ALPINE HOT CHOCOLATE

YOU WILL NEED (per serving)

• 3/4 cup water

• 1 bag of Throat Coat or Throat Comfort tea or a similar herbal blend with licorice and mint

• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

• about 1 ounce or 30 grams of semisweet chocolate (around 55-60% cacao)

• 1 teaspoon cacao powder, sifted

• pinch of salt

• cocktail bitters to taste

WHAT TO DO

In a small saucepan, bring the water and the tea bag to a bare simmer for 5 minutes. Discard the tea bag and add the heavy cream, chocolate, cacao powder and salt and whisk until smooth. Add a few dashes of bitters for mystery.

Alternate approach: Heat 3/4 cup of milk in a saucepan with 1 Ricola Original Herb cough drop and simmer, whisking, until melted. Add the chocolate, cacao powder and salt and whisk until smooth. Ricola cough drops are essentially Alpine candy, so this will be sweeter than the version made with herbal tea. A darker chocolate will balance out the sweetness; so would a few dashes of bitters.