The donut shop on Pike was closed, so I continued the meander toward Broadway and came upon this gem.
Who can ever try everything on Capitol Hill? It is too much.
But there was no other coffee for blocks! So I ventured in.
Yes, they do have regular coffee, but it is best as an espresso shot in one of their luscious hot chocolates.
Mexican hot chocolate usually comes in the form of a small hard cake that can fit in your palm. It is placed at the bottom of a cup and broken and stirred with a special tool called a molinillo. Like yerba maté, it is a culture-specific experience that is almost a ritual.
While Americans heat milk for their chocolate, Mexicans usually consume the beverage with water. This is the form in which the conquistadores first encountered chocolate, though it did not have sugar and was freshly fermented and probably resembled a form of beer.
It was said to be the blood of the Mayan people.
I can heartily recommend Rey Amargo at 722 Pike as a garden of earthly delights and a gateway drug into what must be a new necessity.
