Islington Hot Chocolate Cafe Crawl With a Tasting Scorecard

Most people drink hot chocolate without thinking about it, which is a shame, because the differences between cups are huge. An Islington hot chocolate cafe crawl is the perfect excuse to pay attention. Gather two or three friends, print or scribble a simple scorecard and taste your way through three different styles across an afternoon, with walks in between to reset your palate. This plan is for food-curious friends, couples looking for a cheap and cheerful date and anyone who has ever argued about whether hot chocolate should be thick or milky.

The idea is simple. Instead of drinking whatever is nearest, you taste deliberately and write down what you notice. Is it thick enough to coat a spoon or thin enough to gulp? Is it sweet, bitter or somewhere in between? Does it taste of chocolate or mostly of milk and sugar? Putting those questions on paper turns a casual afternoon into a small game, and it gives everyone something to talk about.

It also makes you a better judge of what you actually like. Many people discover they prefer a darker, less sweet cup once they compare it side by side with a milky one. Others find the opposite. Either way, you leave Islington with a clear opinion, which is a lot more satisfying than simply having drunk three hot chocolates.

This crawl is made for small groups. Two to four people works best, because everyone can taste each cup and the conversation stays easy. It suits friends who love food but do not want an expensive dinner, couples who want a playful afternoon date and families with older children who enjoy a competition. A person who claims not to like hot chocolate is a welcome addition, since they often have the sharpest notes.

Larger groups can do it too, but split into pairs and share cups, otherwise you will spend the afternoon queuing. Anyone avoiding dairy should ask about plant milk options at each stop, and it is worth adding a separate row on the scorecard for how well the dairy-free version holds up. Some cafes make excellent oat milk hot chocolate.

Before you leave home, draw a simple grid on a piece of paper. Give each cup a row and add columns for thickness, sweetness, chocolate depth, temperature and an overall score out of ten. Leave a little space for a single word that sums up each cup, because those words often end up being the funniest part of the day. Keep it loose. This is a game, not an exam.

Agree on a few house rules too. Everyone tastes before anyone speaks, nobody adds sugar until the first sip and scores are given in secret before being revealed. The Karpo APP can help you find a cluster of cafes near Angel and Upper Street, so you can line up three stops that are likely to make different styles before you set off.

Start on or near Upper Street, the long main road that runs north from Angel. It is lined with cafes, restaurants and independent shops, so finding a good first cup is easy. Choose somewhere that makes a thick, rich hot chocolate if you can, because starting strong gives you a clear benchmark for everything that follows.

Take your time over the first cup. Sip slowly, look at the colour, notice how it feels on your tongue and how long the taste lingers. Write your scores before you discuss them. Many groups are surprised at how differently they score the same cup, and that first round of revealed numbers usually sets the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

Between cups, take a short walk through Camden Passage, the narrow lane of antique shops and small boutiques just off Upper Street. Browsing for ten or fifteen minutes gives your palate a rest and your legs a stretch. Glance at the old prints, jewellery and kitchenware, but resist the temptation to settle in for a long shop. You have a tasting to finish.

A glass of water between cups helps too, and some groups bring a few plain crackers to clear the sweetness. It sounds serious, but it genuinely makes the second cup taste more like itself and less like an echo of the first. A short walk in cold air does a surprising amount of the work.

For the second stop, look for a lighter, milkier style, the kind of hot chocolate many people grew up with in Britain. It is a deliberate contrast to the first cup, so the differences jump out. Score it with the same columns and notice how much sweetness and milk change the experience compared with the rich opening round.

This is often the cup that splits the group. Some people find it comforting and nostalgic, others think it tastes thin after the first. Both opinions are fair, and arguing about them is half the fun. Honestly, skip whipped cream and marshmallows on this round, at least for the tasting, because toppings hide the drink you are trying to judge.

From Upper Street, wander down to the Regent's Canal, which runs beneath Islington through a long tunnel and then along a peaceful towpath lined with narrowboats. The walk is calm and green, and in November the leaves drift on the water and mist hangs over the locks. It is the perfect reset before the final cup.

Find your third stop near the canal or back on the streets above it, and look for something with a twist, such as spice, orange, salt or chilli. This is your wildcard round. Score it, compare the three, and then add up the totals. The winner gets a small ceremony, even if it is just the group raising their cups.

If a cafe is too busy, do not wait in a long queue for the sake of the plan. Move on and find another nearby, then note the change on your card. Part of the fun is that every crawl ends up slightly different. If it is raining hard, skip the canal leg and use the covered shops and arcades around Angel for your palate reset instead.

If someone in the group feels too full after two cups, let them sip a small taste of everyone else's third round instead of ordering their own. Three full cups is a lot of chocolate for some people. A good tasting afternoon ends with everyone cheerful and slightly smug about their palate, not groaning on the walk home.

Keep your scorecards. Tuck them into a jacket pocket or photograph them before you leave, because they become a small record of a good day out. Many groups repeat the crawl once a season in a different neighbourhood and compare the new totals against the Islington round. Over time you build a personal map of the city told through cups.

Save the winning cafe in the Karpo APP, along with the one that surprised you most, so you know where to go next time someone asks for a proper hot chocolate. Then plan the rematch. Whoever lost the vote on thick versus milky will want another chance, and Islington has plenty more cafes left to taste.