Real Chocolate

I arrived in New England yesterday afternoon and had some time to spare before seeing family. Across the street from the hotel is a large open air mall. It used to be a twelve movie theater but since real estate is at a premium, the theater was knocked down and replaced by a 100 store complex that includes a more modern theater. Among the various specialty stores was one in particular that caught my eye. It was named Chocolate Therapy.  I went in just to browse and was offered a sample. I passed on the sample because one bite would never have been sufficient. I began to read the chalk board menu. The first entry was hot chocolate. Real hot chocolate to be exact. I inquired as to what real hot chocolate meant. The owner said that it was melted shaved chocolate brewed with milk and topped with whipped cream. It came in three flavors, mint, Mexican and hazelnut. The mint and hazelnut were straight forward. The Mexican needed to be explained. It was chocolate mixed with cayenne pepper and cinnamon.  If it had cost less, I would have tried it, but I was not going to go out on a limb for $2.80. Mint it was. It took the man 10 minutes to melt the chocolate and slow brew it with the milk. When it was ready, I took it outside to drink. I sat on a bench in 28 degree temperature and sipped the hot chocolate. Wow! This was not hot chocolate. This was hot CHOCOLATE! It was heavenly. As I took each sip of this liquid silk, I breathed a bit of the ice cold air. The back flavor wafted through my nose. It was the best drink I ever had. It really was Chocolate Therapy.