Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser

[Coffeewinecake]

Are they worth it?
It’s coming to that time of year (although it’s hot and sunny at the moment!) and was thinking of getting as a joint Xmas gift for DCs.
I spoke to someone at Hotel Chocolat but I still don’t really understand what they do (the velvetiser, not the shop assistant). Are they just a glorified milk frother that take up extra space and cost a lot more?
TIA

I am normally very cynical for these things and I have enough gadgets cluttering up my kitchen (thanks husband!) But the velvetiser is amazing. I love it, the hot chocolate tastes like nothing else.

I can't see how its any different to a decent milk frother. I make hot chocolate in my areochinno and its great.

People seem to love them though.

I use mine most days for my afternoon oat matcha latte (and pretend I'm an influencer while actually updating spreadsheets). My kids use it to make hot chocolate when they gets back from rugby/netball/football/swimming - super easy and safe. I think it's a great addition to the kitchen. We did have a nespresso milk frother but I just think this one is easier to clean and more easy for the kids to use. I do agree though that it could be bigger - when there are lots of kids at my house I still just make a pan of hot chocolate on the stove

I love mine. But then we had a cheaper hot chocolate maker/milk frother before. The Velvetiser knocks the cheaper ones out the park. I don't use the hotel Chocolat sacheys though - I just prefer the Whittards ones. I've also used just a normal Cadburys hot chocolate in it before, and it still turned out decent.

We use ours a lot , we don’t use the hotel Chocolat sachets as we aren’t keen on many of them . I accept that you can do the same job cheaper but we got given ours as a gift and it is quite a neat machine .

Depends on how much you like hot chocolate.

My friend has one and he adores it - uses it multiple times a week during autumn and winter. He doesn't drink alcohol - hot chocolate is his one vice. He keeps trying to persuade everyone else to get one as he loves his so much.

While I love hot chocolate I don't drink it very often and so I'd personally not want one.

Yes! Had ours about 6 months and use it a lot. I did see a dupe version in B&M for about £30 the other day

Bought husband one for Christmas last year. He makes lattes in it and makes his own hot chocolate using buttons or chocolate pellets rather than what hotel chocolate sell. I got it cheap in the sale would not pay full price.

@Cliffwheat00 Another one here advising to stay clear of the latte sachets.. it was absolutely awful (and I say that as someone who adores Hotel Chocolat generally). I had to throw away my box of sachets, couldn’t bring myself to finish them.

I’ve got one and I feel it’s a glorified milk frother. It does the job and you can use chocolate from non Hotel Chocolat sources so that is good.

I bought one as a joint present for my kids a few years ago.

We think it's fantastic. It meant the kids could make themselves hot chocolate without milk over boiling and chocolate all over the kitchen.

I love mine and use it almost every night. Due to calorie content (and cost!) I often don’t use the Hotel Chocolat sachets, I use Cadbury’s Highlights and it’s perfect every time. I have sent quite a few as gifts and they’ve always been well received.

we have the dualit one and it works brilliantly. https://www.dunelm.com/product/dualit-milk-frother-max-black-1000247227

I love mine, had it around 4 years and it’s still going strong. I only use the hotel chocolate sachets (I prefer the dark ones or mint) but I’ve used it to make tumeric/chai/beetroot lattes with blend smith powders.

Personally I’ve been fine with my £10 handheld frother from Lakeland! Means you can make coffees too

Velvetiser - warms and froths milk and melts real chocolate flakes into it.

The reality in my house - flakes are expensive and bought in for the Xmas holidays for small cups of delicious hot chocolate with added alcohol and other fripperies.

Rest of the year - frothing milk for coffee, and hot chocolate made with Green & Blacks powder.

Aldi were selling dupes recently for £20 - perfectly fine alternative.

We love ours, as do the dcs x

We got one as a gift and use it far more than I thought we would, mostly because my son loves a hot chocolate made with Lidl’s Goodie Cao.

We have one and use it a lot, but I'm not sure it's any better than some of the other similar machines out there. It's definitely better than the cheap Lidl milk frother I had, that used to struggle if you put chocolate powder in it. I rarely use the official sachets now, anything works.

The Hotel Chocolat one is made by Dualit and you could get an actual Dualit one for less money. Or check out other brands. I don't mind that it only makes one cup as quite often we want different types anyway. But if you are planning to make for more people and there's a brand that does bigger portions I'd go for it. I highly recommend the M&S hazelnut and gingerbread syrups to make a flavoured hot chocolate.

I’ve just seen that you can buy a Dualit Cocoatiser, it looks better as it doesn’t have the long handle - cheaper too especially if you have a Costco card.

I have a velvetiser and the novelty was re off pretty quickly and we went back to using the microwave.

Are they just a glorified milk frother that take up extra space and cost a lot more?

Pretty much. There are definitely better options out there.

I tested one as part of a MN product test. If I were buying one I'd buy a different one. IMO it was too small, not hot enough and a pain to clean (the method they suggest left smears, the only way was to carefully hold it under a tap)

I’ve used mine almost every day in the 2 years I’ve had it. Even just to heat milk for a standard coffee as it gives you the velvet texture. If it broke I’d 💯 need to replace it.

people say you can get cheaper and you can - the dualit is the same, or there are other machines that have slightly different functions. But I have never not for one moment regretted that purchase!

Also it says not to but you can put powder in them ie Horlicks, options, galaxy hot choc. All fine.

so weird! I devour these! Although they changed the formula a little while back and they are called mocha now which is closer to the truth!

It's a shame we don't know each other @SisterAgatha , I could have posted them to you! 😂