We Tried Five Different Hot Cocoas So You Don’t Have To

Katie Friedman and Emily Fain Social Media and Business Team

The first snowfall of the 2022 winter season has left us all preparing for an especially chilly few months ahead. In the midst of retrieving your winter clothes from the attic and sprinkling your driveway with salt, don’t forget to treat yourself to a tasty warm beverage. Hot chocolate is our pick this year, and with these variations, you too can enjoy a mug of this liquid gold with a little flair.

European-style:

The European-style hot chocolate was a very unique experience among the other variations. It was the thickest, richest and darkest of the five. This is not a beverage to be gulped. It is incredibly rich, like a melted-down 65-70 percent chocolate bar. So it is really meant to be enjoyed as a sipping chocolate consumed over the course of a leisurely conversation or winter stroll. Delicious and decadent, this beverage is most likely not for every day, but is absolutely craveable for those days when you need chocolate practically running through your veins (if you know, you know). The smell is also incredible and the rich, dark brown color is very appealing. You’ll feel a bit bougie drinking this one, even if it is just the Trader Joe’s mix that we used.

Nutella:

The addition of Nutella to a mug of classic hot cocoa was an unexpectedly simple yet delightful discovery. A spoonful of Nutella didn’t make hazelnut the star of the show, but it gave the beverage a new depth of flavor, as well as a rich, slightly nutty scent. It was super creamy, but not overly intense to the point which it would be a sipping chocolate. If you didn’t know there was Nutella in this one, you may not guess it, but you would absolutely enjoy it as a smooth, decadent, sweet and ever-so-slightlyunique cup of hot cocoa.

Peppermint:

Peppermint hot cocoa is the lightest and easiest to drink out of all the types we tried. It is also almost too easy to make–just a simple mix of a splash of mint extract in with a cup of hot cocoa and there you have it; basically a liquid Andes mint. We decided that this is a drink that could be enjoyed daily, as its peppermint flavor was not too overpowering, but added a unique zing to distinguish it from your average cup of cocoa. This beverage tastes almost identical to, if not better than, Starbucks’ popular Peppermint Hot Cocoa. The brightness of the flavor kept us reaching for more. We would make this drink again in a heartbeat.

Music History of Seattle: 1920-1980s

Claude Cobbs Staff Writer

From the 1920s to now, Seattle’s music history has continued to thrive and be an essential part of the city’s culture. Seattle is recognized internationally for its artists, who frequently develop new and exciting music types, making it hard to characterize the city with a single genre.

Beginning in the mid-1920s with Prohibition, jazz speakeasies started popping up in Seattle. Then, jazz was seen as a new and “dangerous” genre of music. Speakeasies were places where individuals could indulge in behaviors considered subversive at the time, such as consuming alcohol and listening to jazz quartets.

In 1921, the Musical Arts Society condemned jazz as “tearing away the moral fiber” of society. Jackson Street in Seattle’s Central District was a hotspot for jazz goers in the ‘20s and ‘30s, creating a unique political and social climate in Seattle. While there was still a racial divide, jazz brought people of all races and classes together during the Depression.

Teen angst arrived in Seattle in the 1960s. The Northwest Garage Rock era drew attention from around the country to the greater Seattle region with restless guitar riffs, abrasive bass chords and “evil” drum rhythms. The Sonics, from Tacoma, were one of the most prominent bands of the time, gaining popularity after performing a homecoming show at Curtis High School. This earned them coverage on local radio station KJR, and even opening for artists such as the Kinks, The Beach Boys, The Byrds and the Mamas & Papas, to mention a few. The forceful sound of garage rock created new ground for musicians in the region. In the late ‘60s, the “flower power” movement took off, producing artists like Jimi Hendrix, a Seattle teenager with incredible skill and passion for rock ‘n’ roll. Hendrix’s mesmerizing sound and flamboyant style caused him to get fired halfway through his first show at Temple De Hirsch Sinai synagogue in 1959.

Continuing with the abrasive sound of garage rock and classic rock came the punk and grunge scene. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, punk rock bands like the Chinas, the Comidas and Green River came out of the Emerald City, filling the air with the menacing sounds of hardcore rock ‘n’ roll. As Green River started changing its style, the media started to listen. In a 1987 Sub Pop marketing ad for Green River’s EP, Dry As a Bone, the label called the album “GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation,” coining the term grunge and cementing the name for the underground punk scene. Various local bands came out of this movement, like Mudhoney (formed from Green River), Soundgarden, Alice and Chains, Pearl Jam and Nirvana. By the late ‘80s, these bands had gained a noticeable following, becoming regulars at local music venues across the city and rising their popularity throughout the years.

Mexican hot chocolate is a really fun way to spice up your hot cocoa game literally. Classically, Mexican hot chocolate includes cinnamon and chili spices on top of a richer, less sweet chocolate base. It is totally delicious. The warm cinnamon is fabulously appropriate for the cold season and the chili gives you that slow, subtle tingle in the back of your throat, and a welcome immune system boost in the midst of cold and flu season (stay safe friends!).

Mexican-style:

Peanut Butter:

The household staple, peanut butter, might just be the perfect item to add to your hot cocoa this winter season. A simple spoonful mixed into the warm beverage makes a tremendous difference. This hearty beverage admits cozy comfort and would be the perfect thing to sip on while participating in a winter movie marathon. The peanut butter introduces a lovely creaminess with just the right amount of sweetness to leave you satisfied. And of course, chocolate and peanuts, the long-time iconic duo, complement one another perfectly. And, our particular combination of Swiss Miss classic hot cocoa mix and Jif Smooth Original peanut butter yielded a remarkably Reeses Pieces-like flavor.

Kidz Bop 2022: Album of The Year

Jordan Balousek SportsandPhotographyTeam

I’m going to come right out and say it: KIDZ BOP 2022 is the greatest album ever made. I have spent countless hours listening to it- in the car with my family, karaoking into a hairbrush in the shower, while I’m filling out my hours worth of homework each week- if you see me, I’m probably listening to KIDZ BOP 2022. Because of the countless number of listening hours, I naturally have found certain songs and lyrics that I think are purely untouchable, and some of the most insightful lines I have ever heard.

For those of you who do not know, KIDZ BOP is a cover band. Now you may think that cover bands are unoriginal. However, KIDZ BOP truly is the best of its kind, and their lyric changes enhance the songs so much more than what you’d think is possible.

For example, let’s start with one of my favorite songs from the album: “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Some of the lines in here are truly fantastic; for example, let’s dissect “a song and a rhyme, it was mine every week.” The phrase implies the inherent superiority of the singer to write rhyming songs, showing off their egotistical complex, thus creating a complexly unlikeable character.

One other notable lyric is “I wanna lie on the beach in Hawaii/I want that jet lag from livin’ and flyin’/Put a smile on your face whilst we’re dinin’.” The ambiguity of experiencing jet lag from “livin’ and flyin’” allows listeners to relate the singer’s experience to their personal travel adventures. However, I do remain unclear about how one experiences jet lag through living—this could be a multifaceted metaphor about how life can be exhausting. Overall, the song provides many opportunities for existential reflection.

Another highlight for me is “Peaches.” The wide variety of vocal ranges combine to create a pleasantly varied listening experience. I specifically want to highlight the lyric “I got my dream with California” as a line that really resonated with me. I feel like the point that the creator intended with this lyric made is extremely clear.

While it might seem like a major abstraction that the singer could fulfill their wishes with a literal state, I feel like this line manages to emphasize the vitality of the American Dream and the flocking to California during the Gold Rush. The singer is choosing to believe in the prosperity that moving to California could provide, and the invitation of pursuing your dreams with a new life in hand.

However, I did not like “Levitating.” The main issue that I had with it was the repetition of “You like me, I like you baby.” If you are at the point where you are writing a song to your partner and calling them baby, do you really just “like” them? The disconnect here between the levels of affection really throws me off, coupled with the constant presence of this phrase. Maybe a different word would’ve been a better descriptor here.

KIDZ BOP 2022 is a groundbreaking album in terms of its lyrical capability and its masterful blending of notes and scales. The varying vocal ranges of every singer lead to a intricately nuanced labyrinthine of melodic combinations, all of which come together to create a masterful album.

Let’s face it: if KIDZ BOP was nominated for the Grammys this year, they would sweep every category.