Grainy tablets of cacao, cinnamon, and sugar whisked into hot milk or water with a molinillo. Closer to the ancient spiced drinking chocolate than any candy bar.
Mexican drinking chocolate connects the Black and Latino South — shared cacao heritage and a shared template for spiced, frothy chocolate that predates the candy industry.
Mexican chocolate keeps cacao closer to its ancestral form — coarse-ground beans with cinnamon and a moderate amount of sugar, rather than the heavily refined, milk-and-sugar candy bar. The cacao supplies the heart-protective flavanols, magnesium, and theobromine, and the generous cinnamon adds its own polyphenols, which have modest blood-sugar-steadying effects that partly offset the added sugar. The tablets do contain sugar, so it is not a sugar-free drink — but the spice, the coarser cacao, and the option to dilute heavily make it a more honest chocolate than most. Whisking it with a molinillo also aerates it for a satisfying froth without cream.
Break a tablet into hot milk or water and whisk vigorously — traditionally with a wooden molinillo rolled between the palms — until melted and frothy. Often spiced further with extra cinnamon, chili, or vanilla. Use less tablet and more liquid to cut the sugar.
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