By Savannah Mallory
The first time I tasted sipping chocolate I had a revelation. Maybe it was the theobromine or the sugar, maybe it was the excitement before that first taste touched my tongue, but when I took a sip of that rich, drink I couldn’t help but smile. And that grin stayed on my face for at least an hour after I’d scraped the last bits of chocolate goodness from the mug with a tiny spoon.
"Sipping Chocolate" is a delicious way to drink pure chocolate. The recipe is basically equal parts (by weight) ground chocolate to boiling water.
Like thinking fondly of a lover when I think about a cup of sipping chocolate the corner of my mouth turns up without my consent, my thoughts tend to wander away and in an instant, I am grinning like a fool all over again.
Weighing out 40 grams of our 70% cacao ground Drinking Chocolate (the recommended serving size is anywhere from 20-60 grams).
Chocolate is to me, like medicine. It’s like a deep, rumbling laugh that bubbles out of someone leaving them surprised and delighted. I’d grown up, of course, eating Hershey’s bars and Nestle Chips, I’d had hot chocolate shaken into warm milk out of a paper packet, but that is not true chocolate because it never had this effect on me.
After adding 40 grams of ground chocolate, then we add 20 grams of close-to boiling water.
A sipping chocolate of fine quality will take your breath away, it is concentrated and melted down into a tiny mug of roughly three ounces. It will be shiny and the surface reflective like glass, and you can taste different flavors in it based on the soil that the cacao beans were grown in (also known as terroir). When you take your first sip you will understand why the Mayans called it “The food of the gods.” And you will smile, it cannot be helped.
After adding 40 grams of ground chocolate and 20 grams of water, we whisk it into an evenly incorporated consistency.
I’ve watched many people have their first taste of sipping chocolate. Some of their eyes have closed in appreciation, some have eagerly offered it to me, wanting me to share in the sweetness, but every single one of them has broken into a smile. So I offer this: the next time you order a sipping chocolate, or make one at home, try not to smile. You'll be delighted with the result.
Then we add the remaining 20 grams of water and whisk a second time. Then at this point it is ready to be poured into a small glass and sipped!
Savannah Mallory is originally from Kansas City, MO. In the last few years she cultivated a curiosity about chocolate making and she began working at Ritual Chocolate as a production assistant in January of 2018. Outside of the factory she teaches cooking classes and runs the food blog cleavercooking.com. Her favorite chocolate bar is Ecuador 85% and she’s always down for a good cup of sipping chocolate.
