Oaxaca Choca is New Realm Brewing’s Imperial Mexican Chocolate Stout, and it is one of the more ambitious flavored stouts I have poured this year. It comes in at 10.0% ABV and leans on vanilla, cinnamon, chili peppers, and locally roasted cacao nibs to build a genuine Mexican hot chocolate profile rather than just a chocolate-adjacent stout with a marketing label. I am scoring it 4.06 out of 5; no community rating count was supplied alongside that number.
Oaxaca Choca at a glance
| Beer | Oaxaca Choca |
| Brewery | New Realm Brewing Co. |
| Style | Imperial Mexican Chocolate Stout |
| ABV | 10.0% |
| IBU | Third-party listings vary; no single official figure confirmed |
| Key ingredients | Vanilla, cinnamon, chili peppers, locally roasted cacao nibs |
| Format | 16 oz four-packs and draft, released regionally |
| Rating | 4.06 out of 5 (community rating count not supplied) |
Who brews Oaxaca Choca, and what is it?
New Realm Brewing operates out of Georgia and has built a reputation for pushing beyond straightforward stouts into genuinely ambitious flavored releases, and Oaxaca Choca is a good example of that approach. It starts as an Imperial Stout base at 10.0% ABV, then layers in vanilla, cinnamon, dried chili peppers, and cacao nibs roasted locally, aiming at the specific flavor profile of Oaxacan hot chocolate rather than a generic “chocolate stout” add-on. New Realm has not published one settled IBU figure; third-party listings differ across vintages, and rather than pick one and present it as official, I am flagging that discrepancy here.
The result leans dessert-adjacent but with real heat underneath. If you have not spent much time with the imperial stout category, my guide to what makes a stout an imperial stout explains why beers in this ABV range, typically 8% and up, get built with a heavier malt bill specifically so they can carry big adjunct flavors like this one without falling apart. My guide to what IBU actually means is also useful context here, since a beer like this leans on malt sweetness and spice rather than hop bitterness to do its flavor work.
What Oaxaca Choca actually tastes like
Pour it and you get a thick, near-black body with minimal head, typical for a beer this heavy. The nose leans warm cinnamon and roasted cacao before anything else comes through, more baking spice than sweet candy. On the palate, that Imperial Stout base carries real weight, and the chili heat builds gradually rather than hitting up front, which is exactly how a good Oaxacan hot chocolate should behave. It finishes warm, a little dry from the chili, with lingering cacao and cinnamon rather than a syrupy chocolate-milkshake finish.
At 10.0% ABV this is a sipper, not a session beer, and it drinks like one. My ABV and gravity explainer breaks down why a beer at this strength behaves differently in the glass, slower carbonation loss, a fuller body, more perceived warmth, than something in the 5-6% range.
Food pairings
This is a dessert beer in the best sense: pour it alongside dark chocolate, churros, or a simple flan, and the cinnamon and chili in the beer will pick up the same notes in the food. My beer and dessert pairing guide has more combinations if you want to build a full tasting flight around big, spiced stouts like this one. It also holds up fine on its own after dinner, treated more like a digestif than a beer to pair mid-meal.
Should you try Oaxaca Choca?
If you like your stouts adventurous rather than safe, this is worth tracking down. It sits in a similar “big, bold, and a little unconventional” lane as Ponzi from Atlas Brew Works, though the two could not be more different in execution, one leaning hop bitterness, the other leaning spice and cacao. For fans of resin-forward IPAs looking for a change of pace, or stout drinkers who want something beyond a standard milk stout like Bodhizafa offers on the IPA side, Oaxaca Choca is a genuinely distinct pour. My beer tasting flight guide has tips on where to slot a beer this intense in a lineup, and my aging and cellaring guide is worth a look if you want to see how a beer at this ABV holds up over time in the bottle or can.
Where to find similar beers
I could not verify an exact Oaxaca Choca listing on Saucey, so here are five bold, chocolate-and-spice-forward stouts stocked there if you want something comparable while you track down New Realm’s own release.
FAQs
What does Oaxaca Choca taste like?
Oaxaca Choca tastes like Mexican hot chocolate: roasted cacao and cinnamon up front, a big Imperial Stout body, and a gradual, warming chili heat in the finish.
What is the ABV of Oaxaca Choca?
Oaxaca Choca is 10.0% ABV.
Who brews Oaxaca Choca?
Oaxaca Choca is brewed by New Realm Brewing Co.
What ingredients are in Oaxaca Choca?
Vanilla, cinnamon, chili peppers, and locally roasted cacao nibs, built on an Imperial Stout base.
Is Oaxaca Choca spicy?
It has real chili heat, but it builds gradually rather than hitting hard up front, closer to a warming Mexican hot chocolate than a hot sauce burn.
What food pairs well with Oaxaca Choca?
Dark chocolate, churros, and flan all pick up on the cinnamon and cacao notes already in the beer.
