The best chocolate shop in Mexico City

When we taste a delicious chocolate, we usually think that it comes from Europe, from countries famous for their chocolate like Belgium, Switzerland or France among others, but very rarely do we ask ourselves, where is chocolate harvested?, who had the idea to use it? and how did it come to us?

The answer is complicated, since today there are many producers of cacao in the world, in fact the largest producer is Africa in countries like Nigeria and Ghana, there is also a production in Asian countries like Indonesia, however the highest quality cacao is produced in Latin America, especially in countries like Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Mexico, where precisely began the tradition of drinking chocolate and where the tree that produces this interesting seed originates.

In Mexico, the cacao tree is produced in the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas and Oaxaca, states with the ideal climate and soil to produce the best chocolate in the world.

Unfortunately for many years this cacao produced in Mexico of excellent quality was exported to Europe, nothing stayed here, as a child I always asked myself, if the Mexicas (Aztecs) drank high quality chocolate in the morning and exchanged the cocoa bean, why am I drinking NesQuik?

One of my first adventures, was in middle School, I went to a catholic school which organized an annual activity, it was the missions, a way to help indigenous communities, we collected supplies and took them personally to the locality, I was 14 years old and together with 10 other classmates, we went to the beautiful state of Chiapas, to the region of the Lacandona Jungle, we met the Mayan community and we had a very interesting cultural exchange and one of the things that impacted me the most was to see the process of obtaining the cacao seed and also how they consumed it, the seed was diluted in fresh water and with a little honey and other spices such as hoja santa and chile seeds, wow, it was an explosion of flavors and textures, I could not believe it, it was very fresh, every day at noon we prepared our chocolate, when I returned to Mexico City I looked everywhere and no one offered it, until La Rifa opened, a place that works with Mexican producers from Chiapas and Tabasco, offers a fair trade, so everyone wins.

This chocolate shop is located in Colonia Juarez, very close to Roma, walking around this neighborhood is very interesting, it is becoming a hot spot, so enjoy the atmosphere.

La Rifa is a place specialized in Mexican chocolate, it offers cacao drinks with different percentages and different styles of preparation, a very interesting one is the fermented caco, you can add chile seeds, believe me it is very interesting the flavor, and you can also put it with water or milk, my recommendation, with water.

Besides being able to sit in the beautiful Plaza Washington and enjoy your cacao drink, they also offer a great variety of products, such as tamales, cookies, ice popsicle, chocolate gelato and also chocolate bars, my favorite is Selva Jabalí and Soconusco.

Personally I visit La Rifa once a week, sometimes they have seasonal products that are worth trying, if you walk up the stairs they have a painting of one of my favorite artists, Sego and Ovbal.

In conclusion if you visit Mexico City, don't forget to visit La Rifa, it's not only chocolate, it's culture, it's art and passion for doing things well, plus it's made in Mexico, with high quality standards, by the way, buy a couple of chocolate bars so when you are back home and eat a piece of chocolate it reminds you of your great trip in Mexico City.