Glamour: ★★★☆☆. I'm not a fan of the red colour but it does sit perfectly next to other products in the Gourmet Gadgetry Retro Diner range. If you’re a devotee of this most tastiest of drinks, you’ll be used to slaving over a hot stove, slowly heating milk and stirring in cocoa powder, watching it like a hawk so it doesn’t boil over, trying to find and remove any non-dissolved clumps… there’s none of that fuss or mess with the Velvetiser. You just plug it in, add your chocolate and your milk (dairy, plant-based or even water, if you prefer), and press the button. In two and a half minutes you’ll have a perfectly blended, silky-smooth hot chocolate, ready to pour into one of the Podcups, or your favourite, just-for-me mug.

Scoring a best-in-class 92/100 overall, here’s how the Velvetiser performed during testing. The pros Gadget: The Nespresso Barista. Optionally pair with a Nespresso coffee pod machine to get the most out of it. And ta-dah! In just two-and-a-half minutes, you’ll have a rich, luxurious hot chocolate ready to drink. Can I put any hot chocolate in a Velvetiser? Overall: ★★★★☆. This is a good looking gadget that looks to be the most versatile in terms of chocolate used to make drinks, as it can handle squares of chocolate and not just flakes.

Overall: ★★★★☆. A great price, it looks good, it can handle a wide range of milks, and it can make me a hot chocolate. What's not to love?

But there are companies out there looking to make our lives easier by creating new tech that can be used (or repurposed) to produce great hot chocolate every time. Effortlessness: ★★☆☆☆. Making hot chocolate and cleaning-up afterwards just feels like hard work. It's a labour-intensive method, too. Glamour: ★★★★★. It's absolutely stunning, especially in copper. It's also available in trendy grey and white if that's your thing. Overall: ★★★☆☆. Despite the versatility of the setup, and the fact it can handle many forms of chocolate, making hot chocolate this way is still a faff. It doesn't make life easy in any way.Taste: ★★☆☆☆. It's hard to blend the milk and chocolate into a smooth emulsion, especially so in tall, narrow mugs. It’s officially hot chocolate season. And when it comes to creamy, indulgent hot chocolates at home, there’s one product that’s been making a serious splash online.

The friction created by shaking the liquid and chocolate for around 10 seconds is enough to emulsify the hot chocolate into a creamy, frothy beverage - even when it's made with hot water!

Well, if you’ve always wondered why your homemade hot chocolate never tastes quite as indulgent as your favourite café-bought version, it’s probably because you’re missing a milk frother or using hot chocolate with a lower cocoa percentage. The Velvetiser takes care of both, with the frother providing the perfect silky texture and the high quality sachets bringing the flavour. Overall: ★★★★☆. It's a good value option that can make two cups of hot chocolate at a time. The colour might not be to everyone's taste though. Cons: Chocolate struggles to melt properly, and stirring with a spoon or tiny whisk doesn't allow it to combine into a silky drink. The nights are drawing in and that can mean only one thing - it's hot chocolate season! I love this time of year, when the variety of hot chocolates burst onto the marketplace just in time for Christmas. A while... Chocolate needed: It can only handle flaked chocolate, and obviously, Hotel Chocolat recommends using their own range.