“Like Water for Chocolate” and “Chocolat” are two of my favorite movies. There’s just something sexy when chocolate is in a title. Women are naturally drawn to it. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe because it’s orgasmic just thinking about biting into a luscious piece. Eating chocolate can often be better than, well . . . you know. Or anything made from the magical cacao bean, including Cacao tea that I first tried on the island of Grenada when I was on a sailing trip in the Grenadines.
Find a local guide in Grenada, here.
The Grenadines are in the Caribbean’s West Indies and are islands between St. Vincent and Grenada. Grenada is known as “The Isle of Spice.”
Enjoy this recipe!
Grenada Cacao Tea
Ingredients
- 3 cocoa balls
- 5-6 cups of water
- splash vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 1 bay leaf
- sugar to taste
- 1 cup of of milk or plant-based milk
Instructions
- Put 3 organic cocoa balls into a pot
- Pour 5-6 cups of hot water over them and boil
- Add 1 large bay leaf
- Add 2 sticks cinnamon
- Stir for about 4 minutes
- Add the milk and simmer for about 2 minutes to allow the spices and sugars to blend.
- Strain into mugs.
Notes
There’s no reason to feel guilty about drinking Cocao Tea, especially if it’s pure and straight from the rainforest.
To learn more about the making of chocolate on the island of Grenada, you may want to attend the annual Grenada Chocolate Festival. @GrenadaChocolateFest
Our sailboat trip in the Grenadines
We spent 3 weeks in The Grenadines in the southern Caribbean on a 50-foot sailboat. We sailed from the island of St. Vincent to Grenada. If you remember, that was the island the US invaded in 1983.
It’s hard to believe all that tragedy took place on an island that is now so calm and scenic.
Learning about cacao and how chocolate is made
While we were in Grenada, we spent part of the day at the Belmont Estates, which is a 300-year-old chocolate plantation.
Our tour guide explained how chocolate is made from raw cacao beans. In the photo below we are crushing the beans with our bare feet.
Afterward, sampled their “to-die-for” Grenada Cacao Tea made with shaved cacao, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Make the tea with organic cocoa balls
Organic cocoa balls that are grown in the rainforest and harvested on the island make the tea even more special. You can order them online and use them for all sorts of recipes.
Click here to purchase Caribbean cocoa balls.
But here’s the healthy part . . .
Chocolate is made using the fruit pods of the cacao tree. Cacao is the Aztec word for chocolate. (also called cocoa) Cacao is believed to have come from the Andes, in the Amazon of South America. The Spanish started shipping it to Europe from Mexico in the late 1500s. The joy of eating chocolate began to spread throughout Europe. The Spanish also introduced it to the Philippines, the West Indies, and North America.
The minerals contained in chocolate (cacao) include:
- magnesium
- calcium
- iron
- zinc
- copper
- potassium
- manganese
- as well as vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, E, and pantothenic acid.
Cacao has more phenolic phytochemicals and antioxidants than any other food. It’s loaded with flavonoids. You receive the most benefit from eating dark chocolate that’s 70% or higher in cacao.
The Aztecs used cacao to relieve stomach and intestinal problems. Cocoa butter is excellent for reducing the appearance of stretch marks. Drinking a cocoa drink that’s high in flavonols helps to improve your skin’s texture by making it less rough and more hydrated.
Other health benefits from eating chocolate include:
- Heart health – Dark chocolate improves endothelial function and reduces bad cholesterol.
- Diabetes – The flavonols in dark chocolate improve insulin sensitivity and lowers blood pressure.
- The antioxidants in cacao help suppress colon cancer, improve brain function, and relieve diarrhea.
Purchase some of this heart-healthy and to-die-for chocolate from the Grenada Chocolate Company.
Sailing the Grenadines
What I loved about our sailboat trip in the Grenadines is that we were able to experience the island in a way most people on cruise ships never do. We landed on tiny islands where we saw plenty of goats, sheep, and Rastafarians. We ate and talked with locals, other sailors, artists, and vendors who came up to our boat selling everything from bread to tee shirts. It was an amazing experience. After flying into Barbados, our Windward island-hopping included Saint Vincent, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, Tobago Cays, Union Island, Carriacou, and Grenada.
If you want an easy way to make tea from cacao, try Art of Tea’s Matcha Cocoa blend tea here.
What’s your favorite way to eat chocolate and what is your favorite brand? Please leave a comment below.
Wonderful Post !
Thanks so much Darrion.
Excited to find your blog. We were at the same plantation, brought home the same chocolate balls but lost the directions. Enjoyed reliving The Grenadines.
Thanks Rebecca
Pat
I’m so glad you were able to go to Grenada too, Pat. Wasn’t it beautiful? Love those chocolate balls and their delicious tea!
My name is Patrick Lewis and live in West Roxbury. And originally from Grenada. I go to my home land every year for at least a month stay from Jan to the end of feb. I usually bring back lots of cinnamon and cocoa balls to make cocoa tea. So if you want to import the product we can talk. My number is 617-947-3987. Thanks.
Went 2 years ago and absolutely loved everything about the island especially their chocolate! We also tried the cocoa tea at Belmont Estate! You can order the cocoa balls her as well as some of their chocolate…
So glad you were able to experience Grenada as well, Kip and thanks for the link. It’s always good to know where to find authentic Grenada Cacao balls.
I have tried your recipe and it’s divine. I have to use ground cocoa nibs as I can’t find the cocoa balls anywhere on the web. Even Amazon doesn’t have them. Could you possibly tell me where to find them? It would be most appreciated.
Regards,
Jan
Hi Janis, So glad you enjoyed the tea. I have a link in this post for Cacao Balls on Amazon but you may have missed it. It’s right under the photo of my walking on the cacao and above the Amazon products display. If you go directly to Amazon put this in the search bar to find it. B07G1H4BJN. Cacao nibs work well too. And probably less work because you don’t have to grate them.
It’s wonderful to read all these comments about the cocoa ball, from Grenada, I was born in Grenada, but living in the Boston area and we just got back from Grenada, I always bring back my fresh cocoa balls also spices from back home nothings is better that making your own chocolate tea,and it’s fresh and natural .
It’s fantastic, when you make it the proper way, the Grenadian way just as when we was going up. Buying cocoa ball from on line site is not as good because it looses it values, but when you go there and bringing back some it’s the best. And it will keep
for month just store in a glass bottle etc.
I agree Marilyn that purchasing cocoa balls fresh is the best. I miss Grenada and would love to go back there some day. It’s paradise. And good to know about storing them in a glass jar. Thanks!
Definitely going to try this! We loved the Grenadines as well! Our sailboat was a bit larger, but not much!
Great pictures. Another place to add to my bucket list.