Drinking Chocolate with Aloha

Inviting the islands’ favorite flavors to play with cacao and me

As I design my presentation for the upcoming Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Association Conference, I’m finding it impossible to resist the inspiration to experiment with mash-ups of drinking chocolate with the flavors and favorites of Hawai'i, like kūlolo, mochi, and māmaki. So many options flood the mind! What silky, chunky, dreamy, delicious combinations would you come up with? Let me know below. In the meantime, here’s some combos I have enjoyed this week.

What is more Hawaiian than the endemic plants? Iced chocolate with māmaki foam is pretty, healthy, and 'ono.

Māmaki

To the Mesoamericans, foam was (is) the breath of life in drinking chocolate. Besides its deeply symbolic meaning, foam is fun. It can be whimsical, a canvas for fun color and layers in drinks.

I had to google it, but just as I expected, matcha foam is a thing. So why not try our endemic, tonic tea māmaki for a pretty, green foam?

To get a bright green color, rather than the forest green of dried leaves, I processed my neighbor Erika’s fresh māmaki leaves the same way as matcha is processed, which includes blanching the leaves to stop browning.

The hardest part was getting a fine powder. I had to scrape the lid of my spice grinder, but I’m sure some expensive machine could solve that problem. Māmaki foam is beautiful and striking layered over chocolate.

Next? Maybe ko'oko'olau or noni leaf for other health-tonic greens? Liliko‘i for yellow, jaboticaba for purple, or your favorite colorful plant?

Another google search confirms that haupia foam is also a thing, although not as popular as matcha. I would love to see floral scented chocolate regain the popularity it held in historic Mesoamerica. Foam maybe a perfect medium to deliver floral scents: popping bubbles ticking your nose.

The caramel flavors of kūlolo are seductive in an unsweetened chocolate broth.

Kūlolo

I’ve already written about my love of combining poi and chocolate in my book One CacaoTree. In the tradition of combining chocolate and staple carb, like Mexican champurrado (chocolate and corn) and Filipino champorado (chocolate and rice), poi thickens chocolate, making it into a filling and nutritious meal or snack. Poi chocolate can be a drink, a dip, or a bowl base (like oatmeal or açaí) for stacking fruits, nuts, and seeds.

I drink poi and chocolate often, and even had the opportunity to compare the flavor of different poi varieties with chocolate. Well, why not take this a step further and add coconut milk, making a drink or pudding with kūlolo vibes?

For that matter, why not add chunks of kūlolo, like the mochi balls below. I poured unsweetened drinking chocolate over chunks of homemade kūlolo (this recipe). I took a few sips of the bitter brew, then spooned up a warm bit of kūlolo. The caramel-like flavors filled my mouth. So good!

Chewy mochi dumplings in rich hot chocolate broth? Yum!

Mochi

Pillowy rice mochi is a perennial local favorite, and I included a recipe for nibs and banana mochi in my book. But what about mochi dumplings in drinking chocolate? I love that this is reminiscent of cocoa tea & dumplings in the Caribbean and kopai in Sāmoa (both flour dumplings in a drinking chocolate broth).

I had to know: how delicious are mochi balls hanging out at the bottom of drinking chocolate? Chewy, lightly sweet, and satisfying. No surprise. I also tried shiratama dango, a chewy rice confection similar to mochi but unlike mochi are typically processed by simmering in water. Swap drinking chocolate for water? Awesome of course. The shiratama dango also hang out at the bottom of your cup, delightful chewy morsels to slurp up with a spoon.

There’s smoke and chocolate in that jar! Thanks for the smoker machine loan, Jax! Smoked chocolate picks up campfire, woody, spicy notes.

Island Wood Smoke

Koko Sāmoa drinks combine a smoky flavor with chocolate. What if we used our famous (and invasive) woods kiawe or guava to scent our cacao? Or coffee wood?

After hours of online research into the vast array of smoking gadgets available, and many options sitting in the limbo of my shopping cart, I happened to ask a friend if she might have a smoking apparatus. That afternoon, Jax sent me home with a small smoker and some mesquite wood shavings, not quite kiawe wood, but very close.

I put some refined chocolate (85%) in a jar, blew in some mesquite smoke, screwed on the lid, and waited about five minutes. I then made a drink from the chocolate. Yes! I could taste and smell the mesquite. It was interesting combination. It almost needed some other spice to complete the experience - a fruity chile pepper or cinnamon, maybe? I look forward to trying guava wood from the yard next!

Perhaps the most authentic way to achieve smoke flavor is to actually roast the beans on a fire, and I absolutely want to do that! But using a small smoker gadget is an easy, fast way to test out flavors.

It’s time for get back to preparing for the conference this weekend. Will you be there?

I will continue to play with these ideas for reimagining drinking chocolate influenced by Hawaiian flavors, and I hope you will, too! Report back: What did you try? What do you want to try?