Green & Black’s Hot Chocolate = Love in a Cup

Regular readers will know that I’m not much of a fan of huge corporations and the majority of products they sell. I prefer to support companies and businesses that make real food, and who have ethics and integrity. The problem is, small companies with ethics and integrity tend not to be able to compete with the big guys, and their best bet in terms of not just growing their business but in basic survival is to sell out to a corporation with clout who can afford the promotion and marketing expenses as well as the slotting fees that will get that little company’s products onto grocery store shelves.

Such is the case of, really, most indie health food and organic companies. Kashi is owned by Kellogg, Boca is owned by Kraft, Tom’s of Maine is owned by Colgate, and the list of stuff owned by Heinz/Hain Celestial is staggering. In terms of chocolate, my beloved Green and Black’s is owned by Cadbury Schweppes.

Some folks would see this corporate ownership as reason to stop buying the indie/organic products. But in a way, that’s sort of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We support these companies initially because we agree with their philosophy and like their product. In most cases with a corporate sale, that (hopefully) doesn’t change. It simply means that more people will be turned on to an already great product, that more land will be dedicated to growing organic ingredients, or that more people will be helped by an increase in sales to products that are fair-trade or ethically-produced.

Which is my roundabout way of explaining why I still love Green & Black’s chocolate.

As the first organic chocolate company (founded in 1991) and the first to receive the Fairtrade mark for their Maya Gold bars, Green & Black’s has led the way in ethical chocolate. Their products are certified by the Soil Association, the UK’s leading campaigning and certification organization for organic food and farming.

When Green & Black’s bars first became available in Canada, they were so rare that I often had UK friends send or bring me care packages because they were so hard to find here. And when you could find them they sold out quickly.

I never really got into the hot chocolate product, as I was allergic to dairy for a long time, but recently I read an article about recipes for Green & Black’s hot chocolate with the addition of grated chocolate from the bars. The idea of Maya Gold hot chocolate made my toes curl in glee, and when I mentioned my interest over on TasteTO, Green & Black’s PR company sent me a big box of goodies to try.

The hot chocolate mix is really interesting, as it’s not that typical gritty powder you see so often. Rather, it’s tiny little beads of chocolate that melt on contact with hot liquid. I could easily sit and eat this out of the jar with a spoon, letting the little beads of dark chocolate melt on my tongue. Husband Greg managed to wrench the stuff away from me, though, and we made two versions of the drink, one with regular milk for him and one with vanilla soy milk for me. I added the orange spice Maya Gold bar to my cup, while Greg, who is all about the mint, added a couple of squares of mint chocolate to his. Then we sat around making delighted Homer Simpson noises as we drained our mugs. This is way better than that gritty powdered stuff, hands down.

Going through the press information that accompanied the package, I found some hot chocolate recipes that put our pedestrian efforts to shame. I can’t wait to try these again with the added spices.

Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate and Ginger Hot Chocolate

1 cup (250ml) milk
1 tbsp (15ml) Green & Black’s Hot Chocolate
20g (6 pieces) Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate and Ginger, grated with a fine grater (e.g. a Microplane grater), plus extra for garnish
Pinch ground ginger
Pinch ground cinnamon
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Put all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat gently, whisking to blend the ingredients. Be careful when adding the spices. It’s best to start with a tiny amount and adjust to taste. There should be approximately equal amounts of ginger and cinnamon and just a few gratings of nutmeg. Remove from the heat just before it comes to the boil. Taste and adjust the spices, if necessary. Pour into your favourite mug; grate some Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate and Ginger on top to garnish. Serves 1

Green & Black’s Milk Hot Chocolate

1 cup (250ml) milk
1 tsp (15ml) Green & Black’s Hot Chocolate
20g (6 squares) Green & Black’s Milk chocolate, broken into small pieces
1/2 tsp black treacle
1 tbsp (15ml) dark rum
Small piece orange rind without pith (optional)(Approx 2 inch)

Place the milk, Green & Black’s Hot Chocolate, Green & Black’s Milk Chocolate pieces and black treacle in a small saucepan and heat gently, whisking to blend the ingredients. Remove from the heat just before it comes to a boil and add the rum. Pour into your favourite mug and top with a piece of orange rind. Serves 1

Green & Black’s Maya Gold Hot Chocolate

1 cup (250ml) milk
1 tbsp (15 ml) Green & Black’s Hot Chocolate
20g (6 pieces) Green & Black’s Maya Gold chocolate
Small piece of orange rind without pith (Approx 2 inch)
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped of the seeds
Small stick cinnamon (Approx 2 inch)
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Put all ingredients (don’t forget the vanilla pod and the seeds), except for the nutmeg, in a small saucepan and heat gently, whisking to blend the ingredients and allowing the cinnamon, vanilla pod and orange to infuse. Remove from the heat just before it comes to the boil. Remove the stick, pod and peel if you fancy and pour into your favourite mug, grating some nutmeg on top to garnish. Serves 1

Recipes and photo courtesy of Green & Black’s