Here in Japan, there’s a ton of stuff you can use to warm yourself up against winter’s chill, including thermal undies, hot baths infused with ginger, and pocket warmers or kairo, which you can stick all over your body. But as well as applying heat to the outside, it’s also important to make sure you warm up your insides, and one way to do this is by consuming warming foodstuffs like hot soup and hot drinks.

This winter, the major craze is to slurp down a cup of hot chocolate with actual chili peppers floating in it! Check out these Twitter testimonials to find out what’s so great about this unusual beverage!

“Chili Hot Chocolate” can be whipped up pretty simply at home by adding powdered chili pepper powder or fresh chilis to a cup of hot chocolate. You can also add ginger, cinnamon, or fresh cream for a more luxurious drink!

▲ “Hot cocoa with chili peppers! It warms me right through!”

▲ “Red chili pepper cocoa from a special cocoa cafe! If I were to describe the taste, I’d say it’s extremely sweet but also spicy at the same time.”

▲ “Cocoa with chili peppers! It’s really, really good!”

▲ “It’s just the powdered kind, but I tried out chili vanilla hot chocolate!”

https://twitter.com/misonoko02/status/533429636445659136

▲ “Chili cocoa is delicious! Full of cocoa powder and bitter chocolate, with red chili peppers and milk – pretty high calorie!”

▲ “It’s cold, hence cocoa! I included red pepper, ginger, and cinnamon.”

▲ “I made cocoa with fresh cream, but something was missing so I added red chili pepper! As recommended by Natsuki Shinomiya!” (note, character from visual novel Uta no Prince Sama)

https://twitter.com/hiharu86/status/399408421469822976

▲ “Drinking cocoa with red chili pepper while checking out the awesome autumn scenery!”

While these picture certainly look drool-worthy, we’re a bit worried about what might happen if too much chili is accidentally added – it’s probably better to err on the side of caution at first and go easy on the hot stuff, especially if you’re one of those people who struggles with spicy things! Have you ever tried this recipe?

Source: Naver Matome
Main Image: Twitter @matsuzawa_s