The Cocoa Story

About three thousand years ago, the Maya began to plant cacao trees, which they called cacau. The cocoa beans are dried and crushed, water and chili are added, and mixed into a bitter beverage. The theobromine and trace caffeine in this beverage can produce exciting effects. The drink later spread to the Aztec Empire in South America and Mexico. The Aztecs called it xocoatl, which means "bitter water". They made a hot drink for the royal family, called Chocolatl, which means "hot drink." , is also the source of the word "chocolate".

Cocoa beans still in the cocoa tree	Flowers of the cacao tree	Cocoa beans being exposed

In the 16th century, Columbus and the Spanish both discovered and described this plant and drink, but they were not interested in the cocoa tree. It was not until 1544 AD that a Mayan aristocratic delegation from Dominica visited Prince Philip of Spain. The Spanish saw that the Mayan aristocrats carried their own cocoa drink, which was a frothy drink with vanilla and other spices. The interest of the Spanish, so the Spanish also began to drink this drink, and add sugar and other ingredients.

Depicts the way of making and drinking cocoa beans

After the eighteenth century, the price of chocolate became lower and lower, so chocolate gradually became popular. In 1753, the biologist Linnaeus officially named the cacao tree. Linnaeus did not like the word "cocoa," so he named it Theobroma cacao. Theobroma is Greek, meaning "food of the gods."

Royal family members also like to drink chocolate