Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate? Oh YEAH!
October 18, 2008 by Marye Audet
Filed under Chocolate
Sean had a JBQ meet today and Marc was going with him…so I had to drop them off at 7 a.m. What else is there to do at that time of day? Exactly.
Starbucks and a magazine.
Since the other day when Marc and I were there I wanted to try the Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. The idea of it was so intriguing that I kept thinking about it. Yes..I was a victim of….Starbuck’s porn. And after you read this you will be, too.
I told them I was blogging it today and to make it pretty. 
She automatically made the drink in a venti mug because I always have a venti (with extra whipped cream…see I have trained them well!). I smiled and mentally prepared for the sugar high that was to follow.
The salted caramel hot chocolate is the new signature hot chocolate topped with whipped cream, turbinado sugar, caramel, and sea salt crystals.
One more….just so you get the idea…..
O.k…The chocolate itself is not standard hot chocolate. Imagine dipping your finger into melted semi- sweet chocolate chips…we have all done it, right? Well imagine that in a slightly more liquid form and you have the flavor. It is not a particularly “milky” drink. Completely rich, and honestly yeah, a little cloying. I suggest you order a large glass of ice water with it.
So you take a sip and you have the flavor of the chocolate with the crunch and saltiness of the salt crystals. It is very much like drinking a chocolate covered pretzel.
Do I recommend it? Oh yeah. If you are not a major sugar-a-holic like I am I would suggest a regular cup and not a venti. Work up to the venti..you know, for those times you need sugar tremors and a 2,200 calorie kick in your diet. (honestly I do not know how many calories it is…alot I am sure)
Now…trust me on this. Order it in a “for here cup”. Ceramic. Stuff tastes nasty out of to go cups. Take a magazine or a book. Sit in a comfortable chair. Relax and sip this amazing drink for one hour. Do not think about anything not fun.
There…don’t you feel better?
Well worth the money….well worth the calories.
I have created a Copycat Recipe for Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate..check it out!
I am editing to add….I will no longer be dealing with either Foodgawker OR Tastespotting. If they would turn images down and say things like..I don’t like this…I could handle that. However…when they say…Image was blurry and out of foucs..I have to laugh..bitterly perhaps..but laugh. DO you see anything out of focus or blurry about the second image? me neither. 
There for I am taking my cool images and going home. When I am a cool, important PBS cooking show celebrity I shall ignore them completely.
images:marye audet
omigosh… Marye… do you realize how much I love chocolate, caramel and a slight saltiness??? What have you done to me? I have to start riding to church with dh now when he has to do sound booth because he has to do both services.. now that Caitlin is gone, can’t justify taking 2 vehicles for 2 people… I do not care for the early service, so I planned on taking my laptop and vegging for an hour and a half… BUT… now you have given me another option… there is a Starbucks in the Marriott right up the road from church….
:::rubbing hands together in anticipation:::
LOL Terry! Aren’t those images awesome? Makes me want another!
The pics are awesome!
I have to admit that I have only been to Starbucks twice in my life… I am hoping that I don’t have to take out a loan to buy one…. maybe they will take my first born in trade? LOL!
I think it was something like 3.98 for a venti…
yep, 3.98……. for the first one….. how much for the addiction?
Looks beautiful, a work of art, I think I could skip the salt crystals though.
First: Food Gawker and Tastespotting – meh, I get bored seeing the exact same images on both sites over and over and over and over and over. I’ve pretty much given up on visiting them anyway.
Second: Oh. My. Gosh. I think I need a minute after looking at the photos and reading the description.
My oldest daughter and I are having a “Starbucks date” this coming Friday morning – she’ll have tea and oatmeal, I’ll have one of these while we do schoolwork. Mmmmmm. I can hardly wait!
Ginger, you can’t skip the salt…that’s what makes it a SALTED caramel hot chocolate.
Gina..sounds like a plan!
I have to say, although the 4th picture is excellent, the 2nd is not brilliant. The foamy bit looks a bit like saliva, and the photo is a bit out of focus. It’s just the salivary bit that’s in focus.
umm…thanks John. I appreciate your honesty. I think.
My favorite ice cream right now is Breyers Heath. I haven’t tried this hot chocolate from them but have tried that little hot chocolate they have, cant think of the name of it, maybe its just their regular hot chocolate, but it comes in a little cup and is quite good. i think it also is just melted chips. Just in case you would find it helpful, eating a bite or two of an apple helps me with a rich desert or drink. mmm.
thanks charlatte…I don;t have any problem with sweet, rich drinks but I can see how an apple would clear your palate..
Your welcome Marye. I must be pre-diabetic. I am sure the apple would work well for clearing the palate too. I have never read anywhere an apple seeming to get the blood sugar down. It really works well, like immediately. Now I can say I have tried the hot chocolate. It was as good as all the above reviews. Went to Starbucks yesterday and this was good. mmm. Nestle’s Butterfinger instant hot chocolate would do quite well in a pinch as our Starbucks is closing Dec 12. Tried that last night and is very similar, and very good. I forgot in my first note that that was why I mentioned the Heath ice cream. It is salty and sweet, like the hot chocolate. I also have sea salt at home with a built in grinder that grinds it coarsely and after adding the whipped cream to top of the Butterfinger hot chocolate at home and a drizzle of caramel with the salt, it tasted very much like the salt of the Starbucks, to me anyway. I add this because an above note was talking I think about a smoked salt evidently used, which I am sure is preferable but I couldn’t find and the coarse sea salt was good.
I honestly don;t think the smoked sea salt flavor comes through much anyway…I used french Gray sea salt for it and it was fine.
The sea-salt topping isn’t all salt. If you try just the sea-salt topping, it’s half salty and half sweet.
What?! This makes me want to go and get one right now! Tell me who said this and we shall egg their houses whilst enjoying this drink!
LOL!