Food Science: Hot Cocoa Science

The winter months are a great time to do some science with things that are warm! What better way to warm up than hot cocoa! (I know we are getting into warmer months, but hey, iced hot cocoa anyone? Its a thing, look it up!)

Hot cocoa science is an easy way to get the teens to try out different flavor combinations, consider raw ingredients, how to combine ingredients, why cocoa powder tastes nasty, and most importantly learn how formulas work.


For this experiment, I provided some ingredients that teens may not think would taste good (like chili powder and salt) and things they seemed to think would be great (like cocoa powder and chocolate).
I challenged the teens to create their own cocoa combination, and wanted them to use the raw ingredients for the hot cocoa.


Their reactions were the best thing! They learned from this measuring skills, how flavor interactions work, and how combining certain amounts of the right things can make a delicious, one of a kind cocoa.

If you have any questions or need a list of what was used, send me an email! Dawn States: Lavender hot cocoa is amazing! dstates@yorklibraries.org