One of the great features of single-serve coffee makers is that they are usually flexible enough to actually make other beverages besides coffee. They can often make tea, and some are lucky enough to brew fresh rich hot chocolate as well. If you're interested in this unique capability, you'll want to know which machines can do it and what kinds of hot chocolate are available in pod form.
Tassimo
The Tassimo machine is a very popular model of single-serve coffee maker but their chocolate choices are a little limited. You can get either Suchard or Milka brand T-discs to make hot chocolate as quickly as you would brew up coffee. The Milka discs can be harder to get in the USA (it's a European brand) but it comes packaged with milk discs so it really makes a creamy cup of chocolate.
Keurig
You'll get the most hot chocolate variety with Keurig and their K-cups. You can get hot cocoa from Green Mountain Coffee and Timothy's even has a white hot chocolate if you want a sweeter and milder drink. The Cafe Escapes brand offers a dark chocolate hot cocoa and a milk chocolate hot cocoa as well.
Chocolate lovers can also enjoy a mix of coffee varieties that come in chocolate flavors for something a little different when you still want a cup of coffee. Donut House has a chocolate glazed donut coffee, and Van Houtte offers up some raspberry chocolate truffle coffee as well as a chocolate macaroon flavor. If that's not enough, Timothy's makes a German chocolate cake coffee and Green Mountain Coffee has a mocha nut fudge flavored coffee. More than enough to satisfy any sweet-tooth.
Dolce Gusto
You have 2 options for chocolate when you are brewing with the Dolce Gusto. The Chococino is a combination of hot chocolate and a dose of hot milk (from a creamer capsule) to make a very foamy version of a hot chocolate, and you can also make Mocha which is a coffee and chocolate mix that brews up with a second creamer capsule as well.
Senseo or Coffee Pods
The Senseo machines and others that take the gauze-style coffee pods typically do not have any products capable of making hot chocolate with these machines. These machines include the Melitta One:One and the new My Invento.
But in the United Kingdom, a few new chocolate pods for these machines are starting to come out. The Senseo has a limited run of "Hot Choco" pods made by Douwe Egberts. They can be a little tough to find but hopefully their popularity will spread and so will there availability.
Flavia
The Flavia line also has a pair of chocolate offerings for you, with a Dove hot chocolate as well as a caramel-flavored Milky Way Swirl.
Having a machine that can brew hot chocolate as well as coffee is convenient and cost-effective in the kitchen. Your regular drip coffee brewers can't offer you that.
