This is the final episode of my long awaited exciting(!) “trilogy” into which came first to England – tea, coffee or hot chocolate.

Having discovered that tea arrived round about 1658 and coffee in 1652, this is what I found out about hot chocolate.

As far as the history is concerned, it probably originated in the Amazon or Orinoco basin. In about 600 AD the Mayans migrated into the northern regions of South America establishing the earliest known cocoa plantation in the Yucatan. The Mayans and Aztecs then took the beans from the cacao tree and made a drink called “xocoatl”.

The Aztecs believed that cacao seeds were a gift from Paradise and that wisdom and power came from eating the fruit of the tree. Their belief was that the god Quetzalcoatl travelled to earth on the morning star with a cacao tree from Paradise and taught the people how to roast and grind the seeds to make a paste which could be dissolved with water and to which spices could be added. They called the drink “chocolatl” or “bitter-water” and believed it brought wisdom and knowledge.

The ancient Mexicans believed Tonacatecutli, the goddess of food, and Calchiuhtlucue, the goddess of water, were guardians of cocoa and each year they performed human sacrifices for the goddesses, giving the poor old victim cocoa at his last meal. It brings a whole new meaning to the “last drink of the day”!!

Chocolate was first noted in 1519 when Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez visited the court of Emperor Montezuma of Mexico. Montezuma apparently drank no other beverage than chocolatl – at that time it was a cold drink of chocolate, flavoured with vanilla and spices, mixed to a frothy consistency.

In 1528 Cortez brought the beans back from Mexico to Spain where monks processed them and produced chocolate. The making of chocolate remained a Spanish secret for almost 100 years when an Italian traveller, Antonio Carletti, discovered the hidden treasure in 1606 and took it further into Europe.

In 1650 hot chocolate became all the rage in Oxford and in 1657 the “The Coffee House and Tobacco Roll” which was reputedly opened in London by a Frenchman, sold hot chocolate, as well as the obvious coffee and tobacco. Chocolate at that time was an exorbitantly expensive beverage and duty was levied of 10-15 shillings per pound (50p-75p or approx $1-$1.5 for those of you unfamiliar with the old pounds sterling!) so it could, therefore, only be enjoyed by the rich. Amazingly, this duty remained in force for almost 200 years.

With the abolition of the duty and with the invention of the cocoa press in 1828, the price of chocolate dropped considerably and could then be enjoyed by the lower classes. The press also greatly improved the quality of the product. The industrial revolution thus enabled chocolate to be mass produced ensuring its spread in popularity.

So it seems that tea, coffee and chocolate were all introduced to Britain around the same time – during the 1650s, but coffee and chocolate appeared to have the leading edge over the introduction of tea.

Feel a bit lost now – my next historical quest? Thinking about looking into the history of English fruit and veg!!