Welcome to January, and prime hot chocolate season.

The baristas at Angry Catfish Bicycle Shop + Coffee Bar craft a syrup using the hot cocoa mix from Omanhene, a Ghana-based single-source chocolate maker, folding it into steamed whole milk ($3.50, $3.75 and $4) for a barely sweet, gently chocolaty treat that warms the winter-addled from the inside out.

4208 28th Av. S., Mpls., 612-722-1538, www.angrycatfishbicycle.com

At Dogwood Coffee Co., the care and feeding that goes into each sublime cup ($3 and $4.50) includes a pair of premium cocoas, a squirt of vanilla bean syrup and a lusciously foamed whole milk from Autumnwood Farm in Forest Lake, each carefully calibrated to yield an intensely rich experience. Don't miss it.

3001 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 612-354-2952; 228 Washington Av. N., Mpls., 612-338-5493; and 4021 E. Lake St., Mpls., 612-886-1585, www.dogwoodcoffee.com

Five Watt Coffee ($3.25 and $4) and Bull Run Coffee ($3 and $4) follow the same brilliant formula. A syrup is fashioned from the hot chocolate mix made (and sold) at Patisserie 46, then carefully stirred into ultra-creamy steamed whole milk from Castle Rock Organic Farms in Osseo, Wis. Two premium ingredients, one mellow and teasingly sweet cup of goodness.

Five Watt Coffee, 3745 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., 612-259-7519, www.fivewattcoffee.com. Bull Run Coffee, 3346 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls., 612-545-5972 and 4301 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., 612-824-4300, www.bullruncoffee.com.