Hot Chocolate

The explorer Francisco Hernández wrote that Chocolate drinks helped treat fever and liver disease. Another explorer, Santiago de Valverde Turices, believed that large amounts of hot Chocolate were helpful in treating chest ailments and that smaller amounts could help stomach disorders. When Chocolate was introduced to the French in the 17th century, it was reportedly used "to fight against fits of anger and bad moods", which may be attributed to chocolate's phenylethylamine content. Today, hot Chocolate is consumed for pleasure rather than medicinally, but new research suggests that there may be other health benefits attributed to the drink.

From the 16th to 19th centuries, hot Chocolate was valued as a medicine as well as a drink.

Because sugar was yet to come to the Americas, xocōlātl was said to be an acquired taste. What the Spaniards then called xocōlātl was said to be a drink consisting of a Chocolate base flavored with vanilla and other spices that was served cold. The drink tasted spicy and bitter as opposed to sweetened modern hot Chocolate. As to when xocōlātl was first served hot, sources conflict on when and by whom. However, José de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, described xocōlātl as:

The first Chocolate drink is believed to have been created by the Maya around 2,500–3,000 years ago, and a cocoa drink was an essential part of Aztec culture by 1400 AD, by which they referred to as xocōlātl. The drink became popular in Europe after being introduced from Mexico in the New World and has undergone multiple changes since then. Until the 19th century, hot Chocolate was even used medicinally to treat ailments such as liver and stomach diseases.

In Mexico, hot Chocolate remains a popular national drink, often including semi-sweet Chocolate, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla. Hot Chocolate of this type is commonly sold in circular or hexagonal tablets which can be dissolved into hot milk, water, or cream, and then blended until the mixture develops a creamy froth. A 1942 article in the Chicago Tribune describes Mexican cinnamon hot Chocolate as being traditionally served alongside a variety of sweet Mexican pastries, such as pan dulce or churros.

In 1828, Coenraad Johannes van Houten developed the first cocoa powder producing machine in the Netherlands. The press separated the greasy cocoa butter from cacao seeds, leaving a purer Chocolate powder behind. This powder was easier to stir into milk and water. As a result, another very important discovery was made: solid Chocolate. By using cocoa powder and low amounts of cocoa butter, it was then possible to manufacture Chocolate bars. The term "chocolate" then came to mean solid Chocolate rather than hot Chocolate, with the first Chocolate bar being created in 1847.

Trembleuse or Gobelet et soucoupe enfoncé by Sèvres c. 1776 designed for drinking hot Chocolate

In the United States and Canada, the drink is popular in instant form, made with hot water or milk from a packet containing mostly cocoa powder, sugar, and dry milk. This is the thinner of the two main variations. It is very sweet and may be topped with marshmallows, whipped cream, or a piece of solid Chocolate. Hot Chocolate was first brought to North America as early as the 17th century by the Dutch, but the first time colonists began selling hot Chocolate was around 1755. Traditionally, hot Chocolate has been associated with cold weather, winter, and dessert in the United States and Canada.

Sweet-tasting hot Chocolate was then invented, leading hot Chocolate to become a luxury item among the European nobility by the 17th century. Even when the first Chocolate House (an establishment similar to a modern coffee shop) opened in 1657, Chocolate was still very expensive, costing 50 to 75 pence (approximately 10-15 shillings) a pound (roughly £45-65 in 2016). At the time, hot Chocolate was often mixed with spices for flavor; one notable recipe was hot Chocolate "infused with fresh jasmine flowers, amber, musk, vanilla and ambergris." In the late 17th century, Sir Hans Sloane, president of the Royal College of Physicians, visited Jamaica. There, he tried Chocolate and considered it "nauseous", but found it became more palatable when mixed with milk. When he returned to England, he brought the recipe with him, introducing milk Chocolate to England. The aristocratic nature of the drink led to Chocolate being referred to as "the drink of the gods" in 1797.

After defeating Montezuma's warriors and demanding that the Aztec nobles hand over their valuables, Cortés returned to Spain in 1528, bringing cocoa beans and Chocolate drink making equipment with them. At this time, Chocolate still only existed in the bitter drink invented by the Mayas. Sweet hot Chocolate and bar Chocolate were yet to be invented. After its introduction to Europe, the drink slowly gained popularity. The Imperial Court of Emperor Charles V soon adopted the drink, and what was then only known as "chocolate" became a fashionable drink popular with the Spanish upper class. Additionally, cocoa was given as a dowry when members of the Spanish Royal Family married other European aristocrats. At the time, Chocolate was very expensive in Europe because the cocoa beans only grew in South America.

Within Mesoamerica many drinks were made from cacao beans, and further enhanced by flowers like vanilla to add flavor. This was a tribute to the Aztecs. The Aztecs, or Mexica, required conquered people to provide them with Chocolate. Cups, gourds, cacao beans, as well as others things they acquired were listed in The Essential Codex Mendoza. Cacao became used as a currency throughout Mesoamerica. The Aztecs used Chocolate to show high status: it was a bad omen for someone low or common to drink Chocolate. Europeans' first recorded contact with Chocolate wasn't until 1502 on Columbus's fourth voyage.