Ballarat’s Hot Choc Showdown is back — and the Thai-inspired hot chocolate with dark rum might be the best reason to visit Victoria this winter

There are towns that shut down in winter and there are towns that lean into it. Ballarat, two hours west of Melbourne in the heart of Victoria’s goldfields, has chosen the second option with such enthusiasm that it has turned cold weather into one of the best reasons to visit regional Australia between now and July 19.

The Ballarat Winter Festival is back for 2026, running from June 27 to July 19 across the Victorian, South Australian and New South Wales school holidays. And at the heart of it – quite literally fuelling the entire thing – is the event that has become its signature: the Hot Choc Showdown.

More than 30 venues, one city-wide obsession

The concept is simple and brilliant. More than 30 cafés, bakeries, restaurants and bars across Ballarat each create their own signature hot chocolate – some classic, some wildly inventive, some involving things you would never expect to find in a mug – and the public sips their way around the city and votes for the winner. Last year’s showdown generated an estimated $2 million for local businesses, which tells you everything about how seriously Ballarat takes its hot chocolate.

This year’s creations range from the beautifully traditional to the genuinely ambitious. There are Italian-style thick hot chocolates poured over vanilla ice cream. Hot chocolate bombs that melt open in your mug to reveal hidden flavours. A salted caramel creation built on velvety dark chocolate. A pistachio hot chocolate finished with shaved nuts and chocolate flakes. And a spiced orange version served with warm, buttery madeleines on the side.

The defending champions, Mondegreen Café, are back and working until one in the morning preparing their famous hot chocolate bombs. “The chocolate comes out, and we start working,” co-owner Kris Payne said. “It’s very long days, but watching people having so much fun in the middle of winter is definitely worth it.”

The one that stopped us: the Siam Tsokolate

Of all the creations on this year’s trail, the one that caught our attention – and the one we suspect will catch yours – is the Siam Tsokolate, a Thai-inspired spiced hot chocolate with dark rum that sounds like it belongs in a cocktail bar in Bangkok and somehow works perfectly in a mug in Ballarat.

It is rich, warming, slightly exotic and completely unlike anything you have ever been served in a café. The combination of dark chocolate, coconut milk, pandan-lemongrass syrup, dark rum and a milk tea foam topped with kaffir lime and salted coconut chilli is the kind of thing that makes you take a sip, pause, take another sip and then ask the barista to please explain exactly how they made this.

Here is how to recreate it at home – or at least attempt to, because some things genuinely taste better when someone else makes them for you in a regional Victorian town while your hands are cold and the street outside is foggy.

The Siam Tsokolate

A Thai-inspired hot chocolate with dark rum, pandan-lemongrass syrup, coconut milk and a milk tea foam — topped with kaffir lime and salted coconut chilli. Straight from Ballarat’s Hot Choc Showdown to your kitchen.

Servings 1

Ingredients

150 millilitres full cream milk
50 millilitres coconut milk
30 millilitres dark rum
2 tablespoons tbsp dark chocolate syrup (or 30g dark chocolate, melted)
1 tablespoons tbsp pandan-lemongrass syrup (see note)
3 tablespoons tbsp milk tea foam (frothed milk steeped with a black tea bag)
1 kaffir lime leaf, for garnish
1 pinch pinch salted coconut chilli (toasted coconut flakes mixed with a pinch of sea salt and chilli flakes)

Method

1 Warm the mug: Rinse your favourite mug with hot water for a few seconds to take the chill off. Dump the water out and dry the mug. This small step keeps your hot chocolate warmer for longer.

2Steam the milk blend: Combine full cream milk and coconut milk in a small saucepan or steam with a milk frother until velvety and hot but not boiling. Set aside.

3 Build the base in the mug: Add dark rum, 1 tablespoons tbsp pandan-lemongrass syrup (see note) and 2 tablespoons tbsp dark chocolate syrup (or 30g dark chocolate, melted) to the warm mug. Stir well to make sure the chocolate and syrup are fully combined with the rum. This is the flavour base and it should smell extraordinary.

4 Add the steamed milk: Pour the steamed milk blend over the base, keeping it smooth and steady. Stir gently to combine everything into a rich, velvety drink.

5 Top with milk tea foam and garnish: Top with 3 tablespoons tbsp milk tea foam (frothed milk steeped with a black tea bag), then garnish with 1 kaffir lime leaf, for garnish and a pinch of 1 pinch pinch salted coconut chilli (toasted coconut flakes mixed with a pinch of sea salt and chilli flakes). Wrap your hands around the mug and pretend you are in Ballarat.

TIP

Pandan-lemongrass syrup can be made at home by simmering equal parts sugar and water with a few pandan leaves and a bruised lemongrass stalk for 10 minutes, then straining. It keeps in the fridge for two weeks and is also wonderful in cocktails, iced tea and drizzled over coconut ice cream. Pandan leaves are available at most Asian grocery stores. For the milk tea foam, steep a black tea bag in a small amount of hot milk for 3 minutes, remove the bag and froth the tea-infused milk with a frother or whisk vigorously. The salted coconut chilli garnish takes 5 minutes – toast desiccated coconut in a dry pan until golden, toss with a pinch of sea salt and a pinch of chilli flakes. Store in a small jar and use on hot chocolates, curries or anything that needs a little lift.