The Drink Nobody Plans For
Walk into any cafe in Brooklyn on a cold morning and watch the orders go in. Most of them are coffee, and most of the conversation about coffee shops is about coffee: the roast, the pull, the ratio of milk to espresso. That is fair enough. It is also incomplete, because somewhere in almost every group that comes through the door is one person who does not want any of it.
Maybe they have had enough caffeine for one day. Maybe they are nine years old. Maybe it is 6 PM and a second coffee would mean a bad night. The default move is to order something they do not really want, drink half of it, and feel vaguely left out of the whole ritual. There is a better answer, and in October on the Bay Ridge waterfront it is usually hot chocolate.
Hot chocolate is not the kids' table of the drink menu. It is the one warm drink that works at any hour, for anyone, in any weather.
What Makes Hot Chocolate Good or Forgettable
Hot chocolate has a wider quality range than almost anything else served in a cafe, and the reason is that it can be made three completely different ways under the same name.
Powder, Syrup, or Actual Chocolate
At the bottom end is cocoa powder stirred into hot water, which is the version most people grew up with and the reason a lot of adults stopped ordering it. In the middle is chocolate syrup in steamed milk, which is sweeter and smoother but thin. At the top is chocolate melted into milk, which gives you the texture people are actually chasing: a drink with some weight to it that coats the cup rather than sloshing around in it. The difference you taste is mostly fat and mostly texture, not sweetness.
The Milk Does More Work Than the Chocolate
Anyone who steams milk all day for cappuccinos already knows the thing that separates a good hot chocolate from a sad one, which is that milk heated correctly tastes sweeter than milk heated too far. Scalded milk goes flat and slightly sulfurous, and no amount of chocolate hides it. This is the quiet advantage of ordering hot chocolate at a place that takes its espresso seriously rather than from a pump dispenser: it is made on the same bar, by the same hands, with the same attention to temperature that goes into a cappuccino or a latte.
The Hot Chocolate at Pier 69 Market
Ours is the Hazel Blended Hot Chocolate, and it sits on the menu in the La Colombe coffee and espresso section rather than tucked away somewhere as an afterthought. It comes in two sizes, it is made to order, and the hazelnut-and-chocolate pairing it is named for is one of the oldest good ideas in the business. If you want the specifics before you commit, the counter will tell you, or you can call ahead on (718) 777-6969.
The Rest of the Warm Menu That Is Not Coffee
Hot chocolate is the headline, but it is not the only option for someone skipping the espresso. The non-coffee side of the warm list is deeper than most people check.
Hot Vanilla Chai Latte
Chai is the drink for someone who wants the body and the milk of a latte without the coffee underneath it. The spice does the work that a shot of espresso usually does, and the vanilla softens the edges. It is the most common first choice for people who say they do not drink coffee but still want something that feels like a proper cafe order. There is an iced version too, which outsells the hot one for most of the summer and then flips the moment the wind picks up over the Narrows.
Hot Matcha Supreme
Matcha is the middle path: genuine caffeine, but delivered slowly and without the sharp arrival of espresso. It tastes green and faintly savory, which surprises people expecting dessert, and that is exactly why the people who like it tend to stay with it. We go deeper on it in the matcha and tea drinks guide if you are deciding between that and a coffee.
Straight Rishi Tea
When the goal is genuinely no caffeine, tea is the honest answer. Our Rishi tea list runs to Chamomile, Mystic Mint, Earl Grey Green, Wild Thai Black, Blueberry Hibiscus and Turmeric Ginger, which covers both the herbal end and the proper-tea end. Chamomile and the herbal infusions are the ones to ask for at 7 PM.
The Middle Ground: Chocolate With Coffee In It
There is a category between hot chocolate and a plain latte that gets overlooked, and it exists for people who want the chocolate but still want to be awake. A Mocha Latte is espresso and chocolate in steamed milk, which is the strongest version. A White Chocolate Latte is sweeter and rounder with less of the bitter cocoa edge. Both are on the espresso list, and both are a reasonable landing spot for someone who thinks straight hot chocolate is too much sugar and straight coffee is too austere. The fall drinks guide covers how the whole seasonal order tends to shift in October.
Something Warm at 10 Bay Ridge Ave
Hot chocolate, chai, matcha and Rishi tea alongside the La Colombe coffee, open from 6 AM on weekdays and 7 AM on weekends. Order ahead for pickup or have it delivered.
Ordering for a Kid, a Table, or a Whole Group
Hot chocolate is the drink that lets a child participate in the counter ritual instead of waiting while the adults order. One practical note that nobody mentions: ask for it a little cooler if it is going straight into small hands, because a drink made at normal serving temperature needs ten minutes it is not going to get. The kids menu guide covers the food side of the same problem.
For anything larger than a table, the arithmetic changes. A group where half the people are skipping coffee is exactly the situation catering is built for, and it is worth calling rather than guessing at quantities. The same is true of an office order in the winter, where a hot drink option that is not coffee tends to get more takers than anyone predicts.
October on the Waterfront Changes the Order
There is a specific stretch of the year in Bay Ridge, starting about now, where the wind coming off the Narrows makes the decision for you. The waterfront walk is still the best thing to do in the neighborhood, the light over the harbor is better in October than it is in July, and the walk ends with everyone wanting something hot. That is the moment hot chocolate stops being a novelty order and becomes the obvious one, particularly for whoever in the group already had their coffee at 7 AM.
If the weather wins outright, delivery runs through GetSauce, and the delivery guide explains how pickup and delivery differ in practice. For hot drinks specifically, ordering ahead and collecting is almost always the better result.
Where to Find Us
Pier 69 Market is at 10 Bay Ridge Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220, open Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 9 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 7 AM to 9 PM. The phone is (718) 777-6969, and pickup and delivery both run through GetSauce. We are a waterfront cafe a few minutes from Owl's Head Park and the NYC Ferry landing, serving La Colombe coffee and Rishi tea. The full menu is online, catering handles the groups, and directions, a map and current hours are on the visit page. Anything we have not covered is on the FAQ or a phone call away.
