Chocolates Cusco

Location: Calle Choquechaka
Price: s/. 5.00
Prepared: Sweetened, milk
Atmosphere: Tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe, easy to miss.

Creamy, sweet, chocolatey goodness. Assertive & robust cocoa presence with delicate notes of cinnamon and nuttiness that don't compete with the cocoa flavor at all, but rather flawlessly compliment it. The sweetness is velvety and superbly balanced, the creaminess dreamy. Aftertaste a lingering chocolate sweetness. I don't know how long it took to perfect this recipe, but perfection it is.

This is it. This is the best chocolate I've ever had in my life. I could literally write an epic poem on how good this drink is, and frankly, I have to resist the temptation to. Simply put (almost to the point of understatement) this is bar-none the best chocolate in Cusco. The cafe also offers coffee, mocha and homemade chocolates, but DON'T YOU DARE set foot in this comically tiny shop without trying this hot chocolate. At many of the other places that I've had hot chocolates more than once, I've received different-tasting drinks. Probably the greatest thing about Chocolates Cusco is its consistency. I've drank the hot cocoa here countless times, and each drink, despite being made from scratch every time, tastes every bit as great as the last. Do not underestimate this cocoa. This is the Pandora's Box of chocolate. Once you taste it, no other chocolate--not Godiva, not Lindt, nothing--will ever quite stack up the same way again.

There is an etiquette to drinking this cocoa if (or WHEN) you try it:
1. You must drink it in-house, DO NOT get it to-go.
2. Sip it slowly from the spoon ONLY. Under all circumstances, resist the temptation to drink it from the cup.
3. Do NOT place or dunk the cookie-biscuits that come with the cup into the cocoa. Ladle a spoonfull of cocoa and put the cookie in the spoon.
4. When you take a sip of the cocoa from the spoon, purse your lips and take a sharp, quick breath through your mouth, getting some of the chocolate vapors into where your nasal passage meets the roof of your mouth. Swallow the liquid in your mouth while exhaling through your nose.
5. It should take you AT LEAST 15 minutes to finish the cup. If you don't have the time to savor it properly, wait another day to do so.

If savored properly, this chocolate will give you a buzz. It will change your mood, it will change your day. You will leave the cafe with the feeling that all is right with your life.