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It's the irresistible aroma of chocolate and cinnamon that I first think of when I'm offered hot chocolate. Mexican hot chocolate is not your ordinary cacao powder and milk, oh no, and somebody needs to say this, but adding cinnamon to your hot chocolate does not make it Mexican. It is one of my culinary pet peeves. So what are the best vegan Mexican chocolate brands and what makes them so different?
Not only that it comes from Mexico, but the process used to make it is unique in itself. Mexican chocolate for beverages is sold in tablets not powder, it is made by toasting, and grinding cacao beans with sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. It is then packed into a mold and formed into a tablet. To make into a beverage simply dissolve a couple of pieces of the tablet in hot milk. If the chocolate is of high quality you can dissolve it in water, milk is not necessary. The video below, from Saveur.com shows you exactly how chocolate tablets are made in Mexico.
The Best Vegan Brand of Mexican Chocolate
There are four Mexican chocolate brands most commonly available in the US: Abuelita, Ibarra, Hernan, and Taza. We tested all four of them for you with Almond-coconut milk.
Best Overall:
Hernan Mexican hot chocolate is made with stone-ground ORGANIC cocoa beans from a bio-diversified plantation in Chiapas. It is made in Mexico and imported into the US. I found Hernán to have the most authentic flavor and quality. It has a strong chocolate flavor, but it is not overpowering. It is the tight amount of sweet, and the foam is thick and a bit airy. It contains only four ingredients: cacao beans, sugar, cinnamon, and soy lecithin. The downfall is that it is available mostly online and in select stores. The price is reasonable for the quality of the chocolate at $10 for a box of 6 tablillas (6 cups of hot chocolate).
Second Best: Taza Chocolate
Taza 
is produced here in the US using the same process described in the video above. It is intensely chocolaty, aromatic, not too sweet, but with a hint of bitterness. The foam is thick, not at all airy. It contains only three ingredients: cacao beans, sugar, and cinnamon. It is also certified USDA organic, non-GMO, certified gluten-free, and vegan. The only downside is the price, $5.oo. It really isn't too expensive, but one package will only make you two cups of hot chocolate.
Best Budget-Friendly Chocolate: Ibarra
Ibarra
is the one we buy more often, and it is a Mexican product. It has a medium chocolate flavor intensity and it is pretty sweet. There is no bitterness to it at all. The foam is airy and firm. It contains cocoa liquor, sugar, soy lecithin, and cinnamon flavoring. The price, $3.50, and it makes 24 cups of hot chocolate.
Last but Not Least: Abuelita
I contacted Nestle and they confirmed that it is NOT vegan.
NOTE: Even though Nestle has said that the product is not vegan certified, there are no animal products on the ingredient list. After further inquiry this is what Nestle responded: "The evaluation for vegan claims has not been performed on this item. We therefore would advise that the product is not suitable for vegans."
I leave it up to yo whether you want to try it or not. That being said, Abuelita 
has a special place in my heart, it evokes a lot memories for me and it is extremely popular in Mexico. It has a medium chocolate flavor, is very sweet, and has no bitterness. The cinnamon flavor is strong and fragrant. The foam is airy and very firm. The downside is that it contains additives like vegetable oils, artificial flavor, and PGPR. The price, $3.25, and it makes 24 cups of chocolate.
Regardless of which one you think is the best vegan brand of Mexican chocolate, I urge to give Mexican hot chocolate a try. You won't be disappointed. What is your favorite brand?
Abuelita is junk, according to their own website: https://www.chocolateabuelita.com/products/original-hot-chocolate-drink-tablets-24-tabs.html#:~:text=Ingredients%3A,EGG%2C%20MILK%2C%20AND%20WHEAT.
YES! to adding La Popular to the list since it's always had "real" ingredients and thus has never had the yucky after taste associated with the more commonly used regular Ibarra and Nestle's Abuelita. La Popular is available on Amazon these days. I've also found a new brand recently, Corona. It's made with "real" ingredients and, in a blind taste test with my mom and son, was found to be on par with La Popular. Please don't put the disgusting mess of artificial ingredients in Abuelita on the same list as these others. I would hate for people who are trying it for the first time to get a bad impression of Mexican hot chocolate.
Thank you so much for this! I'm going to look for the "Popular" brand mentioned in your comments section. We've been drinking Ibarra for a while and really like it, but it's great to try other flavors. In terms of the Nestlé chocolate, the company themselves, with their reputation for child labor, pollution and their record of mistreatment of local communities close to their water bottling plants who are sometimes cut off completely from the clean water, all of which Nestlé claims ownership of, are surely not a brand which vegan people would ascribe to?. They are lately trying to re-brand themselves with meat free meat products etc, but at this point if you really want to do something for the planet they should not be a choice on the "best of" list. Certainly not without a disclaimer.
Maybe they said its not certified vegan because the sugar in Abuelita is processed with bone char?
I think it probably has to do with the natural flavor
The Ibarra sugar is vegan? Have you been able to make contact with the company?
I did get in touch with the company and they verified there are no animal products in their chocolate
Are you sure the Abuelita TABLETS aren't vegan? The ingredients for the tablets don't list any dairy. The instant powder does indeed list dairy.
Yes I'm sure. I called nestle and they said it is not vegan. I didn't inquire further. Maybe it's something in the artificial flavor.
It could also be legal reasons because of the diclaimer about the fact that it's processed on equipment that processes dairy. They don't want to get sued.
I emailed Nestle and this was the response: "The evaluation for vegan claims has not been performed on this item. We therefore would advise the product is not suitable for vegans." Sounds like it just hasn't been certified as vegan. I'm going to go by the ingredients list though.
Thanks for being so thorough. I will be updating the post with nestle's response later this month.
Please add Popular to your list. Not super sugary and deep flavors of cinnamon. My personal favorite, can only find it in Texas or on-line here: https://www.melissaguerra.com/shop/la-popular-chocolate/. LA has more Mexican grocery stores so you may have better luck finding it there, too. The flavor of my childhood. It's my morning coffee with coconut almond milk because I can't do dairy:)
It's my favorite too! I didn't include it because I wasn't sure you could get it in the US. Thank you for letting me know.
Popular is my favorite, too! Darn.. now i want some.
A great drink for these crazy cold days.
Thanks for stopping by Julie.