You will find delicious drinks that are part of Mesoamerican culture that hold the root to chocolate’s history, but you might be surprised to hear that it was originally a bitter drink. The drink had both social and more formal religious aspects to it, and dated back as far as the Classic Period, known as the time period between 250-900 AD. Mayans used to harvest the bean from the rainforests around their city. The cocoa tree was called “Cacahuaquchtl” and the chocolate was called “xocoatl”, which means “bitter water” when translated. They used to ferment and roast the beans then from this they create a paste. Through adding water, chili peppers, cornmeal and other substances, a spicy chocolate drink was created.
Once the Aztecs began taking over Mesoamerica, cocoa became very important, as it was used as a type of currency. Chocolate was very important in the Aztec culture because of this. For the Mayans, the drink was typically reserved as royalty, while for the Aztecs, it was reserved for rulers, priests, honored merchants, and decorated soldiers.
Through fruits and beans, Aztecs believed that they would gain much power and wisdom. Originally, many people believed that cocoa beans had a high variety of aphrodisiac qualities, too. Amazingly, when Christopher Columbus returned to Europe and brought cocoa beans with him, it did not demand immediate attention. It was through repeated trips to the New World that the Europeans finally discovered that the beans had a usage as currency.
The new name for what the Mayans had called “xocoatl” was the Aztec “chocolatl,” which means “warm liquid”. In 1519, Hernando Cortex Begin created the first plantation of cocoa trees. The plantation, which was created in the name of Spain, gave the Spanish King Charles the Fifth his first experience of spicy chocolate. With the deliciousness of the treat no longer in question, Hernando added to the bean’s legacy when he began combining it with chocolate. Soon nutmeg, vanilla, cloves and cinnamon, become part of the variations.
Only the Spanish nobility were permitted access to the drink, not any of the lower class or other countries. The Spanish monks - who were cultivating the beans - eventually spared the secret with the rest of the world. The popularity of chocolate rapidly spread throughout Europe, with many people enjoying its taste, or the ability to use it as a currency.
Ever since, chocolate spread throughout the decades and centuries, to become the treasured sweet it is today. Although the original sacred brew does not hold the same status as it once did as a religious drink or for royalty only, it has over time, improved in taste. And while chocolate may or may not be an aphrodisiac, research has shown that dark cocoa has beneficial qualities that are healthy for the body.