at Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:12:58 GMT in <heimdall-94B4AE.13125817012005
@individual.net>, lid (Scott) wrote :

>Any suggestions for a good variety? I usually use Ghirardelli (either
>unsweetened cocoa or the hot cocoa mix) with a 50-50 combination of
>water and milk. Right now, I'm out and it's time to buy more.

The Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa is pretty good. Michel Cluizel's cocoa is
fantastic, but expensive and only available in bulk.

One major distinction is between Dutch cocoa and Natural-process. Dutch
cocoa usually looks more purplish and will produce a darker, almost black,
paste when mixed with a little milk. Its flavour is a bit milder, with a
distinct metallic twang, and it mixes more readily with milk. Natural-
process is more of a ruddy colour, has a more powerful, but sharper
flavour, and is notoriously fussy about mixing into milk. Both Ghirardelli
and Cluizel are natural-process. Droste is the standard for Dutch-process,
and Valrhona is also Dutch-process.

There's also a distinction between high-fat and low-fat cocoa, with high-
fat containing about 24% fat, low-fat a bit below 10%. You can usually
determine what type you're getting by reading the nutrition facts label.
Ghirardelli, Cluizel, Valrhona, and Droste are all high-fat. IMHO, low-fat
cocoa tends to taste like dust, but there is a *slight* improvement on
mixing with milk.

Personally, I use all whole milk, no water. My proportions are pretty
strong: generally 4 tbsp cocoa per finished cup (i.e. you add such milk as
is necessary to end up with a total of 1 cup of cocoa). I use 1 tbsp sugar
per cup. You're probably familiar with the method: make a paste with a
little cold milk and the cocoa, then pour the rest of the hot milk on
slowly, stirring continuously. Add sugar once everything's mixed well.

You can also make hot chocolate with chocolate instead of cocoa, by grating
the chocolate finely and pouring hot milk or half-and-half over it. This is
somewhat trickier, but amazingly rich. A low-fat chocolate works best.
Ghirardelli Double Chocolate chocolate chips are good for this purpose.
Also El Rey Gran Saman.

In fact, you can go all the way and make hot chocolate by literally melting
chocolate, either dark or milk. In this case, it's inappropriate to use a
mug - instead, an espresso demitasse is a useful size.

--
Alex Rast

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