It’s the perfect time of year for a warm cup of hot chocolate. What if you could get your CBD compounds mixed with your favourite chocolate beverage? CBD-infused hot chocolate is quickly climbing the charts in popularity. You can find these drinks in dispensaries, cafes, and online. They come in liquid and premeasured packets, just like the stuff you buy at the store.
If you’re the type of person who would rather stay in and experiment in the kitchen, this recipe is a good one to try. It takes a short amount of time to put together, and it doesn’t require any complicated tools or devices.
CBD oil and CBD edibles are classified as full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, or isolate.
Full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD will have more compounds and terpenes from the plant from which it came. Some people believe that cannabis compounds work better when they’re working together. The theory is called the entourage effect. Others believe the compounds work best when isolated.
Many people believe CBD isolate is the purest form of CBD on the market. You can find this type of CBD in oil and powder form. The CBD is isolated from the other compounds and extracted from the cannabis flower. These products will only contain trace amounts of other cannabis compounds, including THC. If the CBD came from a hemp plant and not a cannabis plant, there likely won’t be any traces of THC in your product.
CBD-infused Edibles
We’ve watched over the past few years as CBD-infused edibles and topicals have risen to the forefront of the cannabis industry. CBD stands for cannabidiol, which is one of the hundreds of compounds found in cannabis. Unlike THC, the psychoactive compound that gives users a feeling of being “high,” CBD is non-psychoactive. That means there is no known effect or impairment on the brain when someone consumes CBD compounds.
These days it’s almost impossible to find a product that someone hasn’t infused with CBD compounds. One of the most convenient ways of consuming CBD is through capsules. These are extremely popular and can be found just about anywhere. The benefit of taking CBD in a capsule is not experiencing the taste. No matter how delicious the treats, cannabis products always add a little kick to the end-product.
Topicals are just as popular as CBD capsules in the cannabis market. Topicals can be any type of cream, gel, or roll-on product that you use externally. Many of these products have pleasant scents added to them, or you can find them with no scent at all.
How to Make CBD-infused Hot Chocolate
There are two relatively simple recipes for making CBD-infused hot chocolate at home. For both recipes, you’ll want to choose a CBD tincture that you would typically use. Don’t worry about it having a sour taste. Most people think the CBD compounds and the cocoa balance each other out in the drink.
You’ll need the following items if you want to make your hot cocoa from scratch:
- Small saucepan
- 240 grams (one cup) of milk
- One ounce of dark chocolate
- 17 grams of unsweetened cocoa powder
- Sugar to taste
- One shake of salt
- 3-4 drops of CBD tincture
In the saucepan, combine the dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and a half-cup of milk.
Continue to stir until the chocolate completely melts, and then add in the remaining milk and salt. Stir in sugar to taste and add the CBD tincture.
Another option is to use CBD-infused chocolate as a substitute for the chocolate and the CBD tincture.
- 480 grams (2 cups) whole milk
- 50 grams of cannabis chocolate
- 2.5 grams (1 tsp) cocoa powder
- 1 gram (¼ tsp) of vanilla extract or pure vanilla
- Marshmallows
The first step is heating your saucepan on the stove so you can warm up the milk. Once the saucepan is warm, add the milk. It needs to simmer for a couple of minutes, but don’t let it start bubbling. That means the heat is too high.
After two minutes or so, add the cocoa powder and sugar and then stir. While you’re stirring those together, slowly add the vanilla and turn the heat up, so the liquid starts to bubble. Once it starts to boil, remove it from the heat and start working on your chocolate.
You want to break up your chocolate bar into small enough pieces that it melts easily. Add it to the warm milk mixture in the saucepan and whisk the ingredients together. Make sure the chocolate pieces dissolve.
If you want to put a little spin on your hot chocolate, you can try swapping out your tincture with a flavoured one. You can find a wide variety of products in numerous flavours, including mint tinctures. A couple of drops of that in your hot chocolate will give it the perfect hint of candy cane.
If you’re using the chocolate bar method, you can experiment with dozens of flavour combinations. You can find chocolate bars in dozens of varieties. Swap out a plain chocolate bar for something with salted caramel or a hint of mint, too.
Trying different tinctures will also give you different flavours because of the specific terpenes in each strain of cannabis. Terpenes are responsible for giving CBD compounds their aromas and flavours. There are some big differences from product to product, so try one until you find what works and what tastes good for you.
Whichever recipe you try, it will likely be delicious since it’s hard to go wrong with hot chocolate. Remember, if you add more CBD tincture to your mix, the drink will have a more potent cannabis flavour.
Closing Thoughts
It doesn’t have to be wintertime to enjoy a nice hot cup of cocoa. There are many varieties of hot chocolate mixes, chocolate bars, and CBD tinctures. The possibilities are endless. If you have a CBD tincture that you really like, find out if it has a flavoured counterpart out there somewhere. You might be surprised by what you will find.