The Yucutan is an easy trip from New York, just a three-hour flight to Cancun. Immediately we were struck by the overwhelming beauty and the turquoise water was a rich blue, unlike any Caribbean water I’ve ever seen. We spent four days in Merida with Louis and four days on Isla Mujeres, a magical island that has both the authentic feel of Mexico and enough amenities that made it easy to travel with children.

Merida is a warm, friendly city, with vibrant outdoor markets, evening entertainment, and lots for families to do. With kids, we did not get to eat out at any of the finer dining establishments, but Louis did take us to the most incredible casual, neighborhood places where we sampled wonderful local creations.

We visited Ki’Xocolatl (which means delectable chocolate in Mayan and Nahuatl), a company we’ve been buying bars and other products from for several years. Started by an adventurous husband and wife from Belgium, Mathieu Brees and Stephanie Verbrugge, the company creates chocolate from bean to bar. They have two stores, and were in the process of moving production from their intimate original shop to a beautiful new facility. We got a tour with their daughter Chloe who played with our daughter Clare. Though the girls didn’t have a common language (Chloe speaks Spanish and French), they found a wonderful way to play without words, expressing themselves with body language—beautiful to watch.

Two other highlights of the trip were a visit to Uxmal, an ancient Mayan city believed to be the home of the first basketball games (played with a stone hoop), and the Ecomuseo del Cacao-Plantacion Ticul, named after the nearby town of Ticul. The museum is dedicated to Mayan history and their use of cacao. Each exhibit, along a path winding through newly planted cacao trees, is housed in replicas of original Mayan huts. We watched presentations on the Mayan traditions of beekeeping, gardening, burials, chocolate making, and more.

We learned that it takes 20 pods to make 1 kilo of 70% chocolate. We also learned that the Mayans used cacao as a form of currency until the early 1900’s. Ten beans would buy one rabbit. One bean would buy one tomato.

The last of the huts invites the visitor to watch two local Mayans, who come in from nearby Ticul, make hot chocolate using traditional methods (see video in post below). They start with the cacao bean, cook it over fire, grind it with stone, and mix it with water. The whole process takes 5 minutes. The hot chocolate was amazing and the flavor was exquisite—even Mae, our two-year-old, loved it!

We made this video while visiting the Ecomuseo del Cacao in Tikul, the Yucatan, Mexico.

For the second year in a row, The Chocolate Room will be serving a sample of its delicious handmade chocolate creations at Brooklyn Exposed’s Tasting Brooklyn. Please join us next Tuesday, April 3rd in Dumbo to sample dishes from over 25 Brooklyn restaurants and drink venues. Hurry, though, because tickets are selling out!

Our genuine hope is that if people can’t make it to Brooklyn, we can bring the finest in Brooklyn chocolate to them. So enjoy navigating, shopping the online store, watch our fun video of our cafes on a bustling night, or watch many of our exciting news features. Feel free to leave us comments, like us on Facebook, follow us on twitter and remember…there’s always room for chocolate!