolate sauce is created with premium chocolate, cinnamon, chilli and vanilla, and is the perfect flavor to mix up mochas and to craft hot chocolates,” says Stroker. “The pumpkin blend is complemented with cinnamon, nutmeg and other seasonal spice flavors and is a great ingredient for lattes and steamers.”

Surprising Spirits
Offering your customers suggestions for hot toddies is a cozy way to end a cold day. Gosling’s Gourmet of Hamilton, Bermuda, offers a Hot Buttered Rum Toddy mix made with brown sugar, butter, Madagascar vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves for both foodservice and retail. Just add hot water and rum. Edward Bottone, chef and marketing director, recommends merchandising the mix along with scones or other evening treats.

Adding exotic liqueurs to hot beverages can create attention-getting sippers. Qi Spirits (chee spirits), San Francisco, has created several tea liqueurs, as “a modern, Bay Area response to the millennia-old tradition of medicinal herbal liqueurs.” Qi Black Tea Liqueur is a spirit craft—distilled from rare fruits, exotic spices, wildflower honey and cedar-smoked tea. The company also recommends mixing a white tea liqueur with coffee, hot chocolate, Numi Lapsang Souchong tea or even bourbon or Grande Marnier.

Whether customers plan to sip warm drinking chocolate by the fire, end a day of skiing with a toddy or create their own special tea ceremony, hot beverages will fill a need within them as well as space in their market basket.

Susan Segrest is a regular contributor to Specialty Food Magazine.

Photos by Mark ferri; food styled by A.j. battifarano; props styled by Francine Degni-Matalon; Chinoiserie teacup and saucer by jasper conran for wedgewood