Optionally Vegan Chocolate Tea

A couple of months ago, I discovered a big box of German "Aztec Tea" in the bottom of my dad's drawer (he is an avid tea-hoarder and goes to Germany a lot on business.) I was intrigued because I'd been meaning to put together some sort of xocolatl-esqe drink, both out of curiosity and to satisfy my chocolate cravings when I didn't want all the fat and sugar.

The tea was bitter, with notes of vanilla and cinnamon--and being a dark chocolate person and a cinnamon lover, I was hooked. Pretty soon the entire box of tea was gone. And there was no going to Germany to get more anytime soon... so what was I to do?

I googled "chocolate tea recipe", wondering if I could make something like this at home. Luckily enough, this recipe (on which the recipe below is based) was the first to come up. I tried making it with a little heated milk (non-dairy because practically everyone in my family is dairy-free and that's what we have in the house), a square of dark chocolate, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It wasn't quite as fantabulous as that fancy German stuff, but it was very good... and it satisfied that bitter-chocolate craving I'd been going after.

One other interesting thing happened. I've been making this tea pretty often in the last couple of weeks, and a couple of nights ago, I made a mistake. I poured my milk straight into the cocoa powder without heating it up. Fortunately, it was only three tablespoons or so. I mixed very vigorously until the cocoa powder was mixed in (it took awhile--the more liquid you have, the harder it is to mix in the cocoa), and then I poured some boiling water from the tea kettle over it. Lo and behold, the milk foamed up! There was a pleasant layer of bubbles on the surface of the tea--almost like an espresso, but not nearly as foamy or white. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but I would hypothesize that it has something to do with the sudden heat of the boiling water denaturing the milk proteins and causing them to form (small and weak) bubbles around the air which is no doubt being jostled into the milk mixture by the falling water (this is similar to what happens when you beat egg whites, with the mechanical action of the beaters denaturing proteins and aerating the liquid instead of hot water.)

Recipe: Optionally Vegan Chocolate Tea
(makes 1 serving)

~1-2 heaping spoonfuls of cocoa powder (to taste)
1 square dark, semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate (optional--if you're vegan, bittersweet is probably your best bet)
ground cinnamon (to taste)
nutmeg
allspice, cloves, ginger, etc. (optional--add all three and a touch of molasses for gingerbread flavored cocoa)
vanilla or other extract (optional)
~2-8 T of your preferred milk (cow's, almond, soy, etc.)
whipped cream (optional--here's a great vegan coconut cream version)
extra chocolate, cinnamon sticks, and/or fresh nutmeg for garnish (optional)

1.  Place cocoa powder and dry spices in a mug. Add just enough milk to wet the dry powder and stir vigorously until it forms a smooth paste, adding more milk if necessary. If using extracts, add them and stir a little more.
2. Add the rest of your milk (if there's any left) and stir until the paste is fully incorporated. If your mug is not yet half-full, add enough boiling water so that it's half full and stir until uniformly combined (this is to ensure the cocoa powder gets fully emulsified in the liquid).
3. Add the rest of the boiling water. Top with whipped cream, insert cinnamon stick, and add some chocolate shavings, grated nutmeg, and extra cinnamon if desired. Serve immediately.

Bonus application: Chocolate Iced Tea
Follow steps 1-2 without using any water or the chocolate square. Pour it into a blender and add enough ice cubes to fill the rest of your drinking vessel of choice (if you used 8T of milk this is probably around 10 ice cubes). Alternatively, you can mix the dry ingredients with warm water (still omitting the chocolate square) and pour it all over ice in a glass. I haven’t actually tried this one, so it might be kinda gross--but it’s worth a shot! The Aztecs supposedly enjoyed their xocolatl cold.