hot chocolate can be made with dark, semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate. it is cut into small pieces and stirred into milk with sugar. american hot cocoa powder can be made with powdered milk so it can be made without milk. in the united kingdom, "hot chocolate" is a sweet chocolate drink made with hot milk or water, and powder with chocolate, sugar, and powdered milk. "cocoa" usually means a similar drink made with just hot milk and cocoa powder, then made sweeter with sugar.