Combination Chocolate

A two-quart mocha, built from two separately made bases and combined by pouring. The pour is the whole point of the recipe, not a flourish.

• The pour is the techniquePouring both liquids simultaneously from about eighteen inches aerates the drink and gives it a head of foam, the same effect a molinillo or a milk frother produces. Use two warmed pitchers with good spouts, pour into a deep pot rather than a shallow one, and expect to lose some to the counter the first time.
• Grated chocolateMost likely unsweetened block chocolate, grated; the closing instruction to sweeten to taste points that way. Three tablespoons is roughly one ounce; cocoa powder is not a substitute at that ratio, since it lacks the cocoa butter that gives the drink body. Chopped 100% baking chocolate works, though grating dissolves faster.
• "A thin pate"Read this as paste — slake the grated chocolate with a few spoonfuls of cold water into a smooth slurry before it goes into the hot liquid, or it will clump and sit on the surface.
• Do not boil the coffee sideThe instruction is explicit and worth honouring. Boiled coffee turns harsh and boiled milk picks up a cooked, sulphurous note. Hold that pan around 180F, just short of a simmer.
• Strong coffeeBrew it well on the strong side: a robust drip or a short-brewed French press rather than espresso. A weak pot will disappear entirely behind a pint of milk.
• Yield and sweeteningTwo quarts of finished drink, or eight generous cups. Sweeten in the pot after combining, not in the bases, since the chocolate side will taste far sweeter than the coffee side on its own.
• Toasted crackersPlain unsweetened water crackers or soda crackers, toasted dry in the oven until crisp and lightly coloured — closer to a rusk than to anything cracker-flavoured now sold in a box.