Best hot chocolate

After all of that snow and ice last week, we decided to rank our five favorite places to get some hot cocoa. Most of these places serve great coffee as well, but this time we wanted to stick with a topic we haven't covered yet. 

Our faves in no particular order: 

Escazu (Raleigh) - It figures that a great chocolate shop would make great hot chocolate. This North Blount Street shop's Spanish hot chocolate is sweet, spicy and a must drink on a cold day. Their other drinking chocolates are pretty tasty too. I am also a fan of the white hot chocolate. 

Videri (Raleigh) - Another fabulous chocolate shop that has great drinks. Their coffee bar features blends from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, but my favorite drink there is their frozen hot chocolate. 

Cocoa Cinnamon (Durham) - Their single-origin sipping chocolate is decadent and the vibe in this gas station turned coffee shop is a perfect place to enjoy it on a winter's day. 

Sola (Raleigh) - This north Raleigh cafe has great coffee, but we can't imagine a better combination than their hot mini doughnuts and their hot chocolate. 

The Umstead (Cary) - Their hot chocolate is so good, Dr. Allen Mask did a story about it on WRAL.

Honorable mentions: 

Watt's Grocery in Durham and their Tipsy Hot Chocolate. This after-dinner drink contains Italian hot chocolate, Frangelico and homemade marshmallow. 

Sheetz which has started offering hot chocolate made with Ghiradelli chocolate. Very good! They have the dark, sugar-free dark and white chocolate. I like the white chocolate the best.