One thing about me, I’m gonna make me somme coffee. It my most precious morning ritual and only Ramadan, (the month of Fasting) takes it away for me, until we reunite with love.
Coffee is a big part of my life. In a way, it is nostalgic. My mother loved coffee and she used to take me with her to the coffee shop where she will purchase her freshly roasted and grounded coffee in downtown Tunis when I was a little girl.
I grew with that smell every morning in my house. My aunt will also serve Turkish coffee when we visited and it was the best (strong) treat.
I can drink coffee in many ways. I consider myself to be a pretty open-minded coffee connoisseur. I will drink it iced, shaken, hot, black, with cream… I will even have it with powdered creamer.
Lately, I have been enjoying drinking my coffee with chocolate.
What is a Mocha?
Mocha referred to a drink made of Espresso coffee, chocolate syrup and milk. It is absolutely delicious as the coffee and chocolate complement each other in ways unknown to man’s knowledge. Chocolate and coffee are soul mates that have the power to cure any pain of the heart or the mind.
Mocha is a delicacy. If you go to Starbucks for your usual coffee treat, then you aware that the average price for a tall Mocha is $5.25 and up! Yikes… Tall being the smaller size available.
Mocha is also served with whipped cream, topped with syrup and can be combined with other syrups available according to the season such as Pumpkin or Apple syrup.
In France, Mocha is referred as Café Viennois which was seen more like a dessert as it was served in a ice cream cup with whipped cream and cookies.
The Truth about Mocha
Originally, the Mocha will start with an espresso base, followed with hot frothed milk and chocolate syrup added do the drink. Mocha could also be topped with whipped cream and chocolate syrup.
It is delicious, sweet and addictive and you want to drink it, but you don’t want to give all your money to Starbucks.
Worry no more friend as I’m here to bring you the news: you don’t need a machine to make this deliciousness at home.
You don’t say! Oh yeah, I say… twice if I have to. You don’t need a machine to make it because quite frankly, unless you are a coffee prude, chocolate usually covers and hides coffee flaws wherever they are.
You see, coffee is looses has already lost its flavor significantly the moment those packs hit the grocery store shelf. The rumor has it that most of those coffees in the grocery store contain molded beans (but you didn’t hear that for me). So if you are like me, and you buy your coffee from the grocery store, then “taste” in the sense of purity of coffee, isn’t really a problem.
All this to say, for this recipe I used grounded coffee and I am not ashamed of it.
Ground Coffee Works Perfectly for Mocha
Ground Coffee used to be seeing as an after-thought. Or at least by me. I’ve always used drip coffee or Mocha when I needed that espresso flavor for coffee speciialties. However, “necessity is the mother of all inventions” and finding myself short on cash once, I couldn’t splurge in my usual $15 coffee bag from my local coffee shop. Therefore I grabbed these Maxwell House packets to hold me for a couple of days.
Maxwell House Coffee is your average type of cup of Joe. Not too light, not too strong, just right. One packet will give you a solid cup of coffee where you’re not too overwhelmed by the coffee flavor. I have tried many different types of Coffee grounds and I drink Decaf Coffee Grounds when I am pregnant because for some reason, I can tolerate the smell more than regular coffee.
I have tried this recipe with my favorite Ground Coffee here in the U.S which is the Walmart Brand Colombian Decaf. Listen I don’t know what’s Walmart Up to… but they did that! Like this coffee is really good.
Now when it comes to this Mocha, use what you usually use, Cafe Bustelo, Maxwell House, Nescafé, listen, the world is yours, do you!
if you use the individual packets, then one is more than enough. It is the perfect amount of coffee for one cup of Mocha. If you use the jar, I would 1 to 2 tbsp is enough depending on how strong you like your coffee.
Just the Good Old Swiss Miss
There’s been many times that I’ve ran to my local grocery stores ahead of a snow storm or heavy rain only to find the Swiss Miss aisle completely wiped. I mean, they raided the whole thing. At that point, I was already considering cutting out my consumption of Swiss Milk because of cost…right then, it was not in my mind. Neither is it now. Yet.
Sure I don’t want to depend on those little packets. I mean there’s 10 in the boxes and 6 of us (although little baby doesn’t drink hot Cocoa yet), so we run out of it quickly. But there’s something about the Rich Chocolate Swiss Miss. It is so rich and delicious for a little packet can be just mixed with water!
I absolutely adore those Rich Chocolate Swiss Miss and I always try to have a box at home. Howevr, whenever I make hot cocoa I like mine with full fat milk.
Dark Chocolate Swiss Miss is the perfect hot cocoa mix for Mocha because it compliments the ground coffee very well.
A simple Recipe you cannot miss
I have a confession to make, this drink was not my idea. It was my husband’s. One day, he asked me to make him coffee but to also add a pack of hot cocoa. I warmed the milk on the stove, mixed the packs of Maxwell House Instant Coffee and Dark Chocolate Swiss Miss in the mug, poured the milk and the smell came out so warm, so sweet and comforting.
It was delicious.
Mocha is my husband go-to order at the coffee shop whereas mine is double decaf espresso on ice with a splash of half-and-half. However, when I took a sip, you know, to make sure it wad right for him, not too hot , not too cold (wink, wink) I was pleaseantly surpised. It was better than Starbucks’s and almost as good as our local coffee shop (Phoenix Coffee in Cleveland cannot be dethroned).
Yeah that’s pretty much the recipe: a packet of instant coffee, a packet of Swiss Miss, Milk (you can also use water or any type of milk) and there, you have made a delicious cup of Mocha.
Adds-on to elevate your Homemade Mocha
The drink is perfect the way it is, but it has so much more room for upgrades. Check out these ideas:
- Chocolate Chips to make it extra chocolatey
- 1 tsp of Pumpkin Spice to give it that special Autumn Flair
- Whipped Cream on top of course
- Marshmallow
- Flavored Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 pack Maxwell House Instant Coffee, Decaf or Regular
- 1 Pack Swiss Miss Rich Chocolate (is in my opinion the best)
- 1 Cup of Milk to richer, creamier Mocha, but you could use water, almond milk or fat free milk.
Easy Homemade Hot Mocha
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Whole Milk or milk of your choice, or even water
- 1 Packet Swiss Miss Rich Chocolate Mix or 3 tbsp of your favorite hot cocoa mi
- 1 Packet Nescafé Taster's Choice Instant Coffee Decaf or Regular or 1 to 2 tsp of your favorite Instant Coffee
Instructions
- Warm up your cup of milk or water on the stove until it starts to boil.
- In a heatproof mug, add your cocoa mix and instant coffee.
- Pour warm milk or water. Mix.
- Enjoy just like that, or elevate your mocha with your favorite toppings.