Melnq8

I seem to remember reading a thread about the wonderful chocolate in Santa Fe, but of course I can't find it.

I'd very much appreciate any suggestions for good chocolate shops and where I might find an excellent mug of hot chocolate.

Nelson

We've been to these two:

https://kakawachocolates.com/
https://www.cacaosantafe.com/

Both are fantastic. We started ordering Kakawa's drinking elixirs online after having it in Santa Fe.
https://kakawachocolates.com/collect...colate-elixirs

I'm not a gamblin' man, but I'll gamble that you'll be pleased.

Melnq8

Fantastic, thank you Nelson.

Chocolate drinking elixirs...right up my alley.

sf7307

I'm intrigued - I'd like to order some of those as Christmas presents. Are they all good, or can you recommend a specific one?

Nelson

Highly subjective of course but as a gauge of our tastes we don't like chocolate that is too sweet (less than 70-75% cocoa), has salt or chili. Or bacon, hah!

Given that, the two Kakawas we have in our pantry right now are the "Zapoteca" and the "1790 Jeffersonian". My wife brews it, mixing them 50/50 to get the sweetness at the perfect spot for us. She melts the chocolate in milk then we use a Nespresso frother to whip up more milk to scoop on top of the cup. Yum!

sf7307

Sounds great - so you buy it "in advance"? How long does it last?

Nelson

I know we have had bags on our shelves in a cool dark place for over a year, which is possibly too long, but it still tastes great. The two times time we visited we brought some bags home with us in the car. But we have also just ordered from Kakawa's website a couple of times.

You could probably give them a call and see what they recommend for storage. Interesting, looks like they are opening a branch in Salem, Massachusetts next month.
https://kakawachocolates.com/pages/c...hocolate-house

obxgirl

Some mention of chocolate in both of TDudette's threads on Santa Fe.

https://www.fodors.com/community/uni...spring-1646578
Santa Fe Getaway 2018

My suggestion was Todos Santos Chocolates (in one of the courtyards off of E. Palace Ave - same vicinity as The Shed). Worth a trip there just to see the shop.

TODOS SANTOS CHOCOLATES Santa Fe, New Mexico Southwest Discovered

The hot chocolate sounds lovely. I do like mine with chili.

sf7307

I do too, which is why I like this one from Jacques Torres. https://mrchocolate.com/collections/...ocolate-wicked

Melnq8

We ended up going to Kakawa on a cold, rainy Santa Fe afternoon - we'd taken a walking tour that morning and were soaked by the time we found the shop (on foot), but we both thoroughly enjoyed a mug of their chili elixir (and a complimentary brownie as an apology for forgetting to bring out our order).

volcanogirl

Friends of ours that live in Santa Fe love the Chocolatesmith so we went there on our last trip. The Don Juan pecan bars are very good, also homemade caramels covered with pine nuts. Good chocolate covered peanut butter bars too.

volcanogirl

M, that's an apology I'd happily accept! Sounds like a nice day despite the rain.