Name: Jamaican hot chocolate
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 chocolate balls; 3 cups of water; plant based milk to taste (coconut milk, almond milk depending on how creamy you want it, see notes); ½ tsp of fresh nutmeg (grated, use less if you don't care for too much nutmeg see notes); 1-2 cinnamon sticks (or leaves (use 2) if you have them ); Vegan condensed milk sweeten to taste; 2 tbsp of coconut sugar (optional)

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This rich, dense beverage more commonly known as chocolate tea is served during breakfast, made from roasted chocolate balls or sticks, spices and sweetened to taste. My version of this beverage is totally plant based making it suitable for those who are vegan or dairy free.

This Jamaican hot chocolate is a true favourite of mine. I love this recipe so much that I think it's time that I shared my family method of making "tea''.

If you like Chocolate that is rich, dense and packs a punch then you need to seriously try some of this hot beverage.

If you enjoy a serious chilli kick to your chocolate then I highly recommend trying my modern spin with chilli, yes that's right, Caribbean Chilli Chocolate Tea.

I remember growing up my mother and grandmother used to whip up a batch of tea during winter. Living in the UK it wasn't so easy to obtain the chocolate balls/sticks needed to make this recipe.

When I did get hold of some it became a very rare diaspora treat. For some reason my most fondest memories of Jamaican hot chocolate was centred around Christmas.

We would serve our national dish Ackee and Saltfish with Boiled Green Banana along side a hot cup of chocolate tea. Right before we were allowed to opened our Christmas presents.

Living in the diaspora sometimes feels as if these old traditions like how to make traditional hot chocolate is becoming a dying trend.

This is the reason why I am even more determined to shared what little knowledge I have, thanks to the women in my family

Speaking of celebratory drinks Christmas is also associated with the following drinks although some of those aren't Jamaican you might want to try them anyway - Sorrel, Coquito, Ginger Beer and Mulled Wine.

Update alert

Since I first posted this recipe a few years ago I have updated the notes section and drawn some clarity on the recipe instructions.

I wanted to make them a bit clearer a long with giving the reader more control and options over how to prepare their chocolate drink to their desired taste.

What is Jamaican hot chocolate?

Jamaican hot chocolate better known as cocoa tea or chocolate tea is a breakfast drink made from chocolate balls (see picture below) that are either grated or left to dissolve when added to a saucepan with hot water.

The chocolate is left to simmer along with cinnamon (leaves or sticks) then sweetener and nutmeg.

Some people add milk to their tea, while others don't. This is a subjective ingredient and the amount (if any) is up to the individual.

It is NOT the same as Western hot chocolate that is in it's powdered form. They aren't remotely the same and the taste is a complete contrast to what you're probably used to (if you're not from the Islands).

There's this unique slick of oil that stay suspended on top of the chocolate when it's made, that let's you know this is the real island deal.

The process of making chocolate

In order to make the chocolate balls, the seeds are extracted from the cacao pods and left to dry out for roughly a week in the blazing out sunshine. This is done to not only increase the taste of the chocolate but also to remove it's moisture.

The seeds are then roasted and ground using a mortar and pestle and then moulded into golf balls sized chocolate and sold.

Once moulded the chocolate is typical grated, boiled in water, milk, sweetened and flavoured with spices - cinnamon, nutmeg

The rest of the Caribbean

Most of the Caribbean islands, more specifically the English speaking Islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia, Dominica, Grenada just to name a few also refer to it as Chocolate tea.

Some of these Islands tend to add a thickener such as flour and additional spices like star anise and bay leaves.

Another thing to note is that some people add the milk once the chocolate has simmered and the pot is removed from the stove. I like to add the milk and allow the chocolate to simmer just a little longer so the flavours combine via heat.

How to make Jamaican hot chocolate - vegan style

In order to make true chocolate tea, you will need to get hold of some chocolate balls. I got mine from here , you cannot use cacao powder or any other powdered chocolate as it won't replicate the results.

Grate the chocolate - Not every does this some people add the whole balls to boiling water but I grew up seeing the chocolate balls grated first. Two balls are more than enough and they are very easy to breakdown in a matter of minutes. I like to also grate my fresh nutmeg into the chocolate and mix them together.

Boiling the water - Before adding the fine chocolate, bring the water to the boil. I do this and add a cinnamon stick to the water. If you can get hold of some cinnamon leaves, even better, go ahead and use those!!

Milk and sweetener - As this is a vegan recipe my choice of milk is almond milk. You can use coconut milk if you wish and I also use condensed coconut milk with a small amount of coconut sugar and sweeten to taste.

Straining the chocolate tea - It's best to strain as you're serving the tea, just balance a small sieve over each cup as you're pouring out the tea to get rid of the grit.

Can you use regular chocolate to make this recipe?

No, Caribbean hot chocolate is unique in taste, there's this oil slick from the fatty pods that you cannot get from western cocoa. You need raw cacao that has been dehydrated and prepared into a stick/ball.

Cacao although is very similar isn't the same and doesn't have the high amount of fat that's in the raw cacao ball/stick.

Do you have to have this only at Christmas?

No, it's simply a time where most Caribbean people will serve it in unison. You can make this drink any time of the year if you wish.

Notes and tips

If you don't want to grate the chocolate you can skip this step and simply dissolve the balls/stick in the boiling water on the stove.
If you don't care for creaminess use only 1 cup or less of plant based milk. 2 cups make a very creamy chocolate drink.
It is normal for the chocolate to destabilize, just give it a stir.
Always do a taste test, as you may want to adjust prior to serving.
If you can't get hold of cinnamon leaves, you can compensate by adding an additional cinnamon stick.
Some people prefer to leave out the milk and just sweeten with condensed milk once the chocolate has boiled/melted.
You may want to add your nutmeg once the tea is almost ready rather than the beginning stages - I add mine during the initial stages and some more after it's done.
This particular chocolate is sold in the form of balls or sticks.
Feel free to add any additional spices along with the cinnamon and nutmeg
Use any plant based milk that you see fit - almond and coconut work best
Discard the cinnamon leaves/stick(s) prior to serving
You can add the condensed milk during or after the tea is ready, it's just a matter of preference.
Don't forgot to strain the tea
Use my vegan Condensed Milk if you want to.
Suitable for vegans, paleo approved and free from gluten

The steps

Use a grater box to grate both of the roasted chocolate balls

Grate the nutmeg into the chocolate and add a cinnamon stick to a saucepan of water and bring to the boil

Pour and stir the chocolate and nutmeg into the pot of boiling water

Pour in the almond or coconut milk and sweeten to taste

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