Cinnamon cacao is the oldest and simplest way to drink ceremonial cacao: whole cacao paste melted into hot water with cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and nothing else required. It takes five minutes and one mug. The traditional Mesoamerican version uses water rather than milk, which lets the cacao taste like itself instead of like hot chocolate.
What this is, and what it is not
This is not Mexican hot chocolate from a tablet, which is sugar and cocoa pressed together with cinnamon already in it. This is whole cacao paste, which is the entire roasted bean ground down with nothing removed, including the cacao butter that makes up roughly half the bean's weight.
That difference shows up immediately in the cup. Cacao powder has had about three quarters of its cacao butter pressed out and sits around 10 to 15 percent fat, so a drink made from it is thin and needs milk or cream to feel like anything. Whole paste is 50 to 55 percent cacao butter, so water alone gives you a round, full-bodied drink.
Cinnamon is the traditional partner for a practical reason as well as a flavor one. It reads as sweetness without sugar, so it softens the bitterness of 100% cacao while letting you use far less sweetener than you would otherwise reach for.
Ingredients
Makes 1 mug, about 8 ounces
- 25 to 40 g whole cacao paste, shaved into small pieces. Use 25 g for a daily cup and 40 g for a fuller ceremonial serving
- 240 ml (1 cup) hot water, just off the boil, around 80 C (175 F)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, or 1 Ceylon cinnamon stick
- 1 small pinch fine sea salt
- 1 small pinch cayenne or a thin slice of fresh chili, optional and traditional
- 1 tsp honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar, to taste and optional
Ceylon cinnamon is milder and more floral than the cassia sold as ordinary ground cinnamon. Either works. Cassia is stronger, so start with less.
Method
- Heat the water, do not boil it. Bring it just off the boil and let it sit for 30 seconds. Water at a rolling boil can scorch cacao and makes the finished drink taste flat and slightly burnt.
- Melt the paste in a splash first. Put the cacao pieces in the mug with about 60 ml (1/4 cup) of the hot water. Wait a minute, then stir into a smooth, glossy paste with no lumps left. Doing this before adding the rest of the water is the single thing that separates a silky cup from a gritty one.
- Add the salt and cinnamon. Stir them into the concentrated base. If using a cinnamon stick, drop it in now and leave it to steep.
- Add the remaining water slowly while stirring, so the emulsion holds together.
- Froth it. Whisk vigorously, use a milk frother, or pour the cacao back and forth between two mugs from a height, which is the traditional method and genuinely works. The foam on top is cacao butter doing its job.
- Taste before sweetening. Good cacao often needs none. Add the salt first if it tastes flat, since salt lifts perceived sweetness more efficiently than sugar does.
Tips and variations
- Add chili the traditional way. A pinch of cayenne or a sliver of fresh chili is historically accurate and makes the cacao feel warmer in the chest. Start smaller than you think.
- Orange peel. A strip of orange zest steeped with the cinnamon is a common variation and cuts the bitterness well.
- Half water, half milk. If 100% cacao in water is too intense to start with, use half oat milk and work your way toward all water over a few weeks. Your palate adjusts faster than you expect.
- Do not boil the finished drink. Reheating hard will split the emulsion and leave an oily film on top. Warm gently and re-whisk.
Common questions
How much cacao should I use per cup?
Between 25 and 40 g depending on intention. A daily cup sits comfortably at 25 to 30 g. A fuller ceremonial serving is usually 40 g, and some traditions go higher. Start low. Cacao's theobromine builds slowly and peaks two to three hours in, so the effect of a large serving arrives later than you might expect (Baggott et al., Psychopharmacology, 2013).
Why water instead of milk?
Mostly flavor. Water lets the origin character of the cacao come through, where milk rounds it off and mutes it. There is also a long-running question about whether dairy proteins bind cacao polyphenols and reduce their absorption, but the evidence there is mixed and not settled, so flavor is the more honest reason to choose water.
Can I make this with cacao powder?
You can make a drink, but not this drink. Powder in water alone is thin and separates, because the cacao butter that gives this its body has been pressed out. If powder is what you have, use about 14 g in place of 25 g of paste, add milk rather than water, and expect a different texture.
Is cinnamon cacao good before bed?
For some people. Cacao contains less caffeine than coffee, but theobromine has a long half life of roughly 7 to 12 hours, so a large late cup can still be active at bedtime. If your sleep is light, keep cacao to the first half of the day and treat an evening cup as an occasional thing.
A note on the cacao you use
With a recipe this short, the cacao is the recipe. Alma Cacao is 100% whole cacao paste with the cacao butter retained, shaved into small pieces so it melts cleanly in that first splash of water. We source only from Peru, from native heirloom and criollo varieties grown in Amazonas, Piura, San Martin, and Cusco, traditionally fermented, and made in small batches rather than mass blended so each batch stays traceable.
