Readers, I have good news and bad news. Good news. My mum got me an incredible hot chocolate maker for Christmas this year, as well as a jumbo-sized box of grated chocolate sachets to use with it. It is, quite honestly, one of the best presents she’s ever given me, and it now means I can have perfect hot chocolate, practically on tap, in as little as three minutes. Hotel Chocolat’s Velvetiser, you’re an absolute beauty. Honestly, it is so much better than anything I could make, or have made, myself. It’s fast, easy, wonderfully smooth and properly delicious hot chocolate. Crucially, the machine itself is also dead simple to clean. Gone are the days I have to worry about washing up a pan of semi-encrusted milk afterwards, or faffing about with how many teaspoons of hot chocolate powder to plonk in because I accidentally coughed and sent half of it flying all over the counter.
Bad news. This recent revelation of such effortless, technological ease has instantly kneecapped any excitement or desire I might have had for Kitfox Games’ new tea brewing sim they announced at the tail end of last year, or indeed any other kind of drink-based simulation game (of which there seem to be an increasing number of these days). Whereas before I might have revelled in the step-by-step process of making a perfect hot drink, I have now been fully converted to the ways of instant button pressing and time-saving efficiency. After all, why dwell on the manual minutiae when machinery is king?