I have been very lucky this year to receive the Hotel Chocolat velvetiser for Christmas (after finding a good deal during Black Friday) and I am not even exaggerating when I say that it has changed my life in the 3 days I have had it. I absolutely love it. As someone who loves hot chocolate and spends money regularly buying hot chocolates on the go, is the Hotel Chocolat velvetiser worth the price?
What is the Hotel Chocolat velvetiser?
The velvetiser is a stunning hot chocolate machine created by Hotel Chocolat to help you to make barista-grade hot chocolate easily. You add real grated chocolate flakes into your milk (including plant based milk like oat milk), turn on the velvetiser and in 2 and a half minutes you have a luxurious hot chocolate ready to drink.
The velvetiser comes with two ceramic Podcups (worth £20).
It is available in 3 colours:
- Copper/rose gold
- White
- Charcoal
How much is the Hotel Chocolat velvetiser?
The Hotel Chocolat velvetiser is £99.95 direct from Hotel Chocolat.
You might find it cheaper on Amazon and eBay.
How much is the hot chocolate?
The velvetiser was created to use real chocolate to make your luxurious hot chocolate, which means that the hot chocolate directly from Hotel Chocolat can get expensive.
You can expect to pay £8-£13 to restock your hot chocolate for the velvetiser if you are using the chocolate directly from Hotel Chocolat.
Thankfully there are a few ways to save money whilst still enjoying your beautiful hot chocolate.
How to save money on the velvetiser hot chocolate
The first thing to talk about is the serving size.
The instructions will suggest you use a full sachet or 6 teaspoons of chocolate for your hot chocolates. You only add 225ml of milk, which means that I, and many others I have spoken to, find the hot chocolate way too rich and strong.
I find that two teaspoons, or a third of a sachet, works really well for me.
If this is the only change you make you will still be able to spread your hot chocolates out and get 3 times as many for the price.
Keep an eye out on Amazon for any Subscribe and Save bonuses. There will often be a percentage saving to be made when you create a subscription (which you can cancel straight away).
Another alternative is to use a different brand of hot chocolate flakes. For example, this one is just £6.95 at the time of writing instead of Hotel Chocolat’s equivalent for £9. Those savings soon add up.
You can also grate up your own chocolate to use in the velvetiser. This is one of the most cost effective ways to make your own hot chocolate – you can buy supermarket own chocolate bars starting at 30p for 100g. That means you can make 250g for less than £1.
You can also use normal hot chocolate powder in your velvetiser.
Can you use powder hot chocolate in the Hotel Chocolat velvetiser?
Yes!
Whilst some of the magic of the velvetiser comes from melting chocolate into milk, frothing the milk also accounts for a lot of the delicious taste.
You can use hot chocolate powder in your velvetiser, however I would recommend manually mixing it in with a spoon first, or running the velvetiser a couple of times to dissolve the powder.
How to clean the velvetiser
The velvetiser is so easy to clean – there is a non-stick coating on the inside so all you need to do is give it a rinse out after use, or run the velvetiser with water and a drop of washing up liquid.
The whisk is not dishwasher safe, but the cups that come with the velvetiser are dishwasher safe.
Is the Hotel Chocolat velvetiser worth the price?
If you are a fan of rich and luxurious hot chocolates then the Hotel Chocolat velvetiser is definitely for you!
I love mine – so much so that I build an entire hot chocolate station for it.
Leave a Reply