To ask how many of you have a velvetiser and if it's really as good as it's made out

[CoffeeWithCheese]

I covet one but I am a sucker for hype.

@VetOnCall

I was considering buying one of these as a gift but I'm not a hot drinks person so just jumping in to ask if anyone knows if you still get good results if you use plant based/non dairy milks, and if so is there a better/best type to use if the person has no general preference?

As a PP said, Oatly Barista is brilliant in it.

I hate kitchen gadgets as a rule but this gets used a lot in cold weather. I mostly use Cupsmith hot chocolate flakes from Waitrose and occasionally Hotel Chocolat pouches.

I have the aldi one that was £40 last year and it's fab! I use the hotel chocolate sachets, they're great 😋

I couldn't justify either the money or the kitchen space, so I bought a hot chocolate shaker, and am very impressed so far. Smooth chocolate, easy to clean, and you don't need flakes - you can just chop up a chocolate bar into chunks, or use cocoa powder.
www.chocolate.co.uk/products/hot-chocolate-shaker-new

@VetOnCall

I was considering buying one of these as a gift but I'm not a hot drinks person so just jumping in to ask if anyone knows if you still get good results if you use plant based/non dairy milks, and if so is there a better/best type to use if the person has no general preference?

IME (albeit with the shaker)

Oat milk, especially Oatly Barista, work very well. Rice and coconut ok too. Almond doesn’t work very well — it blends but doesn’t thicken up, and has a slightly bitter taste which gets in the way of the chocolate flavour.

[quote DaisyWaldron]I couldn't justify either the money or the kitchen space, so I bought a hot chocolate shaker, and am very impressed so far. Smooth chocolate, easy to clean, and you don't need flakes - you can just chop up a chocolate bar into chunks, or use cocoa powder.
www.chocolate.co.uk/products/hot-chocolate-shaker-new[/quote]
Yes, that’s the one I’ve got! It’s excellent.

I bought a hot chocolate shaker, and am very impressed so far. Smooth chocolate, easy to clean, and you don't need flakes - you can just chop up a chocolate bar into chunks, or use cocoa powder.

You don't need flakes in the Velvetiser either. Ordinary hot chocolate powder, Horlicks, Ovaltine, Nutella spread, Biscoff spread... all work.

We have one but prefer the lavazza milk frother as it tastes exactly the same but it's hotter.

I love the hot chocolate it makes, but I find the Velvetiser itself quite badly made. We’re actually on our second one, after the non-stick coating on the first one started peeling off after a year or so. We had only ever cleaned it according to instructions so I’m not sure what happened.

Sometimes when we press the start button, the whisk doesn’t turn and it makes this horrible grinding noise, and we have to fiddle with the whisk a few times until it starts working again. This happened on both the old one and the new one.

On the new one, the lid doesn’t seem to close properly.

Not sure if we’ve just had bad luck or if these are recurring issues!

I got the £25 version from Lidl for my son. It's been a big hit.

I use milk and instant 'lite' hot chocolate powder. I get a big mug full of chocolatey foam. It's amazing.

Only uses a tiny amount of milk too- so great for my milk intolerant son.

@picklemewalnuts

I got the £25 version from Lidl for my son. It's been a big hit.

I use milk and instant 'lite' hot chocolate powder. I get a big mug full of chocolatey foam. It's amazing.

Only uses a tiny amount of milk too- so great for my milk intolerant son.

Can he drink oat milk? These drinks are even better, creamier, witj oat milk IMO.

We use ours every day. Re cleaning, we just rinse it out after using it. That way the milk doesn't dry on it.

Put it this way. If it broke, I'd buy another immediately

I bought the Aldi one a couple of weeks ago and my girls love it. But it makes about a thimbleful of hot choc, you'd have to run it three or four times to get a decent mug. It's delicious but so stupidly small.

We’ve also got the hot chocolate shaker - it’s really good, pleasingly simple, and makes amazing hot chocolate. I like that you don’t have to buy powder or flakes - I buy lovely big bags of dark Belgian chocolate drops, and use them. V rich smooth lovely hot chocolate. But obv you can use the flakes etc if you want. I’ve got some pendragon ones in dark orange.

I bought one for my husband a couple of years ago and it is still being used regularly. I was surprised at how good it was. I don't normally like hot chocolate as I find it too sweet but this is amazing. I especially like the 70%. All my family like it so it was well worth the money. Glad I gave into the hype

@OnTheBoardwalk

I’m not a massive hot chocolate fan but really like the velvetiser.

Easy to use and really easy to clean

Only thing I’m not a fan of is they are just warm and not hot

When it's finished, press the power button again. It does a second shorter cycle to heat it up more.

@IARTNS really! I'll try that tomorrow. Thanks for the tip

Didn't get a chance to read back until now, thanks for the recommendations re. plant milks, seems like oat works well so I'm definitely leaning towards a purchase.

@Youmeanyouvelostyourkey

Are the hot chocolates rich? I hate those horrible anaemic hot chocolates you get in cafes etc and the Cadbury’s power.

Just taken receipt of my Pendragon order and sampled the 85% chocolate (Belgian) after finding the Parisian too sweet. Kids love the sweet ones though!

I don’t understand the point of it / can someone explain?

It’s a machine that makes hot chocolate or milky coffee. What don’t you understand?

@MiddayMass
Yes, very rich. It feels very luxurious. I really don't like any of the main brand hot chocolates. This is something very different.

@SoupDragon

I bought a hot chocolate shaker, and am very impressed so far. Smooth chocolate, easy to clean, and you don't need flakes - you can just chop up a chocolate bar into chunks, or use cocoa powder.

You don't need flakes in the Velvetiser either. Ordinary hot chocolate powder, Horlicks, Ovaltine, Nutella spread, Biscoff spread... all work.

By not needing to use flakes, I meant that you can use chunks of chocolate rather than having to grate or finely chop a bar if you want to make your your own. I'm not sure if the velvetiser needs to chocolate to be in a powder/flake/paste form to work.

It doesn't make hot chocolate, though. It makes warm chocolate.