WINTER WEDDINGS • HOLIDAY PARTIES • BRAND ACTIVATIONS • CHRISTMAS MARKETS
Hot Chocolate Cart & Bar Catering
in Los Angeles, Orange County & beyond
Real melted dark chocolate, prepped fresh on-site, balanced for everyone. Custom full-color cup labels, mini marshmallows, and fun flavors included. Hot spiced cider and non-alcoholic mulled wine on the menu too.
Some of our happy hot chocolate clients:
Trusted by event teams across Los Angeles and Orange County
Trusted by 100+ brands and event producers since 2019. Full-time professional staff. Custom cart setups for private events.
You can call it hot cocoa, but we’re bringing the hot chocolate.
Inspired by holiday trips to New York and across Europe to its famous Christmas markets, we set out to bring better hot chocolate catering to parties and events across Southern California. Save the powder packets and hot water for the campground, and enjoy a sippable cup of real good hot chocolate with us, poured fresh on-site.
REAL DARK CHOCOLATE
No powder, no packet mix. We melt real dairy-free vegan dark chocolate into a smooth oat-milk base for a sippable cup everyone can enjoy. Not too sweet or too thick, your guests will want to finish the whole cup, and maybe have another!
FLAVORS & MARSHMALLOWS
Add some fun to the bar with our hazelnut and brown sugar cinnamon syrups. Our mini marshmallows are included with every service: traditional and Dandies vegan marshmallows available.
YOUR LABEL ON EVERY CUP
Custom full-color cup labels, included, no upcharge. Your logo for a brand activation, or your personal party motto, printed in-house on every cup.
GO FURTHER FOR YOUR EVENT
Our in-house whipped cream and marshmallows are an added touch of luxury for your event. Go fully branded with edible printed logos, full-print cups, and branded marshmallows. Upgrades not required but hey we’re not stopping you!
Included with every booking
DEDICATED ATTENDANT
Our trained and caring in-house staff takes care of your hot chocolate cart rental with load-in, service, and load-out.
Load-in and load-out included in base quotes. 1 hour arrival before service start; departure at service end.
CUSTOM CART
Choose your umbrella (white, black stripe, or blue stripe) and countertop accent. The cart matches your event aesthetic.
See more about customizing your cart + bars and other catering platforms →
FLAVORS & SERVICE
Every service includes the following flavor options and toppings: original, hazelnut, or brown sugar cinnamon hot chocolate + mini marshmallows
Custom cup labels: 2.5” round full color labels
White or kraft 8 oz. cups
Minimum 2-hour service window, 50 guests and up.
Scales for longer events and larger crowds.
TRAVEL & BOOKING
No travel fee within 30 miles of Norwalk, CA.
Taxes are built into the quote. No surprise line items.
Fully refundable 50% deposit on events secures your booking on our calendar.
Get a booking estimate in under 2 minutes! We’ll follow up within 24 hours for exact pricing for your event.
See our 12 other specialty catering services for an all-in-one event booking!
CATERING ADD-ONS
WHIPPED CREAM
We offer the following add-ons for whipped cream:
Standard whipped cream: $1/serving add’l
In-house whipped cream:
$2/serving add’l
UPGRADED
MARSHMALLOWS
We offer the following add-ons for marshmallows:
Vegan Dandies® marshmallows: No charge, please confirm upon booking
In-house marshmallows cut small or large:
$2/serving add’l
Branded marshmallows:
$2/serving add’l • Leadtimes apply, book these early.
FOAM PRINTS
Add your brand logo to each cup: $1/serving add’l
FULL PRINT CUPS
Fully printed cup designs for more brand impact! Lead times apply, book these early.
Share take-home favors with your guests or order a bundle of favors if you’re skipping the catering. Ask us about bundled catering pricing.
NON-ALCOHOLIC HOT CIDER
& MULLED WINE CATERING
Same cart, your choice of drink: hot chocolate, non-alcoholic mulled wine (warm, spiced glühwein), or hot spiced cider. Build your holiday bar around one, or mix more than one. A festive cup for everyone with no alcohol needed, across Los Angeles, Orange County, and beyond.
Pick hot chocolate when quoting, we’ll gather your event details and discuss updating your selection.
Site Requirements
POWER
We heat our hot chocolate on-site with small butane stoves. They heat a lot of chocolate quickly to serve your event efficiently.
If your site requires the use of electric stoves, a single stove requires a full 15A/20A circuit — stoves draw 1000W of power.
Any additional items added to the same circuit, such as high-powered DJ equipment, extensive lighting, bouncers, or additional catering machines will trip the breaker. We’d hate to see all the lights go off when the hot chocolate starts to warm up!
We provide extensions to set up as far as 100 feet away from the nearest outlet.
Don’t forget to ask us about generator rentals!
SPACE, CLEARANCE, LOAD IN/OUT
See the image to the right for reference.
Setup area: With umbrella we recommend at least an 8 x 8 ft. area, with at least 5 ft. distance from any rear walls.
Height: The umbrella requires 10 ft. of vertical clearance.
Width: Measure your spaces to ensure we can reach your intended service area. Our carts vary in size and need from 30 to 36” width to pass.
Stairs/Hard to reach areas: We may need to charge a service fee for additional labor if the cart needs to be carried up long flights of stairs. Best discussed during the booking process.
Trusted by Brands and SoCal Families
Whether it’s a holiday party in Tustin or Fullerton, or a brand activation in Hollywood or Los Angeles, we’d be thrilled to bring our jolly hot chocolate service to you.
We worked with Jolly Sheep for our hot chocolate cart at Nordstrom, and it was an absolute hit! Guests loved the setup, and many came back for seconds (and even thirds!) of the hot chocolate. The cart looked amazing.”
— Jackie A · Brand Manager
"The Jolly Sheep customer service was excellent! They were friendly and flexible with all of our requests! The cotton candy and [hot] chocolate bar were a hit! We will be reaching out to them for our next event!"
— Vanessa M • Outreach Coordinator
"I manage tenant events for a high-rise office building, and I've had the pleasure of working with The Jolly Sheep on multiple activations, including hot cocoa, shaved ice, and churros…"
— Jessica W · Tenant Events Manager
Frequently Asked Questions
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Technically, hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder and hot chocolate is made from melted chocolate. Most people use the names interchangeably, so whichever your guests say, we pour the real thing: melted dark chocolate, not powder.
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The standard cup is vegan and dairy-free: real dark chocolate, oat milk. Dandies mini marshmallows made without gelatin are available upon request. A lot of melting chocolate hides milk or milk powder, so we sourced a pure dark chocolate that's vegan and just as rich. Dairy whipped cream is an optional add-on, so if you want the whole cup to stay plant-based, just ask and we'll keep the toppings vegan.
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Yes, whole milk is available on request, just let us know at booking. We default to oat because it pours for the whole room, dairy-free guests included, and guests consistently tell us they're glad they can drink it and that it tastes great. The base is the same real dark chocolate either way.
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The standard cup is dairy-free. The hazelnut flavor is a tree-nut flavor, so for nut-allergy events we leave it off and keep to dark chocolate and brown-sugar cinnamon. Tell us about any allergies at booking and we'll set up accordingly.
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Yes. We pour non-alcoholic mulled wine, a warm spiced glühwein with no alcohol, from the same cart. It's a festive option for the whole room, drinkers and non-drinkers alike.
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Yes, hot spiced cider, sometimes called hot mulled cider, is on the holiday menu. Like the hot chocolate and mulled wine, it's served warm and fresh on-site. Pick one drink for your event, or build a bar around more than one.
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Yes, corporate holiday parties and brand activations are a big part of what we do. Custom full-color cup labels are included, and you can add edible printed logos, full-print cups, and branded marshmallows to put your brand on every cup.
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October through December is our busiest stretch, so the earlier the better for holiday dates. Custom cup labels and branded marshmallows also need lead time to produce, so booking early protects both your date and your branding. Send your date and we'll confirm availability.
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Yes. We set up a full hot chocolate bar at your event, poured to order from the cart, with mini marshmallows and your flavors included. Available across Los Angeles, Orange County, and beyond.
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We bring the cart and an attendant to pour and serve every cup, so our hot chocolate cart catering is full-service, not a drop-off rental. You get the cart, the drinks, and the staff to run it.
More questions? See our full catering FAQ →
Ready to book?
Or reach us directly:
hello@thejollysheep.com · 213-204-3189