COURTESYOFMASTBROTHERS
TASTEMAKERS
FOOD AND DRINK TRENDS FROM AROUND THEWORLD
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
MARCH2015
37
C
reamy, rich, and sweet. That’s
howmost of us expect our hot
chocolate to taste.But the new
MastBrothers’BrewBar inBrooklyn’s
trendyWilliamsburg neighborhood
aims to change all that.The popular
craftchocolatemakersrecentlyopened
a minimalist café a few doors down
from their factory, but they don’t sell
coffee or even traditional hot choco-
late there.What they’re making is
a different kind of chocolate drink
entirely,astripped-downbrew inspired
by ancient Aztecs andMayans—one
that’s been lost for centuries.
The practice, as explained to
Hemispheres
byClayGordon(authorof
DiscoverChocolate
and founder of the
website
The Chocolate Life
), involved
Aztecs andMayans fermenting, dry-
ing, roastingandgrindingcocoabeans
before combining them with water,
flavorings (such as chili peppers or
vanilla) and foaming agents (such as
tree sap).The resulting drink would
havebeenquitebitter.
“It’s not actually until the beans
find theirwayback toEurope [around
1530]thatthe ideaofserving ithotand
adding sugar to it tomake it palatable
becomes common,”saysGordon,who
adds that, in the United States, hot
chocolatedrinksbecamepopularduring
SteepDarkChocolate
Takinghot cocoaback to its ancient basics
BYDEVORAHLEV-TOV
brooklyn
OLDMEETSBREW
Anantiquebrewedcocoadrinkat
theMastBrothers’ newBrooklynbar
