Does anyone ever try grinding chocolate nibs and brewing them in a
coffee maker? Then adding sugar and milk (or making this in conjuncton
with coffee for a choco-coffee blend)?

Alex Rast wrote:

>at Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:12:58 GMT in <heimdall-94B4AE.13125817012005
>, 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.
>