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Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa
or drinking chocolate, is a hot beverage drink consisting of shaved or melted chocolate or Cocoa solids, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener. It is often garnished with whipped cream or . Hot chocolate made with melted chocolate is sometimes called drinking chocolate, characterized by less sweetness and a thicker consistency. (2026). 9780470121658, John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 9780470121658
The first chocolate drink is believed to have been created at least 5,300 years ago, starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador, and later consumed by the Maya around 2,500–3,000 years ago. A cocoa drink was an essential part of Aztec culture by 1400 AD. The drink became popular in Europe after being introduced from Mexico in the New World and has undergone multiple changes since then. Until the 19th century, hot chocolate was used medicinally to treat ailments such as liver and stomach diseases.
Hot chocolate is consumed throughout the world and comes in multiple variations, including the spiced chocolate para mesa of Latin America, the very thick cioccolata calda served in Italy and chocolate a la taza served in Spain, and the thinner hot cocoa consumed in the United States. Prepared hot chocolate can be purchased from a range of establishments, including , fast food restaurants, and . Powdered hot chocolate mixes, which can be added to boiling water or hot milk to make the drink at home, are sold at and Online shopping.
Because sugar was yet to come to the Americas, chocolate was said to be an acquired taste. Chocolate was then a drink consisting of a chocolate base flavored with vanilla and other spices that was served cold.Hickling, William (1838). History of the Conquest of Mexico. . The drink tasted spicy and bitter as opposed to sweetened modern hot chocolate, and José de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, described chocolate as:
Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolate. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that "chili"; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh.Within Mesoamerica many drinks were made from cacao beans, and further enhanced by flowers like vanilla to add flavor. This was a tribute to the Aztecs. The Aztecs, or Mexica, required conquered people to provide them with chocolate. Cups, gourds, cacao beans, as well as other things they acquired were listed in Codex Mendoza Cacao became used as a currency throughout Mesoamerica. The Aztecs used chocolate to show high status: it was a bad omen for someone low or common to drink chocolate.
Sweet-tasting hot chocolate was then invented, leading hot chocolate to become a luxury item among the European nobility by the 17th century. Even when the first Chocolate House (an establishment similar to a modern coffee shop) opened in 1657, chocolate was still very expensive, costing 50 to 75 pence (approximately 10–15 shillings) a pound (roughly £45–65 in 2016). At the time, hot chocolate was often mixed with spices for flavor; one notable recipe was hot chocolate "infused with fresh jasmine flowers, amber, musk, vanilla and ambergris." In the late 17th century, Sir Hans Sloane, president of the Royal College of Physicians, visited Jamaica, where he was introduced to cocoa. He found it 'nauseous' but by mixing it with milk made it more palatable. When Sloane returned to England, he brought the recipe with him, introducing milk chocolate to England. The aristocratic nature of the drink led to chocolate being referred to as "the drink of the gods" in 1797.
The Spanish began to use jicaras made of porcelain in place of the hollowed gourds used by the natives. They then further tinkered with the recipes by using spices such as cinnamon, black pepper, anise, and sesame. Many of these things were used to try to recreate the flavor of the native flowers which they could not easily acquire. Black pepper was used to replace chillies and mecaxochitl, cinnamon was used in place of orejuelas, sugar replaced honey.
In 1828, Coenraad Johannes van Houten developed the first cocoa powder-producing machine in the Netherlands. The press separated the greasy cocoa butter from cacao seeds, leaving a purer chocolate powder behind. This powder was easier to stir into milk and water. By using cocoa powder and low amounts of cocoa butter, it was also possible to manufacture . The term chocolate then came to mean solid chocolate rather than hot chocolate, with the first chocolate bar being created in 1847.
According to tradition, the Italian version cioccolata calda was first born in Turin around 1560: to celebrate that the capital of the Duchy of Savoy was moved from Chambéry to Turin, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy asked for a new beverage, and so this thicker, creamy version was created.
Rum is added to hot chocolate to make a Lumumba.
Hot chocolate with churros is a traditional breakfast in Spain. This style of hot chocolate can be extremely thick, often having the consistency of warm chocolate pudding. In the Netherlands, hot chocolate is a very popular drink, known as warme chocolademelk. It is often served at home or in cafes. In France, hot chocolate is often served at breakfast time. Sometimes sliced bread spread with butter, jam, honey, or Nutella is dunked into the hot chocolate.
In Germany, hot chocolate made by melted chocolate (Heiße Schokolade Wiener Art) is distinguished from those made from powders (Trinkschokolade). It is often served with whipped cream on top.
Even further variations of hot chocolate exist. In some cafes in Belgium and other areas in Europe, one who orders a warme chocolade or chocolat chaud receives a cup of steaming white milk and a small bowl of bittersweet chocolate chips to dissolve in the milk. One Vienna variant, Heiße Schokolade Wiener Art, contains an egg yolk for thickness.
Tsokolate is also known as suklati in Kapampangan; sikulate in Maguindanao; and sikwate or sikuwate in Visayan languages. All are derived from Spanish ('chocolate').
Tsokolate is commonly consumed at breakfast with traditional kakanin delicacies or pandesal and other types of bread. It is also popular during Christmas season in the Philippines.
Hot chocolate mixed with espresso or coffee under the name of caffè mocha is sold in coffee shops around the United States and elsewhere. This particular name comes from the town Mocha, Yemen, where a specific blend of coffee with the same name is grown.
In Mexico, hot chocolate often includes semi-sweet chocolate, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla. Hot chocolate is considered by some to be a children's drink, although consuming it with tamales is common among all ages.Janet Long-Solís (2026). 031332431X, Greenwood Publishing Group. 031332431X Hot chocolate of this type is commonly sold in circular or hexagonal tablets which can be dissolved into hot milk, water, or cream, and then blended until the mixture develops a creamy froth. A 1942 article in the Chicago Tribune describes Mexican cinnamon hot chocolate as being traditionally served alongside a variety of sweet Mexican pastries, such as pan dulce or churros.
In Peru, hot chocolate can be served with panettone at breakfast on Christmas Day, even though summer has already started in the southern hemisphere. In addition, many Peruvians will add a sweet chocolate syrup to their drink.
The Argentina submarino is a hot chocolate drink made from adding a chocolate bar and sugar to hot steamed milk.
Also numerous documents reveal medicinal uses of cacao throughout Central and South America in which different components of the tree are still used today, in the late 20th and early 21st century, including cacao bark, fat, flowers, fruit pulp and leaves.
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