What’s in the picture certainly tasted like it was.

And while it might seem like an odd thing to be drinking a hot beverage in roasting Caribbean weather, this was no ordinary hot chocolate.

This was Mayan hot chocolate.

Made from a 72% pure Cacao bar, melted and blended with hot water (no milk!), with dashes of cinnamon, orange spice and chili thrown in for good measure, this was the drink I tasted in my fourth week in Playa del Carmen that I soon developed a bit of a habit for.

And I mean ‘bit of a habit’ in the same way a crack addict steals his grandmother’s pension money to fuel his ‘bit of a habit’.

Served at Ah Cacao along 5th avenue by some of the most beautiful Mexican men I’d ever laid my eyes on ( ), Mayan chocolate became my energy source every day as I neared the end of my CELTA course and settled properly into Caribbean life.

While it was a little too rich and thick for some (Pfft! Gringos! ) and I was warned by those working there that this was not the hot chocolate I was used to back home, I laughed them off and fell in love as the first drop hit my tongue.

In fact, it might be fair to say that Mayan hot chocolate has ruined my relationship with any other chocolate now. Handed over the ‘famous Oaxacan hot chocolate’ three weeks later, I couldn’t help but be disappointed by the plain chocolately taste. I wanted to taste the spices dancing in my mouth. Instead I was left with nothing but a sweet, watery disappointment.

But it’s worth it. I’ve tasted something sacred and I recommend you do too if you’re in the area. Ah Cacao’s cafés line the streets of Quintana Roo and can even be found at Cancun airport! Click here to find your nearest one. (And, no, I’m not being paid/asked to write about this – This is just genuinely how in love with this stuff I am.)

Prove that you can drink it like the locals and you taste buds will never be the same again.