‘Hot’ Chocolate Ingredients

The Aztecs drank xocoatl, a bitter concoction made from cocoa beans, which they also used as a form of payment. Spanish explorers who encountered the Native Americans drinking the beverage in the early 16th century took the concept back with them to Europe, and soon after a variation of the cocoa drink was all the rage across parts of Europe. (The addition of sugar and milk no doubt helped boost the popularity.) In the 1800s, processing methods were subsequently developed that brought about diff…