‘Tis the season! Temps dropping lower can only mean one thing: it’s bulking season. The time for shirtless beach volleyball has passed, and in its place are gigantic wool sweaters that hide the less flattering aspects of putting on weight.
Of course, it being chilly outside also means slamming down those cold protein shakes post-workout is a less refreshing proposition. What we really want is something hot. Something that warms the bones after the walk home from the gym in sub-freezing temperatures. If you weren’t worried about your body composition, you’d throw down some piping-hot, delicious hot cocoa, but since you decided to start counting your macros, you can’t always do that… right?
Ghost’s High Protein Hot Cocoa returns for 2023!
Wrong! In what has become something of a Christmas tradition, Ghost Lifestyle announced the limited release of their High Protein Hot Cocoa, and this year’s release has a new flavor. And boy, is it as good as it sounds.
Single Serving Packets Available Black Friday 2023!
This year, we once again get Milk Chocolate and Chocolate Peppermint flavors (the latter introduced to us last year in 2022), but there’s now an option for a box of six packets so you can have single-serving options as well – just like the hot cocoa mixes you grew up drinking!
Keep reading to find out how Ghost got protein powder to work in hot temperatures. But first, let’s check out PricePlow for any Ghost deals:
Ghost High Protein Hot Cocoa Mix – Deals and Price Drop Alerts
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For the last several years, Ghost has released their limited High Protein Hot Cocoa mix, just in time for the winter blues. This year is no exception.
The problem, of course, arises when you try to mix them with hot water or milk – the protein often denatures and stops mixing well if the water’s too hot!
How to Keep Protein from Denaturing Once it Gets Hot
A throwback to the 2022 Hot Cocoa Mix photography
Using Glanbia Nutritionals’ ProTherma hydrolyzed whey protein concentrate, Ghost has actually allowed you to make real deal hot chocolate that’s actually hot – with 20 grams of nice, clean protein. And like the 2022 version, Ghost High-Protein Hot Cocoa Mix is now 100% ProTherma-based, meaning it’s going to mix extremely well.
A bit on ProTherma
In what we consider to be a giant step for mankind, Glanbia Nutritionals concocted a protein powder that stays soluble at high temperatures. You get much less clumping, and it’s as easy to dissolve as a standard hot chocolate mix.
ProTherma is a game-changer for winter gainsmaxxing. No more cold protein shakes when what you really want is a high-protein shake that’s hot enough to warm up your body from the inside out. It’s the perfect addition to coffee, milk, and even a steamy bowl of maple brown-sugar oatmeal.
Of course, you’ll want to be very careful about using hot liquids in a shaker cup. See the warning below — but let’s jump into the macros now.
High Protein Hot Cocoa Macro Profile
The new Ghost High Protein Hot Cocoa Mix 2023 Ingredients – The Chocolate Peppermint flavor on the right will sport cleaner macros since it has no marshmallows
In each scoop of High Protein Hot Cocoa, your macros will depend on the flavor:
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Calories: 120-130
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Protein: 20g
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Fat: 2g
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Carbs: 6-7g
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Dietary Fiber: 1-2g
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Total Sugars: 0-3g
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The cleaner macros (120 calories, 6 carbs, zero sugar) are actually with the Chocolate Peppermint flavor! Incredible hot cocoa with zero grams of sugar. But if you don’t want the mint flavor, you’ll have to go with the Milk Chocolate flavor.
Milk Chocolate flavor has marshmallows
Why does milk chocolate have more sugar? Because it includes mini-marshmallows as inclusions! Chocolate Peppermint does not.
A word of warning: no hot liquids in shaker cups
Read the instructions on this one! It says to add the powder alone to an empty mug, and then add already-hot water to it and stir! No shaking in shaker cups for any hot liquids!
Otherwise the expansive energy of the heat may cause the lid to blow off and hot liquids to get everywhere. Anyone who’s tried this with coffee may have already learned the valuable lesson.
This year’s flavors
Dan Lourenço of Ghost Lifestyle returns to the PricePlow Podcast for his fifth installment in Episode #116, going over the meteoric rise of Ghost Energy and what’s coming in 2024
As we said, Ghost releases their High Protein Hot Cocoa for a limited time each year and in a limited selection of flavors. Like last year, we have Milk Chocolate and Chocolate Peppermint:
Chocolate Peppermint, in particular, is out of this world, and you better hurry up if you want to snag some before they run out of stock:
Winter, the season of bodybuilding… with Milk Chocolate and Chocolate Peppermint!
Once the leaves are all dead and the air starts biting, there’s nothing quite so tasty as a large, frothy cup of hot chocolate. Of course, it’s completely anathema to any sort of workout goal – tons of sugar, very little protein – and should really just be a special treat on rare occasions. Otherwise, your winter bulking phase will leave you bloated and without true gains come springtime.
Throwback image from 2022!
Summer may be the time to cut down and show off all the gains you made, but that requires you actually to make them in the first place. There is no better time to do so than in the winter. Making gains means more protein. Your macro balance has to be on point, or else you’re risking putting on the wrong kind of weight.
It can be easy to get carried away and let your fitness goals fall by the wayside during the holidays. You’re with family, you’re having a grand ol’ time, and you are surrounded by mouth-watering treats – pumpkin pie, gingerbread cookies, apple cider. It won’t kill your health aspirations to have a treat occasionally, but indulging too often will lead to a few extra pounds, and those have a way of compounding.
As an ode to the season, while still helping you stay in tip-top shape, Ghost has filled a hole in the market: protein powder that actually does well in hot temperatures. So no need to forego the hot chocolate this year: just make sure it also comes with 20 grams of protein!
Ghost High Protein Hot Cocoa Mix – Deals and Price Drop Alerts
Get Price Alerts
No spam, no scams.
Disclosure: PricePlow relies on pricing from stores with which we have a business relationship. We work hard to keep pricing current, but you may find a better offer.
Posts are sponsored in part by the retailers and/or brands listed on this page.
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