Another visit to Barcelona, another new place for hot chocolate! Blai discovered the hot chocolate at Cacao Sampaka over Christmas and was excited to have it again when I went along at Easter. The shop was co-founded by Albert Adrià and when it first opened in Barcelona, I remember popping along to try their products; I hadn’t been back in a while though. It looks like they’re no longer just in Barcelona though: there are now franchises around the world. We went to the branch in Eixample off Rambla de Catalunya and the cafe was situated at the back of the shop. While the menu was full of lovely sounding things, we were there for their hot chocolate, not the ice creams, nor the sandwiches, nor the milkshakes. I’d love to try those next time.

Our favourite order at any granja is always a suís (hot chocolate with whipped cream on top). Their Suís was made with their traditional xocolata, made with 70% dark chocolate and cinnamon. It was very good – the high quality dark chocolate really did make a difference when compared to the versions at other granges.

Suís (xocolata amb nata)

We also split an Asteca, a very dark hot chocolate made with 80% dark chocolate and spices. It was intensely dark and rich and very delicious but between the two of us, we just couldn’t finish the very large cup – it defeated us.

Asteca (80 % cacau i espècies)

We weren’t having the hot chocolates by themselves, of course. As it was the end of the day (the cafe closes at 20:30), their xurros had run out so we made do with their melindros. These Catalan sponge fingers were fabulous, so far the best I’ve had in the city (I really want to try all the city has to offer!). They were sweet but this balanced the bitterness of the dark chocolates.

Melindros

While their hot chocolates are excellent, I’ve never been taken with their chocolates. I tried some more on this visit but again, disappointment. I’ll stick to their cafe rather than their shop.

Cacao Sampaka
C/ Consell de Cent, 292
08007 Barcelona
Spain