The holiday season is on the horizon: the days are getting shorter, snow is beginning to fall, and our attention spans are dwindling. Many of us are longingly thinking about winter break. I believe that we are all in dire need of some decompressing and relaxation time. 

Picture this: you are sitting by the fireplace in your fuzzy socks watching movies with your family, you are drinking a warm cup of hot chocolate, you ask your parent to “turn up the heat” and they reply with the classic “why don’t you go grab a sweatshirt first”—pure holiday season bliss. 

Now I am a fan of all of the above (maybe not the hassle of grabbing a sweatshirt to be extra frugal), although a monstrosity of disgust has been brought to my attention by one of those aforementioned events. 

I have heard through the grapevine that people stir their hot chocolate mix with WATER! Excuse me? That is absurd! Everybody knows that the only way to properly make hot chocolate is by mixing it with milk. 

This claim derives from a basic chemistry topic: dilution. Adding more water to a solution limits the concentration of that solution. So, when you deplorably mix your hot cocoa powder with water, you are essentially robbing the hot cocoa mix of its sweet goodness. 

I love hot chocolate, so whenever someone offers me some I would never deny. However, one swig and you bet I will know if it was mixed with water. When hot chocolate is mixed with water it is just less rich, less filling, and less creamy. 

Telling you which type of milk to use (2%, whole, skim) for your hot chocolate is a whole other topic and debate. From talking to my friends, I have found that there are two major categories of people regarding drinking milk: there are those who enjoy drinking milk and there are those who think milk is poison. However, within that demographic of individuals that like to drink milk, they have very staunch preferences on which type of milk they consume. 

Think about it: there is a reason why chocolate milk is a beverage and chocolate water is not. Hot chocolate is the same idea, just made and consumed at a different temperature. 

So, Hall faculty and students, while you are unwinding during this well deserved winter break, please remember to always stir your hot chocolate mix with MILK. People that already do this, you’re doing great, keep it up. People that are new to this heavenly experience, give it a try—you will not regret it.