Mexican drinking chocolate

The very first chocolate in the world was not eaten, it was drank. The Mayas ground cacao beans into a paste and mixed it with water, spices and the beverage was thickened with cornflour.

In Mexico even today the tradition of drinking chocolate is bigger than eating chocolate bars. But drinking chocolate it self has changed somewhat since the time of Mayas. These days it is made of ground cacao beans, sugar and cinnamon. The mixture is then made into discs and dried until hard.

The discs are dissolved in milk or water and the froth is made with a molinillo, a traditional Mexican froth maker.

Today chocolate discs are made commercially and the one I like the most is made of organic cacao beans by Wolter. It is not overwhelmingly sweet and when you finish your cup of chocolate all ground cacao beans are waiting for you for the last indulgence.

But in small towns in the areas where cacao beans are grown you can even buy small packages with cacao beans, sugar and cinnamon for mixing as you like and making your own chocolate at home. Yes, nothing can beat that!