Every season has its designated trendy beverage. We had frosé this summer and pumpkin spice lattes in the fall, but now what? Eggnog? Hot chocolate? Yawn.
No, the must-sip winter drink is ... wait for it ... red wine hot chocolate.
Whaaat?! you're thinking to yourself. Why haven't I thought of that before?
Don't worry. We're right there with you. There's no better pairing in the world than red wine and chocolate — we've even made red wine brownies — but we didn't think to combine them in liquid form.
Okay, okay, so red wine hot chocolate is not really new. But since blogger Imma Eat That posted her recipe for the decadent drink in 2014, it has slowly but surely risen to fame. Now The New York Times is even writing about it.
Here are the basic guidelines of Imma Eat That's recipe:
1. Make chocolate milk by melting chocolate chips in milk.
2. Pour in red wine.
3. Pour into mugs.
4. Top with whipped cream.
Yep. Simple as that. But other bloggers have created their own, more elaborate spin-offs, using multiple types of chocolate, throwing in spices like cinnamon and cayenne, stirring in condensed milk, or topping it with marshmallows.
Red wine is good. Hot chocolate is good. Together they are amazing. As Aristotle once said, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." And we do indeed believe he was referring to red wine hot chocolate.
This article was originally published on Dec. 20, 2016.