If you’ve never experienced the 16th Annual Hot Chocolate Festival, you’re in for a treat! It’s an amazing opportunity to enjoy quality time with your kids, and this year’s lineup is truly exceptional. We’re excited to share our top picks that are bound to captivate your little ones.

Throughout the month-long festival, the finest bakeries, coffee shops, and patisseries in the area showcase their creativity with unique flavors that are not only delicious but also visually stunning.

With a staggering selection of 100 Chocstars, 234 flavours, and 168 locations there’s something to delight every member of the family, no matter their age. These standout flavours have captured our attention and are guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on you and your children.

Hot Chocolate Festival Venues to Tempt Your Taste Buds

The Hot Chocolate Festival starts January 17-February 14, 2026

JJ Bakes Company

If you haven’t tried Filipino hot chocolate yet, you’re missing out—and JJ Bakes is about to change that. They’re bringing two seriously indulgent creations to this year’s festival, and honestly, I don’t know which one I’m more excited about.

That Flan-tastic Purple Yam is like a warm hug in a cup. They steam Alfonso’s chocolate tablea (that’s traditional Filipino chocolate, by the way) in taro milk and serve it in an ube ganache-coated cup. The whole thing is topped with taro whipped cream and a caramel drizzle. But here’s the kicker—it comes with a trio of Filipino desserts: a mini ube cupcake, leche flan, and pandesal. It’s basically dessert and a cultural experience all in one.

Then there’s Tiki Torched Brulee Bliss, which sounds like something you’d order on vacation and never want to leave. Alfonso’s chocolate tablea steamed in milk, but the magic is in the crème brûlée-coated rim. They top it with Chantilly cream and a caramelized torched crust (yes, you get to crack through it), and it comes with fresh fruit and a crème brûlée malasada on the side.

Both drinks celebrate Filipino flavours in the most delicious way possible, and I’m already planning my visit. Trust me, these are worth the trip.

2 locations:

• 20349 88 Avenue #12, Langley Twp, BC
• 1550 Oxford Street, White Rock, BC

>> Looking for more sweet bakeries? Check out these 5 local bakeries we love.

À La Mode Pie Café

A La Mode is bringing two wildly different hot chocolates to the festival this year, and honestly, I want to try them both in the same visit just to see how my taste buds handle the journey.

First up is Angel on Cloud 9, which is as heavenly as it sounds. This hot white chocolate is infused with pomegranate, cherry compote, and port, giving it a rich, sophisticated vibe. It’s topped with an angel hair mousse angel cake sitting on a torched meringue halo—basically, it’s almost too pretty to drink. It comes paired with a Figgy Ume Cruffin: a buttery croissant-muffin hybrid filled with fig and ume plum reduction and finished with spun angel hair. It’s this gorgeous East-meets-West blend that feels like a celebration in a cup.

Then there’s Brie My Swiss Valentine, and this is where things get seriously adventurous. Hot bittersweet cocoa blended with molten brie and Swiss cheese, topped with torched cheddar brûlée and passion mango marshmallow. Yes, cheese in your hot chocolate. It’s bold, sultry, and surprisingly delicious. Served alongside a Pear Brûlée Blue Cheese Tart with caramelized pear, whipped blue cheese, cinnamon, and candied ginger on flaky puff pastry, this one is sweet, smoky, and quietly sophisticated.

Location: Granville Island – 1689 Johnston St, Vancouver, BC (inside the Public Market Food court

Beaucoup Bakery and Cafe

A La Mode is going full nostalgia this year with their “Saturday Mornings ’94” series, and as a fellow 90s kid, I am here for it. They’re releasing three different hot chocolates throughout the festival, each one inspired by those lazy Saturday mornings we all remember—cereal, cartoons, and zero responsibilities.

Cereal Dream FM (Jan 17-27) is milk chocolate hot cocoa steeped with toasted cornflake and oat milk, finished with Okinawan kuromitsu (black sugar syrup) for this smoky caramel depth. It comes with a cornflake and brown butter sablé cookie glazed with kuromitsu and a sprinkle of smoked salt. Basically, it’s your childhood cereal bowl all grown up.

Waffle.exe (Jan 28-Feb 7) is blonde chocolate hot chocolate blended with brown butter, toasted malt, and a hint of fresh-baked bread aroma. It tastes like cozy weekend waffles, and it’s paired with a hojicha financier bite—a soft roasted green tea almond cake brushed with kuromitsu. Comforting and delicious.

Snack Pack Pudding Break (Feb 8-14) wraps up the series with dark chocolate hot chocolate blended with roasted banana and miso brown butter for a smooth, sweet-salty flavour. Served with a banana miso financier, it’s the perfect throwback to those little pudding cups we used to beg our moms for.

Mark your calendars and plan multiple visits—these won’t all be available at once, and trust me, you’ll want to try them all.

2150 Fir St., Vancouver
600 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver

To find out where the other locations and flavours of hot chocolates: Check out The Hot Chocolate Festival

Let us know your favourites from the Hot Chocolate Festival by using #vancouvermom.