Hot chocolate

and chocolate flakes]]

**Hot chocolate**, also known as **hot cocoa** or **drinking chocolate**, is a hot drink. It is usually made by mixing chocolate or cocoa powder, sugar or alternative sweeteners. Hot chocolate may be topped with whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate is usually drunk to make the drinker feel happier or warmer. Some studies have shown that hot chocolate may be healthy because of antioxidants that are in cocoa. Until the 1800s, hot chocolate was also used by doctors as a medicinal drink.

It is believed that the hot chocolate drink was first made by the Mayan people about 2,000 years ago. Another cocoa drink was made by the Aztecs by 1400 . The drink became popular in Europe after being brought from Mexico, and has changed a lot since then. Today, hot chocolate is used around the world. It comes in many different types such as the very thick *cioccolata densa* in Italy, and the thinner hot cocoa that is usually drunk in Canada.

## History 
Chocolate is made from cocoa, the dried and partly fermented seeds of the cacao tree (*Theobroma cacao*). The cacao tree is a small (4–8&nbsp;m (15–26&nbsp;ft.) tall) pine tree found in the deep tropical areas of the Americas. New studies show that the most found type of the plant first came from the Amazon basin. It was slowly moved by humans to other places in South and Central America to farm. Early kinds of another type have also been found in what is now Venezuela. The scientific name, *theobroma*, means "food of the gods". The fruit, called a cacao pod, is shaped like an oval, 15–30&nbsp;cm (6–12&nbsp;in.) long and 8–10&nbsp;cm (3–4&nbsp;in.) wide. It gets ripe from yellow to orange, and weighs about 500&nbsp;g (1&nbsp;lb) when ripe.

The first known use of cacao is chocolate found in jars at the site of Puerto Escondido in Honduras. It was used there around 1100  An early Classic Period (460–480 ) Mayan grave from Río Azul, Guatemala, had cups with the Mayan words for cacao on them with traces of an old chocolate drink. The Maya are usually given credit for making the first chocolate drink over 2,000 years ago. The drink would be changed even more in Europe.

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To make the drink, the Maya ground cocoa seeds into a paste and mixed it with water, cornmeal, chile peppers, and spices.

By the 1400s, the Aztecs took over a large part of Mesoamerica, and took cacao into their culture. They thought of chocolate with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of pregnancy. They also used chocolate drinks as sacrifices to gods. Because cacao would not grow in central Mexico and had to be brought into the empire, chocolate was an important luxury good in the Aztec empire. Because of this, cocoa beans were used as money.

The first time Europeans saw chocolate was in the 16th century when Montezuma (who was ruler of the Aztec then) showed *xocolatl* to Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador. Montezuma's rulers have been said to drink about 2000 cups of *xocolatl* per day, 50 of which were drank by Montezuma himself.

### European changes
; Venice, 1775-1780]]
After defeating Montezuma’s warriors and taking the Aztec's riches, Cortés went back to Spain in 1528. He brought cocoa beans and chocolate drink making equipment. At this time, chocolate still was only the bitter drink made by the Mayans. Then, chocolate cost a lot in Europe because the cacao beans only grew in South America.

The first shipment of chocolate to Europe for sale purposes was a shipment from Veracruz to Sevilla in 1585.

In the late 1600s, Hans Sloane, president of the Royal College of Physicians, went to Jamaica. There, he tried chocolate and did not like it, but found it was better with milk. When he came back to England, he brought the recipe with him, bringing milk chocolate to Europe. The press took apart the greasy cocoa butter from cacao seeds, leaving a chocolate powder behind. "Hot chocolate" is made right from bars of chocolate, which has cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter in it.

Hot chocolate can be made with dark, semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate. It is cut into small pieces and stirred into milk with sugar. American hot cocoa powder can be made with powdered milk so it can be made without milk. In the United Kingdom, "hot chocolate" is a sweet chocolate drink made with hot milk or water, and powder with chocolate, sugar, and powdered milk. "Cocoa" usually means a similar drink made with just hot milk and cocoa powder, then made sweeter with sugar.

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### North America
In the United States, the drink is most popular in powdered or crushed form. It is made with hot water or milk. This is the thinner of the two main types. It is very sweet and often is served with marshmallows, whipped cream, or a piece of solid chocolate. European hot chocolate first came to the U.S. as early as the 1600s by the Dutch, but the first time colonists began selling hot chocolate was around 1755. Hot chocolate is usually drank in cold weather and winter in the United States. It is not taken with meals very often.

In Mexico, hot chocolate is still popular. Besides the instant powder form, Mexican hot chocolate uses semi-sweet chocolate, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla. Hot chocolate of this type is often sold in tablets or bars which can be put into hot milk, water or cream. It is then mixed until the drink gets a creamy foam. A popular brand of Mexican chocolate made for hot chocolate is Abuelita, maybe by Nestlé. Mexican cinnamon hot chocolate is often served with a variety of Mexican breads or pastries called *pan dulce* ("sweet bread") and churros.

### Europe
In Europe, most kinds of hot chocolate are very thick. This is because they are made from pure chocolate. In the United Kingdom, hot chocolate is usually thinner.

There are even more types of thick hot chocolate in Europe. Some cafes in Belgium and other areas in Europe serve a "*warme chocolade*" or "*chocolat chaud*". This is a cup of heated milk and a small bowl of bittersweet chocolate chips to put in the milk. Caffeine from the cocoa in hot chocolate can cause bad effects.
There is evidence that the caffeine causes a mild addiction to the drink.

## Related pages
* Chocolate
* Cocoa
* Chocolate milk

## References