Up the Landgate, just next to Tower Forge in Rye is a takeaway café bar specialising in…hot chocolate. (They do coffee too)

We’re used to seeing speciality coffee shops, but not chocolate. And this is serious hot chocolate.

Knoops offer an amazing array of chocolate choices all made to your own whim and fancy with various milks, flavours and toppings. These range from sweet white chocolate drinks right up to pure and simple 90% single origin cocoa. The choice is mind blowing, and actually a little intimidating when you first walk in and you’re not sure where to start.

Fear not because a “Knoopologist” will be on hand to help you choose.

We really didn’t know where to start, but by us answering a few considered questions, we’d whittled it down to a few choices and finally settled on the 54% chocolate and an iced coffee — it was baking hot that day.

I like the fact that we could go back another time and choose something different, educate ourselves a little about chocolate tastes, experiment with flavours, and work up to a higher percentage.

‘Knoop’ translates as ‘button’ – the perfect name for a chocolate drink that is expertly crafted from real chocolate buttons.

Knoops.co.uk

The chocolate was sooo good. It’s made using real chocolate buttons, melted and blended with milk. Smooth, lightly frothy, rich, not too sweet. Everything you want from a hot chocolate and more. It’s a bit pricier than your bog standard hot choc, but it can’t be compared; you’re getting the choice, the variations, the quality of product and the expertise.

The iced coffee was pretty good too, to be fair!