Spicy Mexican Coffee or Mexican Hot Chocolate

This wonderful combination of chocolate, coffee, cinnamon, vanilla and chile spice is known as a Mocha Chile Coffee (aka Spicy Mexican Coffee). Best known as a warming drink in Winter, often with a shot of brandy, this combination of Mexican ingredients can also be turned into a hot chocolate drink if you don’t want the caffeine or the alcohol.

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RECIPE
Mexican Coffee
Mexican Hot Chocolate
Which Chile Peppers to Use?
Low Carb Substitutions

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How Spicy is Mexican Coffee or Mexican Hot Chocolate

When I first heard that Starbucks was offering a Chile Mocha Coffee, I rushed down to try one out, only to be sorely disappointed.  No heat!  

I was anticipating a spicy, cinnamon, chocolaty rich coffee topped with a fluffy whipped cream with soft peaks .  I asked the barista why I couldn’t taste any spice in my coffee and they said really there was just a little spice on the top, but mostly it was a coffee mocha.  Harrumph!

To the drawing board I went to try and meet my flavor expectations. After a lot of trial and error I came up with the recipe below for a blend that works with coffee or as a Mexican hot chocolate drink and I’m quite pleased with it.

It’s easy to customize to your own preference of heat and sweetness, and it is infinitely better than what you can buy pre-made.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Oaxacan Coffee/Mexican Coffee

The ratios are up to you and your preferences. I like a pretty spicy pepper and enough orange zest that the flavor comes through the more robust chocolate.

You can start with my recipe below and then customize.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

An “authentic” Mexican hot chocolate would involve heating milk and Mexican chocolate in a pot and vigorously beating the chocolate with a wooden molinillo until the chocolate was fully dissolved.

The recipe below uses powdered ingredients for a mocha-chile blend that you can keep in your pantry and use when you want a spicy, rich, complex mocha coffee or hot chocolate.

I have added it to just plain hot water and also to steamed milk (coconut or almond milk works well also). Whipped cream on top is always a nice option, especially for celebrations.

For an everyday drink to take the chill off, I add 2 teaspoons of the mocha-chile powder blend, a little more sugar and about 6 ounces of steaming hot water and then top it off with a little heavy cream.

In fact I’m having one right now as we speak as I just came in from Spring gardening.

Best Chile Peppers to Use

The powdered chile pepper is the most important variable to get right. It needs to be spicy enough to compete with the rich flavor of cocoa, yet not be overpowering.

If you are a true chile-head you’ll want to add the hotter chile powders like serrano or habanero.

If you want more complexity with a smoky chile powder, go for a chipotle powder or an Ancho powder.

You’ll need to be careful using a smoked chile powder. Smoked peppers don’t work with everything.

For example smoked peppers were great in Mexican moles and in a drink syrup for Old Fashions, but they did not work well at all in a Mexican ceviche. That required the brighter spice of chile peppers that were not smoked ( i.e., aji, habanero, serranos).

I tried smoked and unsmoked peppers in the Mexican coffee. In the end I preferred a combination of both. You can modify the homemade spice blend recipe below to your own tastes.

Can this Drink be Low Carb?

Cocoa and chile spice are both low carb ingredients, but the sugar will have to be a sugar substitute if you want to make it a low carb beverage. Either way, the chile spice and rich cocoa powder should shine through as the star ingredients.

Many (most) recipes can be modified to be low sugar if you are amenable to sugar substitutes. Lowering the sugar content of recipes is the most effective way to reach a low carb lifestyle in my experience.

Truvia is my choice of a sugar substitute, but there are alternatives. Check out this detailed post on sugar alternatives for a deeper dive into the pros and cons.

The 100% cocoa powder, the chile spice, the cinnamon, the vanilla, the coffee or almond milk and the whipped cream are all low carb ingredients.

Just know that low carb does not necessarily equal low calorie. The whipped cream may take you over your calorie goals if you have too many of this wonderful concoction.

**Tip: a shot of brandy added to the Mocha Hot Chocolate takes the chill off of cold Winter nights!

If you enjoy all types of Mexican food, check out this category of ALL Mexican recipes, where you will find over 40 Mexican recipes, from casual, to low carb, to fancy.

See this post to learn more about the similarities and differences between Low Carb, Slow Carb and Keto diets.

If you make and love this recipe, please leave a ★★★★★ review below and any comments others might find helpful. It means a lot to me when you try my recipes, and I’d love to know how it goes.