Traditional Jamaican cocoa tea is often had for breakfast in some households, but it particularly becomes popular during the Christmas season, as we seek to make ourselves warm and cozy when the Christmas breeze rolls in.

Today citizens in the United States will be observing National Cocoa Day, which means we have to highlight the rich Jamaican cocoa tea that we all know and love.

Often associated with the Christmas season is some warm chocolate tea topped with marshmallows, but there is nothing better than the Jamaican cocoa tea.

Cocoa tea is often referred to as hot chocolate, but the two are slightly different.

Jamaican cocoa comes from the cocoa tree. The plant produces seeds in cocoa pods that are dried in the sun for days, weeks or even months. The process can take a long time but it results in pure cocoa. Hot chocolate, on the other hand, contains preservatives in the powdered mixture.

Growing up, many of us can remember waking up to our grandmother or mother making some hot cocoa tea to have with breakfast. Walking into the kitchen, the smell of nutmeg is often intoxicating, exciting the tastebuds as they anticipate the rich chocolate flavour.

Whether it was served with egg and bread, or callaloo and fried dumplings, there was no Jamaican breakfast complete without this tea.

Made by grating cocoa balls into a mixture of milk and water, then boiling, chocolate tea is packed with spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and even bay leaf before being sweetened with condensed milk. 

The trademark of high quality cocoa tea is often the oil that forms on top of the mixture while it is being boiled. If you don’t see the oil forming, chances are you are not drinking the authentic cocoa tea.

With the temperatures getting a bit cooler in the night, treat yourself to some raw cocoa tea.