Review: LEGO® 40776 Hot Chocolate Stand gift with purchase

Now available as a free Gift with Purchase (GwP) over the threshold of 170€/ US$170/ £155/ AU$275/ NZ$300, LEGO® 40776 Hot Chocolate Stand is an adorable set of a little cafe shaped like a mug of Christmas cheer! It also features two minifigures and a seating area. Let's take a sip of what it has to offer.

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

40776 Hot Chocolate Stand

• Release date: 22 and 23 November 2025
• Pieces: 256
• Ages: 10+

Threshold:

• US$ 170 on LEGO.com US
• GB£ 155 on LEGO.com UK
• AU$ 275 on LEGO.com Australia
• NZ$ 300 on LEGO.com New Zealand
• 170€ on LEGO.com Deutschland, Nederland, France etc
• PLN  705 on LEGO.com Polska

Other countries click here

 

Decorations

There is an exclusive sticker sheet in the set featuring 3 stickers. Two are menu items, and the third is presumably a Lost Cat poster – featuring the cat from the LEGO Christmas ads! Let's hope he's found by 25 December.

The printed pieces include plenty of biscuits and creamy swirly tops for your chocolate, and a dial for the hot chocolate machine.

There is also a rare print, Tile 2 x 2 in Black with Coffee Mugs print (6434719 | 103117, 3068bpr0683) which to date has only appeared in two other sets. It is one of the few rare pieces in this model.

Rare pieces

There are no exclusive pieces in the set, in fact almost everything is very common, which is good news if you miss this GwP and want to recreate it yourself.

Only one element can be considered "rare": Minifig Head Black Eyebrows, Closed Eyes, Medium Nougat Chin, Closed Mouth Smile/Open Mouth Smile in Yellow (6517838 | 110189, 28621pr9786) which has only appeared in set 21353 The Botanical Garden to date.

The 4x Brick Round Corner 5 x 5 x 1 Curved, Bottom Cut Outs, No Studs, 9 Bottom Tubes in Reddish Brown (6522392 | 7033) are perhaps notable too as so far they have only appeared in the "Four Gentlemen" LEGO® Botanicals sets.

The 2x Tile Special 2 x 2 with 2 Quarter Round Cutouts in Reddish Brown (6518946 | 3396) are slightly rarer, having appeared in 3 other sets to date.

Minifigures

Two minifigures are included: the server and the customer. Both have double-sided torsos and heads. As mentioned, the only noteworthy element here is the customer's head, which features two extremely satisfied expressions. Yum!

The model

The cafe is a cubic framework covered in side studs, with a generous area of plate around it. At this stage, it looks a bit like chocolate is leaking out of the building!

Once the side panels start being added, it becomes obvious this is a mug-shaped cafe!

Note the gold pieces on the awning; happily these are metalic gold rather than pearl gold, which always adds a luxurious feel.

The roof of the cafe is chocolate with some cream and a candy cane, overflowing the mug which explains the brown ground.

The model has a generous footprint with a little seating area for two, decorated with a snow-covered tree.

I guess the server deserves a break. She can't fully relax though, as the seat pushes against her pigtail. 

It is easy to play with, as the rear is wide open, and the roof is easy to detach too. There is very little inside to knock over – just a milk carton and the hot chocolate machine.

Speaking of the machine – it's really cute; a great job for so few pieces.

She only has one customer, but I sure wish I could be one too!

Conclusion

This super gorgeous winter set is a fantastic gift with purchase. It would make an excellent addition to your Winter Village display, or simply stand on its own as an adorable decoration for the holiday season. Children will enjoy playing with it, thanks to the many possibilities with the cafe and seating area, and the tasty accessories supplied.

I enjoyed this build much more than I expected – it was more involved than I anticipated, and feels larger than a 256-piece model. 

At a qualifying threshold of 170€/ US$170/ £155/ AU$275, this free gift ain't "cheap", but is perhaps a lower threshold than you might usually expect for a GwP of this size and quality. That is possibly because there is actually a higher-threshold GwP this weekend, 40775 Mini Knight's Castle at 260€/ US$260/ £225/ AU$410, which we will review for you tomorrow.

There certainly is plenty to spend on this weekend, with discounted sets, double loyalty points and reduced prices on thousands of LEGO Pick a Brick elements. 

READ MORE: LEGO Insiders Weekend deals, offers, sets and Pick a Brick price reductions 

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