About Chocolate
A Gift from the Gods

Chocolate has been a prized possession since the Ancient Mayan and Aztec civilizations.  The cocoa bean comes from the  Theobroma cacao tree that grows wild in the tropical rain forests of Mexico, Central and South America.

Though we know chocolate as a sweet treat, it was originally use to make a spicy drink.  It thick and spiced with chili peppers. The beans where used like money and used to purchased needed items form others.

It is believed that Christopher Columbus brought the bean back to Europe in the early 1500s but since no one really knew what to do with it, it was ignored.
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Upon concurring the Aztecs, Hernando Cortez brought the bean and the recipe for the chocolate drink back to Spain. It was here that those spicy ingredients were removed and sugar and vanilla was added making that sweet concoction we all love today.

It wasn't until 100 years later that the rest of Europe was introduced to this beverage and cocoa beans. The people of the 17th century either adored this drink or felt it was the drink of the devil.

The sweet beverage was only enjoyed by the wealthy when it was first introduced but by the 19th century cocoa plantations sprouted up reducing the prices and making the beverage available to everyone.  Special chocolate drinking cups, saucers and pots were make (like today coffee set and tea sets).

Then magically around 1830 solid eating chocolate was developed by J. S. Fry and Sons, a British chocolate maker. The Swiss added milk in 1870; milk chocolate is one of the most popular types of chocolate today.