Beverages

Make sure you don’t skip the last part of this classic—the wonderful frothiness is one of the two things that make Mexican hot chocolate special (the cinnamon is the other). For a great dessert, serve this with Churros (page 655). The chocolate sold in Mexican stores for hot chocolate already contains cinnamon and sugar, so you can just melt it with some milk and beat until frothy. You can actually make it with water if you like, and it isn’t half bad.

Limeade is popular throughout Asia and often served salty. It will take some experimentation on your part to determine whether you like it really salty—in which case you should reduce the sugar substantially—or sweet, like lemonade. You might be surprised; salty limeade is usually considered more refreshing (and makes a good substitute for sports drinks). You can omit the salt entirely to make standard limeade.

Montezuma introduced Cortés to chocolate in the sixteenth century, and the Spaniards immediately began messing around with it. The original Mexican beverage (preceding recipe) was tweaked to suit the tastes of the Spaniards, and their associated versions of hot chocolate remain different to this day. Spanish hot chocolate is incredibly rich and thick—almost like loose pudding—and perfect for dunking Churros (page 655). Some people use cornstarch (or eggs) to thicken their chocolate, but I prefer the natural thickness that comes from melting chocolate into milk.

Make this mysterious and delicious herbal iced tea in advance, because it’s best cold. You can buy dried hibiscus (known as jamaica) flowers at almost any Mexican market.

It’s long been believed that ginger is a digestive aid, but this drink would be popular in any case. If you like ginger ale or candied ginger, you owe it to yourself to try this.

Health claims aside, this is delicious, hot or iced, sweetened or not. You can make another interesting tea by omitting the lemongrass and serving the brew with milk instead of lime juice.

Like most iced teas from Asia, this has no caffeine and is not a true tea—more an herbal infusion. Because of the natural sweetness of lemongrass, it needs less sugar than most other iced beverages.

You must use strong coffee for this, and it must be finely ground; the drip should be agonizingly slow. This can be served hot, too, of course, and it’s good. But to me it’s the best iced coffee in the world.

In Thailand, this refreshing drink is served at many stands in little plastic bags with straws so you can drink it on the go, but Thai iced tea has soared in popularity at Thai restaurants across America—and for good reason. Thai tea leaves, which can be found at most Asian groceries, combine black tea leaves, star anise, orange flowers, vanilla, cloves, and cinnamon. This blend gives the tea its distinctive taste and orange color, but the technique and style of the drink will work with any good black tea, or you can use black tea with added herbs, in the style of chai (page 668).

Though this is traditionally and usually made with persimmon, I find the flavor of cinnamon so overwhelming (and the availability of persimmon so limited) that I do away with it. An unusual but super meal ender, always served ice cold.

Most people find the distinctive flavor of this tea, which is served hot or cold, instantly appealing. Theoretically, it is a digestive aid, but in any case it’s a great alternative to soft drinks or sweet tea.

One of the national beverages of India, chai—often called masala chai—is simply sweetened tea with milk and spices. Which spices? Ah, there’s the question. I like a simple, minimal mix; other people use complicated spice mixtures; many would eliminate the fennel and use a mixture of cloves, cinnamon, and ginger.

This is a gentler version of the preceding Indian Masala Chai, perhaps better suited to the palates of Western Europe. Yet it remains exotic and delicious, as does cardamom-spiced coffee (still consumed in the Middle East). Wonderful iced.

This groglike drink has been popular in Russia for centuries. It’s usually prepared without alcohol, but it’s pretty good with it, too—just add 1/2 to 3/4 cup vodka or brandy during the last couple of minutes of simmering. It’s not often served cold in Russia, but I like it that way, as a kind of spicy, odd relation of Masala Chai (page 668).

Tea is usually served black in Russia, with preserves. You can add milk or cream if you like. Also completely optional, but not inappropriate, is a bit of vodka, brandy, or rum.

Traditionally served at Christmas parties in Sweden and elsewhere, this is powerful stuff, as you can see by its ingredients. Nevertheless, it goes down easily, so be careful. The wine and port should be decent but obviously need not be fantastic; most of their flavors will be overwhelmed.

You might call this pickled fruit, but more people will discard the fruit and drink the vodka than the other way around. You could, of course, eat the one and drink the other.

Contrary to what you might believe, Absolut and Stolichnaya did not invent flavored vodka; it’s been around forever, and you can make your own.

The real thing, not the frozen kind, an elegant and delicious drink, especially when made with good aged dark rum.

The classic rum drink of the fifties. To make a Dark and Stormy, use dark rum and ginger ale.