Hot Cocoa Chai



Gift chai mix & my first attempt to imitate the recipe.

A dear friend sent me two amazing boxes of gifts recently, meant to cover a year's worth of celebrations--including my 2012 birthday and the one soon to come--filled with an assortment of feel-good items from BPA-free insulated travel drink cups and 2013 calendars, through shawls and pajamas, to my favorite: food. In keeping with the cooler weather, a tin of DAGOBA(R) organic drinking chocolate / chai mix was included. What a treat!
The can reads "DAGOBA(R) is dedicated to The Art of Chocolate Alchemy(R): transforming exceptional cacao into edible gold." What's not to like?!

Ingredients are listed on the front as follows: "cacao powder, bits of pure, dark chocolate, cane sugar, crystallized ginger, & essence of chai." Ingredients are organic and Fair Trade certified.

When looking at the Nutrition Facts and ingredient listing on the side of the can's label, the emphasis on sugar becomes clear. The first listed ingredient is cane sugar (organic) and a 3-tablespoon serving contains 8 grams of sugars--making sugar nearly 1/3 of the mix.

Having just hosted two "Sugar Blues: Combat Cravings" workshops in December, and still battling the seasonal influx of sugar-laden treats, I waited a few days to dive into the divine-looking cocoa. It wasn't until my housemate had enjoyed a couple of servings and the scent had wafted my way, that I decided it was time to try it myself. (Need I mention that the box of chocolates included in the gift had long since vanished, or that I had given in to the seasonal influx of gift chocolates? By the time I dove into the chocolate chai, I had chocolate and sugar running in my veins again--true to form.)

Since the goats are a month away from supplying us with milk again, I added a scoop of Action Whey(TM) to the hot water. After it dissolved, I added the DAGOBA(R) mix, and the result was delightful!

Knowing that the gift tin won't last, I promptly set about trying to imitate the mixture.

So far I'm pleased with the following: a scoop of Action Whey(TM), a half-scoop of raw organic cacao powder (abut a hefty heaping tablespoon), minced raw ginger root (about 2 teaspoons), and a tablespoon of semi-refined sugar. Next time I'll shave in some 85% dark chocolate.

Stay tuned while we work out the kinks to this recipe. Come January we'll have to return to shunning sugar. Although the sweet taste is a treat, the negative health impacts are not acceptable. Why, after a few days of indulging in gift chocolates I actually suffered some of those sugar blues I once lived with daily. Talk about a wake-up call! I am NOT going back to sugar-laden mood swings. No thank you, ma'am.

If you have a favorite hot cocoa recipe, please feel free to post a comment and include a link if you so desire. Thanks for reading, and Happy Holidays!