Hot Cocoa Season: What’s So Special About Mexican Chocolate? (2024)

FAQs

Hot Cocoa Season: What’s So Special About Mexican Chocolate? ›

Like many Mexican candies, Mexican chocolate carries a twist of spice and heat, usually from spices like cinnamon, chili powder, or cayenne pepper. This makes Mexican chocolate a decadent treat, however it's served!

The roasting process gives Mexican chocolate its characteristic flavor and is traditionally performed in a large pan. Compared to milk or semi-sweet chocolate, Mexican chocolate retains much of its rustic flavor and texture, and the bitter taste of the cocoa bean is easy to taste.

Mexican hot chocolate contains spices like cinnamon and chili and chopped bittersweet chocolate to create a very rich but less sweet flavor. Whereas traditional American hot chocolate is usually made with a combination of cocoa powder and/or chocolate and tends to be more on the sweet side.

The most significant difference is in the ingredients. Mexican hot chocolate uses various spices, including cinnamon, cloves, and ancho chili pepper.

Regular, moderate consumption of cocoa-rich hot chocolate can support cardiovascular health by improving blood flow, reducing blood pressure, and decreasing levels of 'bad' LDL cholesterol. However, choosing high-quality cocoa, like the ones we use in our creations, is vital to reap the optimum benefits.

Mexican hot chocolate has a history of over 4,000 years, whilst chocolate bars, or eating chocolate, has a short history of only about 200 years! Traveling to the different regions of Mexico, like Veracruz, Tabasco, Oaxaca, and Chiapas, you can discover chocolate drinks that you have never heard of before.

What we love about Mexican candy is its unique approach to sweetness: while sugar has become an essential ingredient, most Mexican candies balance out their recipes with salty, sour, and zesty flavors you won't find anywhere else. And yes — spicy Mexican candy can get so hot it'll knock your socks off!

Nestlé Abuelita Hot Chocolate Tablets

This is one of the most famous brands of hot chocolate from Mexico.

It has a noticeably grainy texture because it's processed only to the “liquor” stage, before it's poured into the disk-shaped molds to cool and harden. Classically, it's flavored with cinnamon and vanilla. To make the drink, this solid chocolate is broken into pieces, then just melted into a pot of hot milk.

Replace the Mexican chocolate called for in your recipe with an equal amount of semisweet chocolate or cocoa powder. Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and, if you like, a drop of almond extract for every ounce of chocolate.

Why is Abuelita hot chocolate so good? ›

For generations, Nestlé Abuelita Authentic Mexican Style Hot Chocolate Mix has been an essential part of the Hispanic kitchen. Its perfect balance of cocoa, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon gives it a distinctively delicious “calor de hogar” taste.

The Aztecs used a Molinillo, which is a Mexican wooden whisk, to froth hot chocolate and other drinks such as atoles. It's a very old kitchen tool and very little historical records exist prior to the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores to Mexico.

Potential Negative Effects:

“Regular indulgence in such varieties may precipitate weight gain and heighten susceptibility to conditions like diabetes,” said Amreen. Several studies have discovered that chocolate contains anti-inflammatory flavonoids as well as mood-elevating flavonoids.

Unsweetened cocoa powder or high-cocoa content dark chocolate are the closest alternatives to the cocoa used in these studies. Consumed in moderation, chocolate may therefore promote friendly bacteria, and, by extension, a healthy gut, keeping inflammation at bay.

It has a noticeably grainy texture because it's processed only to the “liquor” stage, before it's poured into the disk-shaped molds to cool and harden. Classically, it's flavored with cinnamon and vanilla.

To make Mexican chocolate, the nibs are ground and roasted. They have a bitter taste, which gives the chocolate its distinctive flavor. When you shop for Mexican chocolate in the United States, look for it to be sold in solid discs (like in the photos shown in this post).

The Mayans and the Aztecs believed (and perhaps some people still do) that chocolate was a gift from the gods. The Aztecs in particular revered the drink - they gave it to victorious warriors after battle, would use it during religious rituals, and even used cacao beans as currency.

Is Mexican chocolate healthy? Although there are lots of health properties found in cacao, we would still recommend consuming Mexican chocolate in moderation due to the sugar content.