Coffee, Tea or Chocolate?

It's that time of year when it's fun to have some hot chocolate after coming in from the cold.  But you may not know that you are following a tradition that began in Colonial America. In fact chocolate as a drink was so important to early Americans that it was considered a necessary supply for soldiers. Unlike modern cocoa the chocolate used for these drinks still had the cocoa butter in it. Another difference was that spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla were used to add flavor.

The cocoa beans were imported from South America and transforming them into a rich creamy chocolate was quite a task. You can see the process in this video,  18th Century Chocolate Making.  Eventually ways to grind and press the beans on a large scale were developed making chocolate available not only to the wealthy but to Americans in general.

Although chocolate drinks have been enjoyed in America since the mid 1600s it wasn't until the mid 1800s that chocolate bars were produced. Those early chocolate bars were somewhat coarse and dry. Methods to make smooth creamy bars were developed toward the end of the 1800s making the melt in your mouth chocolate bars we enjoy today possible.

If you would like to give someone a taste of history or simply share it with your family go to American Heritage Chocolate site to order some chocolate. I've had some and their chocolate is a treat with that touch of spice giving a sense of enjoying your chocolate drink in that long ago time. Careful research was done so that you can serve a chocolate drink much like those our ancestors loved.

(picture from Wikimedia Commons)