Chocolate stilettos and melting spheres, gooey dumplings, caramel lava cakes, and luscious pistachio praline logs are set to feature in the line-up of 31 limited edition hot chocolates created for the return of the Festival.

A different menu of eight flavours will drop every Friday in August for chocolate lovers to try at The Chocolateries’ Yarra Valley, Great Ocean Road, or Mornington Peninsula locations. While each creation will showcase the Chocolateries’ signature sustainable chocolate and giant marshmallows, it’s the interactive and experiential elements that will take the classic winter drink to hot new heights.

“This year’s Hot Chocolate Festival flavours are next level. We’ve been inspired to create adults-only ways to whisk with boozy accompaniments and extra decadent ingredients for melting, as well as whimsical ways to delight the kids with cute additions to dunk and slurp,” says The Chocolateries’ Head Chocolatier, Allan Grandjean.

Standout decadent dunkers on the 2026 Hot Chocolate Festival menu include:

• Drinks With Girls – A berry-infused ruby chocolate hot chocolate accompanied by a pink milk couverture chocolate stiletto with luscious Irish Cream marshmallow for over-the-top dunking.
• Next Time Socceroos – Watch green and gold mini marshmallows burst from a chocolate soccer ball as it melts into a duo milk and white chocolate hot chocolate.
• Sticky Little Dumplings – A caramelised white hot chocolate served with a fluffy vanilla marshmallow and two gooey golden syrup dumplings for dunking.
• Tipsy Lemon – Featuring a white chocolate cup filled with limoncello ganache and piped meringue, plus a side of fresh biscotti to dip into a steaming hot white chocolate and lemon-infused drink.
• Dot Cake – A polka dot-covered vanilla and white chocolate disc sits atop a milk chocolate hot chocolate, ready for smashing, melting, or nostalgic dunking. Accompanied by a vanilla marshmallow.

There’s even a Woofaccino for furry friends to enjoy, plus vegan options on the menu. Visitors can vote for their favourite from the 31 Festival flavours for the chance to win 31kg of couverture chocolate.

Other ways to warm up include Hot Chocolate Festival Tasting Sessions ($28pp), where guests can sample eight different Festival flavours before getting hands-on and creating three personalised hot chocolate creations from a range of delicious ingredients.

Available on select dates and times throughout August, bookings are essential.

There’s also the Hot Chocolate Creation Lab ($12pp), running every weekday during the Festival. Visitors of all ages can fill and decorate three chocolate spheres from a rainbow of ingredients to take home, where they can be dropped into hot milk to create their own hot chocolate magic.

No bookings are required for the Creation Lab; however, participation is subject to availability.

Hot chocolate indulgence can be delivered to your door too, with select flavours available as DIY Kits to order online throughout August. Each kit comes complete with couverture flavour-infused melts, a giant marshmallow, an interactive element, and a shot of chocolate to whisk up some Festival fun at home.

“Our annual Hot Chocolate Festival has become a real feature on the calendar for The Chocolateries and we’ve loved creating different ways for chocolate lovers everywhere to treat themselves. We don’t want anyone to miss out on our kind of winter indulgence,” adds Allan Grandjean.