Dagoba is one of three chocolatier companies that belong to the Artisan Confections Company, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hershey Company. Dagoba was the brain-and-heart child of a single man, Frederick Schilling, who founded the company in 2001. His idea was to create fabulous, high quality gourmet chocolates, but to do it in a way that was sustainable, allowing chocolate production, and the delicate environments of the rain forest, the natural habitat of the cocoa plant, to flourish. Daboba embraces what they call "Full Circle Sustainability" through every facet of the business, from planting, to harvesting, to producing the chocolates, and even the retailing, and distribution arms of the com

pany; all are designed to encourage sustainability. Their chocolates are all Fair Trade Certified.

I've used Dagoba chocolates for baking for several years. Recently I decided to try Dagoba's Xocolatl Hot Chocolate. It's cocoa powder without a lot of emulsifiers and additives, made with 100% cacao powder, cacao chunks, and evaporated cane juice (better known as sugar), chilies, and just a touch of cinnamon. This is very much like the kind of chocolate that the Aztecs drank, and I have to say; it's fabulous. Really really fabulous. It's intensely chocolate, and yes, you do notice the chili, but if you're someone who likes a little spice the combination of a little chili, and a touch of cinnamon, is the perfect touch. I'm going to try baking with this as well as drinking it. I can tell you it's lovely as hot chocolate, it works well when added to coffee, and no, it's not hurt by a shot of Irish or bourbon.