I don’t know why I’ve been avoiding this review. I love chocolate. Well, tonight was the perfect night to dip in. I just seemed to want chocolate and there was some right before my eyes. I had heard a lot about The Chocolate Cartel from others after the Fiery Foods Show so I was looking forward to it.

INGREDIENTS: Cocoa Powder, Cacao Liquor, Ground Chocolate, Sugar, Honey, Almond, Red Chile, Spices, Vanilla, & Soy Lecithin

When reading the instructions I really thought they were kidding about the 4 -5 teaspoons per 1/3 cup. I was beginning with a cup of milk (my preferred base for cocoas) so that meant at least 12 teaspoons. Wow! It sounds like a lot, right? Well, if I did their packaging, considering no one I know drinks just a third cup of cocoa, I would re-label it with instructions for tablespoons. I had started out with 8 teaspoons just to see if that would do, and it didn’t. So I added 4 more teaspoons, which made 12 teaspoons per cup, which was perfect. Here’s how you change the math. There are 3 teaspoons to a tablespoon. So, for every cup of milk, add 4 tablespoons of mix. Now doesn’t that sound better? I think so. Plus, it takes a lot of little measurements out of it. It’s quite annoying to dip into the bag 12 times when I can do it in 4.

Moving on…

This hot chocolate takes a while to mix properly, so be prepared to keep stirring for a while. It also becomes very obvious that this is no ordinary cocoa by its texture. I liken this more toward sipping chocolate that hot chocolate. If you’ve had sipping chocolate, you know what I mean. It’s definitely more popular in Europe than here in the United States. In short, you should know that this drink has a thicker, creamier texture than your average hot chocolate. There is, however, one thing I don’t like about the texture. The mix has almonds in it and you don’t understand until you drink this that they mean finely ground almonds. While I believe it may add to the taste, it’s a little weird to have tiny pieces of almonds in hot chocolate.

Getting down to the flavor…good chocolate depth (more toward the dark chocolate end of the spectrum) and the texture, as I mentioned above, is a cut above most other hot chocolates you’ll find in the states. Yes, there is chile, but it’s not overpowering. Then again, hot chocolate is not exactly the beverage you want to blow you away with heat. It’s in there, it’s noticeable, it adds a nice flavor complexity and that’s about all it needs to do.

Overall, I’d have to say that I really like this hot chocolate with the caveats mentioned above. I drank the whole thing and would have it again for sure. It’s definitely a hot chocolate to have when you want to treat yourself or if you have guests over. I can see this being served during winter holiday parties, or New Years Eve. A touch of Creme de Cacao in it would work very, very well in this.

Other uses: I was hoping that this may be a good product to drink on ice or mixed as a mocha, but I think the almond pieces prevent that a bit, unless you like that kind of thing. What I think it would be ideal in is a shake or mocha frappe. I also think that if you keep the same amount of mix and cut the milk to a half cup, this would be a very nice ice cream topper. While that may appear limited, it’s really not. I wouldn’t put Swiss Miss in a shake or mocha and I certainly wouldn’t bother adding Creme de Cacao. No, you need this special kind of hot chocolate to do that and this product delivers.