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As a lover of organic chocolate (I especially love truffles), I often enjoy a chocolate drink, and I thought that it is a good idea to share my thought about it.

Most people make a "hot chocolate" drink from cocoa powder with milk. Well, it is tasty, but, in my opinion, it is not a real "chocolate" drink. it is a "cocoa" drink. When chocolate manufacturers process cacao beans, they separate cacao beans into cacao (cocoa) powder and cacao oil, and what you get in cocoa powder is only half of the flavor of the original cacao beans.

Then there are people who know more about what makes a real chocolate drink. They get unsweetened 100% chocolate bars, shred them, mix the chocolate with milk and sugar, and create a really creamy drink. Again, this is fine, but it is still not quite right. They use milk, and this destroys the many beneficial and flavorful chemicals in the chocolate!

Now, the truest of the chocolate drink aficionados make their chocolate drink without milk. They use only hot water and sugar. Occasionally, they will use espresso coffee to spike the caffeine content, but water is the basic element. This recipe needs slightly more chocolate than the one outlined above, and it is harder to make it creamy--milk protein gets gooey when it is heated up, and this is what makes the drink so creamy. The real aficionados solve this problem by using the same kind of hand-held blender that makes cappuccino cream fluffy.

I suggest that we should go further, and here is why: cacao beans are well known to be from one of most potent medicinal plants available on Earth. Its anti-oxidant content is more than 10 times higher than that of green tea. It contains very high levels of vitamins and minerals, has tons of complex amino acids, and is one of most studied "herbal" medicines in academia. This is why so many people have started eating dark chocolate: not only does it taste good, but it is really good for you, too!

This is not the whole truth, however. Although several studies have said that dark chocolate is high in anti-oxidants and minerals when compared to milk chocolate, many other beneficial elements, such as vitamin C and amino acids, are broken down by the heating process used in manufacturing chocolate. that is a pity.

So what can we do? If you are a real chocolate "aficionado," you should start from cacao beans! It requires hard work and time, but it is well worth the effort.

There are probably many ways to make the drink, but here is what I do. Get raw organic cacao beans -- they must be organic, since the organic cacao is far more flavorful than the non-organic stuff is. You can start from raw cacao nibs, which are cacao beans that have been shelled and broken into small pieces. Personally, I think that once the skin has been peeled off, the cacao beans are exposed to oxygen in the air and get oxidized faster. This kills the vitamin C and other complex amino acids which create varieties of flavors. So, I prefer to start from the raw cacao beans.

First, break the bean so that you can peel the skin off. About 20 beans is a good amount for a small cup (espresso size), which is more than enough to give you a buzz. If you are ambitious, use hand-grinding equipment. I recommend a large stone grinder with a crushing wheel. If not, use a coffee grinder which opens at the top. The hand-grinding is better since it will not create much frictional heat (which destroys chemicals in the beans), but again it can take quite a bit of time and effort.

Grind the bean until it gets pasty. Yes, it becomes pasty, since it still has the cacao oil in it. That is the main difference from cocoa powder. Scoop the paste out from the grinder into a small, heat-resistant glass bowl. Then mix it with a little honey. I prefer to use chestnut honey, since the flavor matches really well with cacao, but you can try different kinds and see what you like best. Another one I like is Hawaiian white honey; it has a vanilla flavor. Depending your taste, one or two teaspoons of honey is plenty.

If you like, you can mix in a little bit of cinnamon or even some chili powder, or any of your other favorite spices at this stage.

Mix well. Then pour in hot water -- hot, but not boiling. If you like, you can use espresso coffee, black tea, or yerba mate tea. (I have even tried green tea, but it does not work well. I guess the flavor of green tea is too weak to work well with cacao.) Do not put in too much water at this stage, but be sure to mix it well. Then pour the mixture though a sieve or strainer to remove the rough bits of any un-crushed cacao beans. This is really a must if you have used the hand-grinding method. After straining the mixture, add a bit more hot water. Then use the handheld mixer to "fluff" up the drink and make it creamy.

Once you get the hang of it, you can add many other tricks to this and maybe even make a better version yourself. As for me, this is how I make my real chocolate drink and I am happy with it. Enjoy!

Toshi Umekoji loves chocolate, especially organic dark chocolate truffles. He is always looking for new organic dark chocolate, and experimenting with new chocolate recipes made with raw cacao beans. You can find his favorite organic chocolate truffles at: http://www.GourmetOrganicChocolateTruffle.com.

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