Kakawa Chocolate House

The Santa Fe New Mexican's Winterlife guide gives the distinction of best and most unique hot chocolate in town to this shop, which reproduces historically accurate chocolate elixirs made with herbs, spices and essential oils. The paper describes owner Tony Bennett recreating recipes that run from sweet to spicy to medicinal, from Marie Antoinette's orange flower chocolate to a sweet American elixir flavored with cane sugar and Mexican vanilla. Order the sweet American elixir, then pick up cacao nibs on the way out, the pairing the guide itself suggests.

Picks from The Santa Fe New Mexican

A Santa Fe chocolatier best known for its ancient drinking chocolate elixirs and handcrafted chocolates, where the chocolatiers mix traditional chocolate recipes from the Americas with modern flavors; assorted truffles fill the case beside the sippable elixirs, and there is a shaded patio for sampling. It also makes small-batch ice creams year-round, among them a Spicy Aztec chocolate ice cream infused with New Mexico chiles. Order a drinking chocolate elixir and a few truffles.

Picks from Santa Fe New Mexican (Pasatiempo), Santa Fe New Mexican, and Santa Fe New Mexican (Taste)