Usually I use Droste Dutch chocolate powder to make this, but Trader Joe chocolate powder or even Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder will do in a pinch. In a medium sized bowl with sloping sides, put in about ten or twelve tablespoons of chocolate powder. It should not come more than a third of the way up the sides. Add a good big dollop of honey and two tablespoons of sugar. Mix gently until the chocolate powder takes up all the honey. Pour in about half a cup of heavy cream and stir (slowly, so as not to make the powder fluff up and escape the bowl) until the cream is all taken up. You can use milk, if you like but the result won't be nearly as good, and it won't mix as easily. Add a capful of vanilla and a small sprinkling of cinnamon, then the rest of the cup of cream. Stir until smooth. This is chocolate base. It should taste like unsweetened frosting. It will keep quite well in the fridge for up to a week.
To make hot chocolate, pour water fresh off the boil into a mug. Add a dollop of the chocolate base. A tablespoon or less will do for most people. Stir until blended. Taste for strength. Add more chocolate base if necessary. Then use a small whisk, twirled in the cup, to produce some tasty froth.
Slurp happily to your heart's content.
