Mexican Hot Cocoa, A Great Alternative to Coffee

I love coffee, I mean I really do but over the years I’ve learned that I don’t love how it makes me feel. It make me feel jittery, I lose focus, I feel scattered and it messes with my blood sugar. This all changed when I gave up coffee and incorporated mexican hot cocoa into my morning routine.

Recently the combination of my spring allergy symptoms and coffee was the push I needed to give up coffee (for now). I’ve tried this over the years and no matter what I substituted for coffee it never quite hit the spot. 

Don’t get me wrong you know I love a good matcha (checkout my matcha recipe here). But there’s something about the bitter bite of coffee I was missing. That is until I started making this Mexican hot cocoa. 

One day it dawned on me that cocoa was pretty similar to coffee so why not give that a shot. I obviously wasn’t looking to drink a super sweet hot cocoa so I decided to make a Mexican hot cocoa. 

The bitterness from the unsweetened cocoa powder mixed with the heat from the chili powder and cayenne (optional) was exactly what I was looking for!

Even better, there are so many health benefits associated with the ingredients in this Mexican hot cocoa. One common thread in all of these ingredients is that they all support heart health!

Cocoa

Cocoa powder contains iron, zinc, and selenium which are great for the immune system. It’s high in antioxidants (much like coffee) and may be beneficial to the heart. Not to mention it has shown to improve nerve and cognitive functioning.

CAYENNE

Cayenne is shown to improve digestion and may lower blood pressure. It supports the metabolism and may help to maintain healthy weight as well as help with inflammation.

Cinnamon

 Cinnamon may help lower blood sugar levels in addition it is shown to reduce heart disease risk factors as well as inflammation.

chili powder

Chili powder is high in vitamin C making it great for the immune system. Additionally it may help lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease

If you’re struggling with giving up coffee give my single serve Mexican Hot Cocoa recipe a try and let me know what you think! 

Protip: get one of these frothers. It help combine the powders and the liquid so you don’t have those thick globs in your drink (gross). I use this for my hot cocoa, mushroom latte and matcha latte! Not only does it froth and help whisk all the powders it can heat or cool the beverage while it does it. 100% worth the investment! If you make this in the frother add all the ingredients in at once and push the button for hot or cold (your choice).