History of Chocolate/ Cocoa

History of Chocolate/ Cocoa

Cocoa and other chocolate products are enjoyed by billions of people around the globe, but surprisingly few people know the history of the confection. In fact, cocoa has appeared in different cultures worldwide for hundreds of years. Cocoa was first developed as a crop in many ancient South American cultures, with the Aztecs and Mayans being the most well-known of these indigenous populations. Researchers have found evidence of cocoa-based food dating back several thousand years.  

The modern word “chocolate” stems from two words in Nahuatl, the language spoken by many native groups: chocolatl, which translated literally means “hot water,” and cacahuatl, which referred to a bitter beverage made with cocoa that was shared during religious ceremonies. The history of the cacao bean was so significant to the local cultures that it was used as a currency in trade, given to warriors as a post-battle reward, and served at royal feasts.  

For these civilizations, cocoa was a symbol of abundance. It was used in religious rituals dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god responsible for bringing the cocoa tree to man, to Chak ek Chuah, the Mayan patron saint of cocoa, and as an offering at the funerals of noblemen.  

When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in the New World and began the process of invading, colonizing, and ultimately destroying the native cultures, they also discovered the value of the local cacao crop. However, they brought their own innovation to the appropriated drink, with the addition of sugar and spices to sweeten the bitter cocoa. After that point, chocolate became wildly popular amongst the Spanish, who kept the production method a secret from other Europeans for almost 100 years after their discovery.  

The Spanish could not hold onto their secret forever, and chocolate quickly spread across the rest of western Europe. Chocolate then still exclusively in the form of a drink appeared in France, and then England, in royal courts and special “chocolate houses” that served the social elite. Hot chocolate was hailed by the upper classes as both delicious and healthy, and cocoa ultimately gained the reputation of being an aphrodisiac.  

Chocolate has a long and fascinating past, as delicious as its taste. From 1500 BC to 400 BC the Olmec Indians are believed to be the first to grow cocoa beans as a domestic crop.  From 250 to 900 CE the consumption of cocoa beans was restricted to the Mayan society's elite, in the form of an unsweetened cocoa drink made from the ground beans. In 600 AD Mayans migrate into northern regions of South America establishing earliest known cocoa plantations in the Yucatan.  

In the 14th Century the drink became popular among the Aztec upper classes who usurped the cocoa beverage from the Mayans and were the first to tax the beans. The Aztecs called it "xocalatl" meaning warm or bitter liquid. By 1502 Columbus encountered a great Mayan trading canoe in Guanaja carrying cocoa beans as cargo. Then in 1519 Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez recorded the cocoa usage in the court of Emperor Montezuma. 1544 Dominican friars took a delegation of Kekchi Mayan nobles to visit Prince Philip of Spain. The Mayans brought gift jars of beaten cocoa, mixed and ready to drink. Spain and Portugal did not export the beloved drink to the rest of Europe for nearly a century.  

Hot chocolate was hailed by the upper classes as both delicious and healthy, and cocoa ultimately gained the reputation of being an aphrodisiac. But the exclusivity of chocolate was ultimately diminished by the onset of the Industrial Revolution, when steam-powered machines made the production of cocoa powder significantly quicker and more affordable. Solid chocolate hit the market and found wild success by 1850, due to the discovery by Joseph Fry that adding cacao butter to the cocoa powder formed a solid mass.  

16th century Europe, Spanish began to add cane sugar and flavorings such as vanilla to their sweet cocoa beverages. In 1570 cocoa gained popularity as a medicine and aphrodisiac. In 1585 the first official shipments of cocoa beans began arriving in Seville from Vera Cruz, Mexico. The first chocolate house was opened in London by a Frenchman in 1657. The shop was called The Coffee Mill and Tobacco Roll. Costing 10 to 15 shillings per pound, chocolate was considered a beverage for the elite class. By 1674 eating solid chocolate was introduced in the form of chocolate rolls and cakes served in chocolate emporiums.⠀  

Cocoa beans had dropped in price from $3 per pound in 1730 to a price within the financial reach of others. By 1732 French inventor, Monsieur Dubuisson invented a table mill for grinding cocoa beans.⠀ Then in 1753 Swedish naturalist, Carolus Linnaeus was dissatisfied with the word "cocoa," so it was renamed to "Theobroma," Greek for "food of the gods." In 1765 chocolate was introduced to the United States when Irish chocolate maker John Hanan imported cocoa beans from the West Indies into Dorchester, Massachusetts, to refine them with the help of American Dr. James Baker. The pair soon after built America's first chocolate mill and by 1780, the mill was making the famous BAKER'S ® chocolate baking bars. In 1795 Dr. Joseph Fry of Bristol, England, employed a steam engine for grinding cocoa beans, an invention that led to the manufacture of chocolate on a large factory scale.⠀  

1800 Antoine Brutus Menier built the first industrial manufacturing facility for chocolate. Sixty years later, the art of creating chocolate confections with flavored filling, referred to as pralines was born. A Belgian inventor, Jean Neuhaus II also went public with a chocolate product. From there, the chocolate and cocoa industry exploded in popularity and quickly spread around the world. By 1819: The pioneer of Swiss chocolate-making, François Louis Callier, opened the first Swiss chocolate factory.⠀  

In 1828 the invention of the cocoa press, by Conrad Van Houten, helped cut prices and improve the quality of chocolate by squeezing out some of the cocoa butter and giving the beverage a smoother consistency. Conrad Van Houten patented his invention in Amsterdam and his alkalizing process became known as "Dutching". Several years earlier, Van Houten was the first to add alkaline salts to powdered cocoa to make it mix better with water.⠀

A form of solid eating chocolate was developed in 1830 by Joseph Fry & Sons, a British chocolate maker. Then by 1847 Joseph Fry & Sons discovered a way to mix some of the cocoa butter back into the "Dutched" chocolate, by added sugar and creating a paste that could be molded. The result was the first modern chocolate bar.  

By 1849 Joseph Fry & Sons and Cadbury Brothers displayed chocolates for eating at an exhibition in Bingley Hall,  in Birmingham, England. The Prince Albert's Exposition in 1851 London was the first time that Americans were introduced to bonbons, chocolate creams, hand candies (called "boiled sweets"), and caramels. By 1861 Richard Cadbury created the first known heart-shaped candy box for Valentine's Day.⠀  

1868 John Cadbury mass-marketed the first boxes of chocolate candies. Daniel Peter of Vevey, Switzerland, in 1876 experimented for eight years before finally inventing a means of making milk chocolate for eating.  

1879 Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé joined together to form the Nestlé Company. Also in the same year Rodolphe Lindt of Berne, Switzerland, produced smoother and creamier chocolate that melted on the tongue. He invented the "conching" machine. To conch, meant to heat and roll chocolate in order to refine it. After chocolate had been conched for seventy-two hours and had more cocoa butter added to it, it was possible to create chocolate "fondant" and other creamy forms of chocolate.⠀  

1897 the first known published recipe for chocolate brownies appeared in the Sears and Roebuck Catalogue. Canadian, Arthur Ganong marketed the first nickel chocolate bar in 1910. William Cadbury urged several English and American companies to join him in refusing to buy cacao beans from plantations with poor labor conditions. Then in 1913 Swiss confectioner Jules Sechaud of Montreux introduced a machine process for manufacturing filled chocolates. Then Belgian chocolatier, Joseph Draps in 1926 starts the Godiva Company to compete with Hershey's and Nestle's American market.  

Throughout its long evolution, one factor has remained cocoa has attracted devotees worldwide. Today, over 4.5 million tons of cocoa beans are consumed annually around the globe, in everything from drinks to candy bars  

It’s safe to say that the ancient Mesoamericans who pioneered the crop could never have imagined the popularity cocoa would someday experience. Cocoa sustainability was and is very important to the sustainability movement to help secure the future of chocolate and ensure that it’s available for generations to come, it’s essential that sustainable farming practices and ethical means of production are implemented in the cocoa supply chain. The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) has teamed up with over 100 large companies around the world to make the cocoa supply chain more sustainable.  

We would like to give special thanks to World Cocoa Foundation and Thought Co. for the information they provided, so we may help inform further generations of hot cocoa lovers on the History of Cocoa⠀  

We are making cocoa history right now at April Mae’s Sweet Hot Cocoa & More, We are small family owned business that has developed a healthy kosher friendly hot cocoa mix. Our cacao powders are based upon our secret family recipe and are hand crafted in small batches for freshness and quality on a per order basis. All of our cacao powders comes from ecologically and socially responsible harvesting. We also add no anti-caking agents such as corn starch or other fillers like chocolate chips, marshmallows, mixes or candies. Every batch we make is pure, healthy, sustainable cocoa! Along the way we have used our cocoa mixes to develop 50 + cocoas, cocoa fruit smoothie mixes, cocoa moon milks, we also have soups, apple ciders, and a range of gift sets. We are very passionate about what we've created and now we are sharing it with you. The difference and taste is Amazing!

Have a somewhat old and cringy edit of Avemcaec from NERVE (Gunfish Games)

I would possibly redo this, especially the first part.

Song: Avemcaec's theme (From 4:21 onwards)

Sources: AlphaBetaGamer's video, as well as several clips from Cocoamix's speedruns.

Chocolate City flows through St Clair heading to Boisierre Village. The band introduced a cocoa mix to the J’Ouvert menu of liquids that you pour all over yourself at dawn on Carnival Monday. I’d planned to do a photo essay about the band for years, but every time I went looking for them after Carnival, they had decamped to a new location. Finally, I got my chance in 2010 when the band set up shop on Ariapita Avenue (find Local Lives via the Shorby link in the profile). I couldn’t seem to impress on anyone the significant of capturing the actual creation of the cocoa mix and it turned out to be the one thing in the band’s preparation that I didn’t get. It’s a problem I face often with photo essay stories, particularly Carnival subjects, who are used to a media focus on certain things they do and are genuinely non-plussed when I show an interest, even insistently, on photographing something they consider unimportant. You never get everything, but to this day I still feel a twinge at that lost opportunity. The band doesn’t encourage its players to actually eat the mix they hand out in squirt bottles, but the smell of the players coming down a street is certainly unique in the festival. One of its more pleasant olfactory experiences. Day Nine of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #jouvert #archivecarnival #trinidad #chocolate #notfood #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #cocoamix #carnivaltuesday #maraval #dawn #chocolatecity #woodbrook #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Boissiere Village, Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad And Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BulZ5wWgLMT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7qkc6bl8ztbi

Broke: “My ex will never have pussy like THIS again”

Woke: “My peanut butter cookies became his favorite dessert, but he can’t cook and the way I make them is kind of weird, so he will NEVER taste them again”

ありがとう @muumitie - 매우 안심하고 잘먹음! 오이시이데스ㅋㅋㅋ 미얀마차이티는 저번부터 느낀건데 정말짱맛 핵꿀맛인듯🍯 - #morihiko #cafe #coffee #dripbag #유동커피 #제주도 #청각맛 #royalmyanmarteamix #traderjoes #cocoamix #커피 #모리히코카페 #삿포로 #일본 #일본은언제쯤가보게될려나ㅏㅏㅏ #갑자기중국가고싶다 😅ㅋㅋㅋ

Looking for a super Christmasy Christmas gift for your foodie friends? @kellebjammin got you covered with Christmas jams (both 8oz and minis), cocoa, spiced tea, cinnamon sugar, and scent of Christmas for you to mix and match the perfect combo for anyone on your list! #kellebjammin #christmasgift #foodiegifts #gourmet #hotdamnthatsmyjam #cocoamix #cinnamonsugar #livelovelubbock #lubbock #gotexan #madeintexas #giftset (at Kelle B Jammin')

a three-way colalosers collab i did w some friends!!

five bucks if u can guess which ones i did ;V

credit also to @eddsworld-lads and @cocoamix give them some love!!

Gold 2019 Happy New Year Fireworks – Drink Mix at #Zazzle ~ #NewYearsDrink #New… Gold 2019 Happy New Year Fireworks - Drink Mix at #Zazzle ~ #NewYearsDrink #NewYearsCocoa #Cocoamix #cocoa #chocolatedrink #chocolatemix #chocolate Source by rebeccagravity

and it became cocoa weather in the blink of an eye #nestlemakestheverybest #nestlecocoa #hotcocoa #hotchocolate #cocoamix #vintage #midcentury #ephemera #vintageimage #magazinead #vintageadvertising #magazinead #printad #advertisingart #morningtime #morning #goodmorning (at Ridley Park, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpMgs0qlBOI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1o9ao2dpao9ms

Hot Chocolate vs. Hot Cacao/Cocoa

Did you know there was a difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa? There is! I know it blew my mind too. Let me explain.

Hot chocolate and hot cocoa are different drinks that are widely preferred by people around the globe. In many countries, the terms ‘hot chocolate’ and ‘hot cocoa’ are used differently to label two different drinks. But in the US, the two terms are used interchangeably so often that it probably seems like there is hardly a difference cited between the two, but there is.

For a “lighter chocolaty taste” for lack of better words, hot cocoa is prepared by using cacao powders. This comes is several styles as well, Basic processed cocoa powder, the cocoa powder is not sweetened, and usually has sugars, powdered milk and additives blended into it, then you just add water. Then you have natural cacao powder, with health benefits that the cocoa powder does not have. This can be bitter to taste, but the addition ofsweetener and a fattier milk can help with the taste. Some people do add milk alternative powder and use milk alternatives instead of using fattier milks, preparing the cacao powder either way gives it a creamier taste closer to hot chocolate, but still is lighter in taste. Finally, there is the Dutch processed powder which has a smoother taste to it from the added alkaline component which gives the cacao powder the darker color. This process is the healthiest and has the most health benefits to it. Adding cacao powder to warm milk turns this into a hot cocoa drink. Cacao and cocoa powders are created from pressed ground cacao beans. When making cocoa powder, the fat, which is also called cocoa butter, is removed from it and is heavily processed but the chocolate taste remains. Cacao Powders are normally ground, pressed to the degree of fat remaining needed for a specific cacao powder, then allowed to dry and then powdered. But again in the Dutch processing the alkaline is added to the cacao powder to give it that smoother taste.

It has been known that hot chocolate was developed many centuries before hot cocoa. It is said that the origins of this chocolate drink was developed in Central America. When comparing the two, hot chocolate comes with a high fat, high sugar content and has a low cocoa content. In some of the popular brands there is no cocoa powder at all in their mix, just chocolate flavoring. But cocoa powders are different when turned into hot cacao drinks. They are better for your health as it comes with a low sugar and low fat content. Hot cacao also is a potent antioxidant beverage when compared to hot chocolate, but still it is lighter in taste. Finally, there is the Dutch processed powder which has a smoother taste to it from the added alkaline component which gives the cacao powder the darker color. This process is the healthiest and has the most health benefits to it. Adding cacao powder to warm milk turns this into a hot cocoa drink. Cacao and cocoa powders are created from pressed ground cacao beans. When making cocoa powder, the fat, which is also called cocoa butter, is removed from it and is heavily processed but the chocolate taste remains. Cacao Powders are normally ground, pressed to the degree of fat remaining needed for a specific cacao powder, then allowed to dry and then powdered. But again in the Dutch processing the alkaline is added to the cacao powder to give it that smoother taste.

It has been known that hot chocolate was developed many centuries before hot cocoa. It is said that the origins of this chocolate drink was developed in Central America. When comparing the two, hot chocolate comes with a high fat, high sugar content and has a low cocoa content. In some of the popular brands there is no cocoa powder at all in their mix, just chocolate flavoring. But cocoa powders are different when turned into hot cacao drinks. They are better for your health as it comes with a low sugar and low fat content. Hot cacao also is a potent antioxidant beverage when compared to hot chocolate. If you are interested in further reading, check out our blog at https://www.sweethotcocoa.com/blog

Para esta fría noche #cocoamix #galletas #cookies #chocolate #cocoa #frio #noche #greatvalue (en Edificio Villa Casino)