Taste Test Tuesday — Starbucks vs. Dutch Brothers Hot Chocolate

Welcome to our Taste Test Tuesday Hot Chocolate Throwdown! Today, we are highlighting two powerhouses in hot chocolate: Starbucks vs. Dutch Brothers. We wanted to include Seattle’s Best (because I LOVE their hot chocolate…they even serve it up with a little chocolate swizzle stick); unfortunately, there aren’t any Seattle’s Best near us anymore. 🙁 They all closed.

But we DO have a Starbucks (actually 2) within 1 mile and a Dutch Brothers just down the street. It’s about time we held a blind taste test between the two. And, since the weather is cooling off just a bit, now seemed the perfect time to hold this throwdown!

We ordered 2 plain hot chocolates. Nothing fancy, no peppermint or gingerbread, no vanilla or hazelnut. Just. Plain. Chocolate.

The Starbucks hot chocolate cost us $3.25
The Dutch Brothers cost $2.50

Both came with whipped cream on top.

I was surprised to see more whipped cream on the Starbucks (on the left), since we purchased that one first before running to Dutch Brothers (on the right). I thought it would have all melted in by the time we got to it.

Since this was a “blind” taste test, I marked the tasting cups with an “A” and a “B” and poured the chocolate in before handing them over to the judges in the other room.
The Dutch Brothers was significantly lighter in color than the Starbucks. And the Starbucks tasted much richer, and like a dark chocolate.

And when the judges cast their votes, it was UNANIMOUS!

The Winner {Drumroll please…}
By a landslide, the winning Hot Chocolate maker is:  Dutch Brothers!!! (Crowd goes wild)….Congratulations to Dutch Brothers!!

Final Notes
After the votes were tallied and the winner was announced, one of our judges declared that the absolute BEST way to drink them, was to mix them together to get just the right balance of chocolate flavor. So, if you are in the mood to give it a try…order up one of each and mix them up. 🙂

I love hot chocolate in the fall!

Next Taste Test Tuesday will be a PART II to this taste test: Homemade Hot Chocolate. Yes, we will be searching all grocery stores and specialty stores for the BEST hot chocolate mix that you make at HOME.

So, what’s your favorite…leave me a comment below and we’ll include it in our next Taste Test Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by.