The History of Chocolate

 

That "chocolate" we all love so much today actually has a really deep and fascinating history. A lot of people think it all started in Europe or England, but its true birthplace is all the way on the other side of the world, right in the rainforests of Mexico and Central America.

Over 3,000 years ago, Native American tribes in that region, like the Maya and the Aztecs, first discovered the fruit of the cacao tree in the wild. But they didn't just eat it as a sweet fruit like we might think. Instead, they roasted the beans, ground them into a powder, and then mixed it with water, chili peppers, and various other spices to drink it as a beverage. The taste was nothing like the sweet chocolate we have today—it was incredibly bitter and spicy.

What’s really interesting here is that the word "chocolate" itself didn't come from somewhere else; it is an authentic, original word from the Native Americans. In the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, they called this drink "Chocolatl." It literally meant "biter water." It's from this very word that today's global term "chocolate" was born. Remarkably, cacao beans were so rare and valuable back then that they were even used as currency, just like gold.

The big turning point in history came in the 16th century (the 1500s). When Spanish conquistadors arrived in the Americas and conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico, they brought these cacao beans back to the King of Spain as a gift. The Europeans weren't fans of the original bitter and spicy taste, so they took out the chilis and started mixing in sugar, honey, and vanilla. Once they drank it that way, they realized just how delicious of a sweet drink it could be.

After that, chocolate spread rapidly from Spain to France, Italy, and eventually all the way to England. By the 17th century, "Chocolate Houses" were popping up all over England like mushrooms, becoming high-end social hubs where the elite and royalty would gather to proudly enjoy this premium drink.

Even then, the chocolate bars we bite into today still didn't exist. For hundreds of years, it remained strictly a "drink." It wasn't until the 19th century—specifically 1847—that a family-owned company in England called J.S. Fry & Sons successfully figured out how to blend cocoa powder with sugar and cocoa butter. With that, they invented the world's very first solid chocolate bar. And that is exactly how it evolved into the modern-day chocolate that everyone around the world is so head-over-heels in love with today.

— Aung Myo Lwin @ Agga