h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Until relatively recently I worked at the factory where the majority of hot chocolate consumed in the UK is manufactured. I say this to establish some kind of authority before making this statement: hot chocolate does not dissolve, regardless how hot the water is. Or rather, the most important bit of it doesn't.

Hot chocolate as consumed in the UK consists almost entirely of just two ingredients: sugar, which of course does dissolve in water, and cocoa powder, which does not. Some varieties have flavoured additions such as vanilla extract, but you're basically talking sugar and water.

However, it's not merely a mixture of the two. The powders are mixed, wetted, and then spray dried to "instantise" the mixture, which seems to consist of getting the sugar to dissolve a bit and coat the cocoa.

The point being - any drink of hot chocolate is a suspension of solid particles of cocoa in water or milk. Those particles WILL NOT dissolve, no matter how hot the water. The best thing you can do, therefore, to have a smooth and consistent drinking experience is to stir the mixture vigourously, take a mouthful, savour, then stir again. As soon as you stop stirring, the cocoa powder - the ingredient which is giving you the flavour - will start to settle out.

So keep stirring...

SoRB

That makes sense. Just like the cinnamon in my chai.

Thanks, SoRB!