Carrageenan Free Peppermint Cocoa Agua Fresca
Cool, minty, and deeply chocolatey, this drink is a genuinely unexpected treat that feels fancy without requiring much effort at all. Many store-bought chocolate beverages and flavored waters sneak in thickeners and stabilizers that can be hard to spot on labels, so making your own from scratch is the cleanest way to go. Here, unsweetened cocoa powder and maple syrup do all the heavy lifting, creating a rich base that gets brightened by a generous handful of fresh peppermint leaves steeped right in the warm liquid. The result is a refreshing, lightly sweet agua fresca that tastes like a peppermint patty in the best possible way. It comes together in one small saucepan and a pitcher, with most of the hands-off time spent chilling in the fridge. Serve it over ice with a sprig of fresh mint and you have something that looks and tastes like it came from a trendy café — made entirely from ingredients you can trust.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
- 4 cups cold water, divided
- 8 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ cup fresh peppermint leaves, loosely packed
- ⅛ tsp fine sea salt
For serving
- ice cubes, for serving
- 4 fresh peppermint sprigs, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine 1 cup of the cold water with the cocoa powder and maple syrup in a small saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until the cocoa is fully dissolved and the mixture is smooth and just beginning to steam, about 3–4 minutes — do not let it boil.
- 2
Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the peppermint leaves and fine sea salt, stir once to submerge the leaves, and let steep for 10 minutes.
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