I have always associated a cup of hot cocoa with winter, glowing embers in a fire grate and bedtime.
But quite what the difference between hot chocolate, cocoa and drinking chocolate is, I am not sure. Every coffee shop and tea room dutifully offer hot chocolate on their menus. But despite the topping of whipped cream, marshmallows and sprinkle of chocolate, in my mind its just cocoa.
Not that there is anything wrong with a hot cocoa on a winters day.
finecooking.com/article/chocolate-vs-cocoa-powder
We used to visit a farm shop where the hot chocolate came with a couple of squares of chocolate you popped into a glass of hot frothy milk. Best I have ever had.