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Author:
Franco Salzillo
Mocha is one of the tastiest caffeinated drinks, in which coffee’s bold flavors merge with chocolate’s decadent creaminess and sweetness.
There are many ways of making mocha, from adding a chocolate syrup drizzle to your regular coffee to using cocoa powder. You can also serve mocha hot, over ice or blended. Some are lusciously sweet, and others are quite balanced. The real question is, how do you like your mocha?
Let me tell you how I like mine. Let’s start off with a cup of milk per serving. Here you already have limitless alternatives, from low-fat milk and whole milk to almond, soy, oat or coconut milk. Each type of milk has a specific thickness, and they vary in flavor too. Choose your favorite and experiment a little.
Instant coffee will cover our caffeine needs. Find high-quality freeze-dried espresso. Instant coffee used to be terrible, but now it’s amazing! Used right, it produces delicious coffee, and it’s ideal for milk-based recipes like our mocha.
We also need cacao, and for that, I used sweetened cocoa powder. You’ll find distinct qualities too, so read the ingredients in the label and find one that actually contains cacao beans. As with everything, it’s the quality of the ingredients that makes the drink.
Although cacao powder can be quite sweet, I’ve noticed you must add a sweetener to balance the mocha, and I love using brown sugar. Again, use any sweetener you have in hand, even low-carb alternatives. Don’t add too much of it, though, or you’ll over-sweeten your drink.
Here’s a tip, lots of people use chocolate syrup. Sometimes I do too. It adds chocolate flavors and sugar at the same time, and although it’s not the most natural ingredient, it’s hard to argue it’s not delicious!
The only thing left to do is building our mocha. I like mine warm and steamy, so I combine the ingredients and heat them on the stovetop in a small saucepan. If you want, use a microwave, just heat it in intervals and try not to burn yourself! The microwave is tricky that way. Let’s check out the recipe. You’ll have a nice cup of mocha cacao in no time, and its one good mocha.
In a small saucepan, add all the ingredients and stir until dissolved.
Heat over a medium flame until steamy, not boiling. You can also heat in the microwave in an oven-safe container.
Pour into two mugs.
