A food reviewer pitted a range of own brand supermarket hot chocolates against Cadbury and was gobsmacked by the 'easy winner'.
Sam, known online as @samlouiseeb, tasted the four different hot chocolates alongside her husband Frank, ranking them against each other for taste, price and cocoa percentage.
Sam and Frank compared products from Lidl, Tesco and M&S to the classic Cadbury hot chocolate to see which came out on top.
The Norfolk-based food reviewer, who has amassed more than 16,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, was surprised to find the big brand to be 'weak in flavour'.
Sam said: "The Lidl option was by far the best which really surprised us.
"Being the budget option we naively thought it would have less flavour, but it was really creamy and the chocolate had the perfect sweet flavour.
"We will definitely be saving our money and picking this one from now on."
The Lidl hot chocolate cost the pair £1.69 for 400g and they were left shocked that it ranked higher on the list than the 'luxury' M&S hot chocolate, which costs £4 for 300g.
In the review, the pair were surprised that Lidl's hot chocolate tasted better as it had a lower cocoa content than its more expensive rival.
The M&S hot chocolate, which Sam ranked in second place, contains more than double the cocoa content at 41%, compared to Lidl which contains just 15% reduced fat cocoa powder.
Sam said: "I feel like it [M&S hot chocolate] tastes like it's got too much of it [powder] in.
"It's richer chocolate, it has potential if it was made with full milk, cream.
"I still don't think it's better than the Lidl one, Lidl is the easy winner."
Sam and Frank also tried Tesco's own brand and the popular Cadbury chocolate powder but were disappointed by the flavour of both.
While they both contain 25% cocoa powder, Tesco's own brand beverage cost £2.50 for 400g, compared to Cadbury which cost £3 for just 250g.
Frank said: "Tesco is a lot more watery in terms of flavour.
"It tastes like a hot chocolate that you would get when you go to a food truck and they give it to you and it's water on top of the powder and they haven't stirred it properly.
"Cadbury is a little weak in flavour. I don't mind it, I think it tastes weaker because M&S one is very strong."
After pitting the chocolate beverages against each other, the couple ranked Cadbury in third place, with Tesco at the bottom of the table.
The pair concluded that Lidl's hot chocolate was the best option despite it being the cheapest and containing the lowest cocoa percentage - and urged other shoppers to 'save their money' too.
Frank said: "The more luxury or branded you go, the less product you get, shrinkflation.
"Considering there's quite a big disparity with the prices when you're jumping from £1.69 to £4 for some hot chocolate.
"I would happily sit there and say, save your money."
SAM AND FRANK'S HOT CHOCOLATE RANKING:
1st PLACE: LIDL - £1.69 for 400g
2nd PLACE: M&S - £4 for 300g
3rd PLACE: CADBURY - £3 for 250g
4th PLACE: TESCO - £2.50 for 400g
Share