Kensington Hot Chocolate From 6:30am to 11pm: Knoops

Knoops at 80 Kensington High Street keeps unusually long hours for a chocolate bar: 6:30am to 11pm from Sunday to Thursday, and 6:30am to 11:30pm on Friday and Saturday. That means a single-origin cup before work, after an evening at the Royal Albert Hall or on the walk home from a late dinner. A small 43% Venezuela, smooth with hazelnut and butterscotch notes, costs £5.30, and it is a good place to start as the mornings turn cold.

Most cafés offer one hot chocolate. Knoops lists more than 20 percentages, and the interesting part is the single-origin column, which reads more like a coffee menu than a dessert menu. The 35% Colombia has floral notes from natural cocoa butter for £5.30 small. The 49% Venezuela, at £6.60 small, has molasses, pecan and coffee. The 68% Madagascar, at £6.80 small, is fruity, with raspberry and a hint of grapefruit.

Further up the scale, the 72% Peru balances fruit and bitterness with caramel and cashew at £5.40 small and £6.50 regular. The 73% Philippines tastes of citrus, honey and caramel for £5.70 small. The 85% Colombia is floral and fruity with vanilla and pepper at £5.50 small. If you only try one, choose a single origin you would never find in a supermarket hot chocolate. Madagascar is the easiest one to tell apart.

Rather than ordering three cups in one go, which is a lot of chocolate, use the long opening hours and spread them out. Try a milk chocolate one morning, the 43% Venezuela, then a dark one on a weekday evening, the 68% Madagascar, then an extra dark on a weekend, the 85% Colombia. Small sizes keep the three visits under £18 in total. By the third cup you will know which flavours you like, which is the point of the menu.

Salt, pepper and dry spices are added for free, so try one variable at a time. A pinch of Maldon sea salt sharpens the milk chocolates. Pink pepper suits the fruity Madagascar. Star anise or nutmeg works with the 72% Peru. Fresh additions such as orange, mint or rosemary are 50p. Leave marshmallows (£1.30) for the 28% white blend, which is sweet already and turns into a children's treat.

Knoops was founded in 2013 by Jens Knoop, who is originally from Germany, in Rye, East Sussex. The company says he believed drinking chocolate deserved the same craft and choice as coffee. In 2014 the customise-your-percentage idea, which the brand calls Knoopology, took shape. The business stayed a single shop until 2019, when investor William Gordon-Harris found the Rye store and joined to expand it across the UK.

The first Dubai store opened in late 2024, followed by more in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and on 21 August 2026 Knoops opened its first American shop in Salt Lake City. Kensington is one of the brand's London stores, alongside Chelsea, Covent Garden, Knightsbridge and Notting Hill. The company also says it works directly with cocoa farmers and chocolate makers, which explains the unusual origins on the board.

The store lists outside seating, which on a dry autumn morning is the nicest place to sit with a cup and watch the high street wake up. It is dog friendly and has a wheelchair ramp. The 6:30am opening suits anyone heading to the Tube or coming back from an early walk in Kensington Gardens, and it is one of the few places on the street where you can sit with a chocolate drink before most shops open. Weekend afternoons are when the high street is at its fullest, so mornings are the better bet for a table outside.

An honest tip: skip the milkshakes in late October. They are made with Knoops ice cream and start at £5.50 for a small 28%, but the hot cups are what the shop does best, and you can have an iced chocolate, from £4.20, on a warm day. The soft-serve cone at £3.85 is a better pick for a child than a large milkshake if you are heading into the park afterwards.

Milk choice changes the drink as much as the percentage does. Knoops makes its drinks with whole milk unless you ask otherwise, and offers semi-skimmed, skimmed and lacto-free as well as oat, almond, soya, coconut and hazelnut. Oat milk keeps a single origin's flavour clearer than whole milk. Hazelnut works with the 49% Venezuela, which already tastes of pecan. The menu says the 54% blend and every darker chocolate are vegan, and so is the 38% Solomon Islands made for oat milk.

The store page describes the shop as moments away from Kensington Palace and Hyde Park. From the shop, walk east along the high street and enter Kensington Gardens to reach the Round Pond and the palace's Sunken Garden in about ten to fifteen minutes. Autumn is a good season for the Broad Walk, when the trees turn and the light is low. A takeaway cup will still be warm by the time you reach the first bench.

In the other direction, Holland Park is a short walk west, with the Kyoto Garden and its waterfall. On the way, the Design Museum sits in the former Commonwealth Institute building further west along the high street. On a rainy day, the museum's free permanent collection and the hot chocolate make an easy two-hour plan. High Street Kensington station on the District and Circle lines is close by.

Address: 80 Kensington High Street, London W8 4SG. Hours: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 6:30am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday 6:30am to 11:30pm. Prices from the Knoops drinks menu: 35% Colombia £5.30 small; 43% Venezuela £5.30 small, £6.40 regular; 49% Venezuela £6.60 small; 68% Madagascar £6.80 small, £7.90 regular; 72% Peru £5.40 small, £6.50 regular; 85% Colombia £5.50 small; iced chocolates from £4.20; soft-serve £3.85. Free salt and spices, fresh extras 50p. Outside seating, dog friendly, wheelchair ramp. No phone number is published for this branch. Nearest Tube: High Street Kensington. Ask the Karpo APP what else is open nearby after dark.