The phrase “colder than Antarctica” is becoming a little too real in South Dakota. On December 22, 2022, Sioux Falls had its coldest day of the year. The city was colder than Antarctica, making it the lowest temperature in the world for that day. Given the godawful circumstances, people had absolutely no choice but to drink a cup of hot chocolate and warm up. Those who were brave enough to step out of the door and into the literal coldest place on earth might have had a hard time choosing where to get the best hot chocolate, but I have decided that it is time to end the debate. Today, the best hot chocolate will be decided between three major hot chocolate producers; Starbucks, Scooters and Caribou. The ratings will be determined based on the price, temperature and richness of the chocolate.

Starting off with perhaps the most popular coffee shop in town, I will be reviewing Starbucks hot chocolate. For a grande hot chocolate with whipped cream, my total was $4.25, which is awfully high considering that the hot chocolate itself was just not good. The drink was simply too hot, and even through the two layers of cardboard, I still burned my hand. I didn’t even try to drink it within the first 15 minutes, after which I got my first sip. The richness of the chocolate was very strong, and it truly tasted like dark chocolate, which I am not a fan of. Let’s not even mention the fact that the whipped cream took up half of the cup and still did not calm it down. Due to these findings, Starbucks hot chocolate gets a well-deserved rating of 1/5.
When I am thinking about which coffee shop to go to, Caribou is not my first choice, but the overall experience exceeded my expectations. For a small hot chocolate, my total was $3.31, which is the cheapest on this list. The hot chocolate itself was rather hot, and it took a good 5 minutes to cool down, but the richness of the chocolate made up for it. The closest thing I can compare the richness to is chocolate milk, and that is exactly how I prefer it; not too sweet, not too bland. Given the low price and great taste, I would like to give this drink a perfect score, but it was just too hot, so Caribou hot chocolate has earned itself a 4/5.

Scooters is another popular coffee shop, and I ordered the same thing that I did at Caribou, which brought my total to $3.71. They say nothing is perfect, but this hot chocolate might be the closest thing to perfect that anything can be. When served, the drink is able to be picked up with no worries of burning a hand. After a few seconds of waiting, the drink is at a perfect temperature to enjoy. If that was not enough to make you sprint to the nearest Scooters, the taste is even better. Amazing would be a huge understatement to describe the taste of this phenomenal drink. I could rave about this drink all day, but I think a rating of 6/5 should be convincing enough for you to purchase a Scooters hot chocolate.