It’s Hot Chocolate Season: 5 Facts You Didn’t Know About Hot Chocolate

Now that the colder winter months are upon us, it’s time to relax with a delicious cup of hot chocolate to unwind at the end of the day. In our opinion, it’s one of the best things about this time of year. If you’re also a fan of this popular drink, you may be interested to find out several fascinating facts about hot chocolate that you never knew before. Take a look below:
 

It’s thousands of years old

Hot chocolate is a much older recipe than you may have anticipated. While it’s still extremely popular to this day both to drink at home and in cafes across the world, the classic drink dates back thousands of years. It is presumed that the Mexicans were the very first to take the fruit from the cocoa tree for roasting, before crushing it and mixing it with water.
 

It wasn’t originally hot or sweet

Although hot chocolate has become a tradition in its own right, it wasn’t always made hot or with any sweetness – so today, we’d probably consider it tasteless and bland. Thousands of years ago, the Aztecs creates a bitter beverage known as ‘xocoatl’ which was usually made with chillies, water and corn and sold warm rather than hot. It wasn’t until the Spanish got hold of the recipe that they decided to adapt the ingredients by adding sugar and cinnamon to sweeten things up a little. Over the centuries, it has developed into the delicious, sweet beverage we know and love today.
 

It was believed to be a medicine

While you may resort to a hot chocolate when you’re sad or down, it was once believed to have genuine medical purposes to treat illnesses. The pure cacao drink produced with high in calories and antioxidants and a shot of caffeine which was believed to have healing properties.
 

There’s a difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa

If you’ve ever been to America, you may be aware that one of their famous drinks is ‘hot cocoa’, however, this isn’t the same recipe as hot chocolate. So, what is the difference you may ask?

Hot cocoa is made up of ground-up cocoa powder which turns to potassium carbonate through a specific process. On the other hand, hot chocolate is created using ground-up cocoa which still contains the fat, which achieves a thicker and creamier texture.
 

It’s good for you

Yes – you read that correctly. According to research, hot chocolate may be good for your health. However, this all depends on the type of hot chocolate you select. Most of those you purchase from the stores are created from processed chocolate with unnecessary additional elements, however, there are hot chocolate powders on the market which are made from pure ingredients Chocolate in its natural form contains antioxidants have been proven to prevent cancer and even lower blood pressure and the risk of heart attack and strokes.
 
Want to take a look at our hot chocolate range? Take a look at our current selection here.