Nescafé Dolce Gusto Chococino: Two Pods, One Hot Chocolate

A box of Chococino holds sixteen pods and makes eight drinks, because every cup is built from two of them. Once that sum is clear, the rest of this hot chocolate, from the order you load the pods to the size of cup you choose, follows from it.

Two recipes in one box

The box carries two kinds of pod in equal numbers, and the published ingredient list reads like two recipes side by side. One is whole milk powder with a little sugar; the other is a chocolate powder of sugar and cocoa, with natural flavouring and, less expected, cinnamon. The machine runs them one after the other, so the drink is assembled in the cup rather than stirred, and because the pods come in matching pairs you never end up with a drawer of one kind and none of the other.

What that construction gives up is choice. The sugar is dosed into the pods before they leave the factory, so there is no unsweetened way to make it, and the cocoa has been kept mild so that nothing in the cup turns bitter. That is exactly why it works for children, and why an adult hunting a dark, biting drinking chocolate will find it too soft. Think of milk chocolate in liquid form rather than a serious cocoa.

Pod order, cup size and the watery-cup problem

Load the milk pod first and the chocolate second, unless your own box prints a different order. Building the milk underneath lets the chocolate settle on top under a head of foam, and that foam does more than look good: it holds the cocoa aroma right where you breathe in. It also fades within a few minutes, so this is a drink to make when someone is ready for it, not one to leave standing on the side.

A thin, watery cup almost always means the machine ran past the mark printed on the pod. Stop at that line even if the cup looks under-filled, and pick a wide cup over a tall mug, since the dose is sized for a coffee-shop serving rather than a pint. For a richer result, stop the milk pod a little early and let the chocolate take up more of the cup.

Children, caffeine and the biscuit tin

Chococino fits a Dolce Gusto machine and nothing else; it will not go into a Nespresso or a Tassimo, and no adapter changes that. Unlike the coffees in the same system, there is no coffee pod in the box, so it is the drink for the non-coffee drinkers in a machine household. The published allergen statement names milk and soya, and cocoa carries a little caffeine of its own, which is worth remembering if the cup is going upstairs with a child at bedtime.

Because the drink is sweet and mild, the best partners bring something it lacks. A plain butter cookie gives a crisp, buttery contrast without adding more chocolate. A dark chocolate and ginger biscuit supplies the bitterness and warmth the cup deliberately leaves out, and it sits nicely against that hint of cinnamon. For a children's tea, a chocolate sandwich cookie is the obvious companion and needs no persuading.

The packs we stock

• Nescafe Dolce Gusto 16 x Chococino Hot Chocolate (8 Servings) (barcode 7613031252671)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Nescafe Dolce Gusto 16 x Chococino Hot Chocolate (8 Servings) says it contains milk and soya. Before buying, read the current Chococino box, since Nescafé may change what it says about milk and soya.

Ingredients, as published: Whole Milk Powder (89,7%), Sugar (10,1%), Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Chocolate Powder 98,7% (Sugar, Cocoa Powder), Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Natural Flavouring, Cinnamon, Cocoa Solids 32% minimum.

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. Your Chococino box has the final word.

What to eat with it

• Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies, 340g: a plain butter cookie that adds crunch and a buttery edge without piling more chocolate on a sweet cup.
• Border Dark Chocolate Ginger Organic Biscuits, 150g: dark chocolate and ginger bring the bitterness and warmth that Chococino chooses to leave out.
• Oreo Vanilla Cookie Chocolate Sandwich Biscuit Twin Pack, 2 x 154g: the easy family choice when the hot chocolate is for children after school.

Elsewhere in the Nescafé range

• Nescafe Azera Americano Decaff Instant Coffee, 90g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Instant Coffee, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Intense Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Decaf Americano Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 135g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Decaf Unsweetened Taste Instant Coffee Sachets, 7 Sachets 105g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Instant Coffee, 7 Sachets

The full range is on the Nescafé brand page.

FAQ

Why does a box of sixteen Chococino pods make only eight drinks? Each cup uses two pods, one milk and one chocolate, so sixteen pods make eight hot chocolates. The box holds both kinds in equal numbers.

Is there coffee in Chococino? No. The box holds only milk and chocolate pods, so what you make is a hot chocolate, not a mocha. Cocoa does carry a little caffeine of its own.

Which Chococino pod goes in first? The milk pod, then the chocolate, unless your box says otherwise. That order puts the foam on top.

What allergens are listed for Chococino? The published ingredient list names milk and soya. Check the current pack before buying, as recipes can change.

Can I make Chococino less sweet? Not really, because the sugar is sealed into the pods. Stopping at the printed mark keeps it from tasting thin, but it will not change the sweetness.

Curator's note: Make it in a wide cup, stop at the line and drink it while the foam is still standing. Anyone after a dark, grown-up drinking chocolate should look elsewhere; this one is for the rest of the house. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Nescafé Dolce Gusto Chococino: Two Pods, One Hot Chocolate

More from the tea wiki

• Nescafé: The Instant Coffee Benchmark
• Tea vs Coffee: Taste, Caffeine and Switching
• Caffeine in Tea
• Tea vs Coffee
• Tea for Coffee Drinkers: Where to Start
• Chai vs Coffee
• Hot Chocolate UK: Buying It Well

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