My Cocoa Tea Origin Story

Cocoa tea, chocolate tea or hot chocolate and other chocolate beverages have always been a part of my life. The traditional Caribbean cocoa tea that Kes sings about is a constant on Sunday mornings. Throughout my primary school years, I drank chocolate tea on weekday mornings and cold chocolate Nesquik on evenings. At university, the chocolate-flavoured Complan was a relatively delicious source of added nutrition, and a cup of hot chocolate made with condensed milk on some evenings provided some comfort. As a working adult, a side quest has been to make the perfect cup of hot chocolate. I have come to realise though that the perfect cup of hot chocolate depends on what I feel for in the moment; sometimes, it's just boiling the grated cocoa with bay leaf and cinnamon, and at other times it can be a mixture of six different chocolates and various spices. At the end of the day, I will do the chocolate my way.

Sunday mornings are cocoa tea mornings. Growing up, there was always an enamel

pot of cocoa tea on my grandparents' stove to be consumned after church. I recall going to a neighbour's house with my grandfather in his pick-up truck to collect the cocoa balls. All I know is that the wall was tall; but there were some banana trees sticking out, and my grandfather would enter the yard then emerge with a banana leaf with cocoa balls on it. On one occasion, he had to rework the balls and leave them to dry a bit longer. It was those cocoa balls that would be grated into the pot of water with cinnamon sticks and bay leaves and brought to a boil, then strained into a cup and milk and sugar added. The cup of cocoa tea would be enjoyed with breakfast.

During the week, though, it was a different type of chocolate. The rational is this: after playing whole afternoon, a child becomes quite thirsty and only a sweet beverage would do. My cousins and I would make either lime juice in a measuring cup with two limes from the lime tree in my grandmother's yard, or we would make Nesquik with Carnation milk and water in individual metal cups. That cup of nesquick was so refreshing, and I would feel so sad to see the chocolate powder bits at the end. It was not a savoured drink; we legit gulped it down and would express an "ahhhh" in satisfaction.

Every morning of primary school, my mom gave my sister and I chocolate tea, because, we had to drink tea. It was not the most chocolatey, but it did what it had to do, i.e. be a hot drink (if you know, you know). I didn't particularly enjoy that version of hot chocolate because by the time I made the drive to school I would feel nauseous. So, a few weeks into secondary school, I cut it out and switched to juice as I had a little more autonomy. Later on, I came to realise that I am lactose intolerant. Over the years, I have found ways to keep enjoying my chocolate beverages despite being lactose intolerant.

University time was a time of discovery. Pinterest opened my eyes to different ways of making hot chocolate. I obviously had a cocoa ball from home with me, and I used Cadbury cocoa powder and Cadbury drinking chocolate, and I learnt about Swiss Miss. I also discovered almond milk, but as a university student, I couldn't always afford that. The hack I developed to lessen the upset feeling that milk gave me was to use condensed milk and dilute it with water. So, I would mix the cocoa powder in with the condense milk to make a paste, then add hot water, that tasted soooo good eh, I could make a cup now. Through Pinterest, I learnt about adding cayenne pepper to make a Mexican hot chocolate. I would try different recipes that called for cream and half and half and vanilla. It's fun. I developed this thing that I call chocolate water becuse it was just hot water, the cocoa powder, cayenne pepper and cinnamon which looks like brown water.

Post university, I am back to my regular Sunday morning Kes cocoa tea and I have more ways to enjoy it. I can now buy almond milk to make beverages. Also, there is legit chocolate almond milk. The chocolate almond milk is a separate topic. The game changer is lactose-free cow's milk, as not all the time I want that almond milk taste.

Now, there are many different chocolate products with which to make chocolate beverages: different powders , bars, percentages of chocolates, and chocolate sauces, local and foreign. My goal is to try as many as I can in this lifetime of mine and I will share my recommendations with you all.