Welcome to the Dark side. Welcome to the Alchemist’s Blend series. I present to you, the first in series of Alchemist’s Blends . #1 - Vader.
As I am wont to do, I have gone off and broken a couple of the ‘rules’ for chocolate. I’ve blended wonderful single origin beans. I have roasted them VERY dark. I have ground them extra fine. And I have produced a dark, tempting elixir. And make no mistake; it is stronger than most of the ‘lighter’ brews both in color and flavor. Strong roasted notes, not unlike coffee. I love coffee, and I when I’m not sipping coffee, this fits the bill just great. But it’s not just ‘dark’. And it certainly isn’t burned. It’s full of spice and chocolate notes. And lest you fear I’ve roasted all the goodness out of it, (and yes, this is just anecdotal evidence) the ‘buzz’ is still there. Fully! And if anything, it may be greater than the lighter stuff since it is extracting more (just note that alluring color).
But again, this is not your mother’s hot chocolate. And this is also not coffee. It stands on its own merits, so judge it on what you taste, not what you expect or what it isn’t.
Also, this is the first Brewing cocoa that I have found to work well in coffee brewers and actually mixed with coffee. Other brewing cocoas can have a tendency to muddy the flavor of coffee I have found, or worse, clog brewing filters or screens. Your mileage may vary, but I’ve found 1:1 ratio wonderful, and if you are just a little careful, so it does not overflow, even straight can work well.