Recipe: Jacinta’s Jamaican ITAL Chocolate Tea
A delicious, calming tea to clear your mind & soothe your soul.
Written by: Jacinta Gordon
For this recipe, I wanted to return to my roots: it's a Rastafarian drink called chocolate tea. It’s simple, sweet, and let me tell you — unreal.
Rastafarian food is called ITAL food, which comes from the word vital. The "v" is removed and the "I" becomes the first syllable of the word, as "I" in the Rastafarian vocabulary signifies the speaker's unity with nature. Fun fact: I-TAL food is completely plant-based, and in Rastafarian communities, home grown.
Chocolate tea is packed with healing properties and health benefits. Cocoa, particularly in its raw and organic form, is known for having high levels of antioxidants with anti-aging and cancer-fighting properties. The bio-minerals that are found in cocoa, such as potassium and copper, help prevent heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. Further, cocoa is a known aphrodisiac (and who doesn’t love some love?).
This recipe makes me miss Jamaica. Shoutout to my Dad for sending me a video last week about life in Rasta communities that inspired me to create this recipe.
Ready in: 10 minutes. Serves: 4.
Ingredients
6-8 Tbsp of cocoa powder (I recommend a raw organic powder if you can source it)
1 can of coconut milk
1 cup of boiled water
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
1 bay leaf
2-3 tbsp of honey or agave to sweeten (optional)
Preparation
Add cocoa powder and a small amount of boiled water in a pot; keep on low-medium heat until a syrup has formed.
Add honey and some more boiling water until fully dissolved.
Add cinnamon, nutmeg and your bay leaf, let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Add coconut milk, mix and let simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
Tips
Listen to Bob Marley throughout this entire process.
Don’t concern yourself too much with measurements — if you want it sweet, add more sweetener to taste.
Enjoy this guilt free. It’s got tons of healing properties. Gotta love Ital food!
