Friday, April 11, 2008

Our Ancestors Were Carazyyyy

Hit this link: Ancient Fermented Chocolate Drink.

So apparently some old timers (very old...) were making some fermented drink using the pulp from the root of the cacao plant quite some time ago. Ahead of the curve, huh?

So then with all the talk of brewing some spring ales, perhaps there is a way to create a full, rich, earthy (and i do stress the earthy) chocolate spring/summer brew? I'll do some research, but in memory of those pioneers before us, I'd like to go completely sans-hop and use some regional MesoAmerican plants/roots as bittering units. Could be interesting...

Also: What about the possibility of fermenting in a large pottery jar? Or, boiling broken pieces of an authentic clay pot and dropping them in the primary for that extra authentic hit of style... Juices flowing... ;)

Any thoughts?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are completely off your rocker with the pottery jar comment, but I don't think a "raw" chocolaty beverage like that would be half bad...I just did a bit of dicking around looking for suitable herbs and spices, and check out this link I found:
http://www.kakawachocolates.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_5
Maybe it might give you some ideas?

Anonymous said...

e.g.
"The Mesoamerican spice mecaxochitl, now called Acuyo, was highly prized as a flavoring for drinking chocolate and imparted an anise-like taste. Acuyo Chocolate Elixir is wonderfully aromatic and has a bittersweet flavor with a honey undertone. Unsweetened 99% Chocolate, New Mexican Raw Wildflower Honey*, Herbs*, Chilcostle Chili and Mexican Vanilla."

Dave v1.2 said...

wow - nice heads up there. sounds like this might turn out to be a damn decent brew with some of those spices... although i still may have to *consider* the pottery jar - maybe i'll get a growler size and try out fermenting a smaller batch...