A Brief Indulgent History of Chocolate: Who We Have to Thank (and Possibly Blame)
- dthholland
- May 6
- 5 min read
Updated: May 9
Picture this: you’re curled up on the sofa after a long day, nursing a bar of chocolate like it’s the last form of pleasure available to humanity. Somewhere, deep in your lizard brain, a quiet thought bubbles up: “Who invented this heavenly substance?” Well, dear reader, prepare to unwrap the surprisingly rich—and occasionally ridiculous—history of chocolate, complete with warriors, wigs, and a suspicious amount of Quakers.
The First to Go Loco for Cacao: The Olmecs
Let us begin around 1500 BCE in the steamy rainforests of southern Mexico, where the Olmec civilisation were the first to domesticate the Theobroma cacao tree. That name literally means “food of the gods,” which, to be honest, is the least pretentious name a tree bearing chocolate beans could possibly have.
They didn’t eat it like we do today—no truffles or fondants for them. Instead, they ground the fermented beans into a paste and drank it, often with spices and water. There was nothing sweet about it. Think less “gourmet hot chocolate” and more “spiced cacao smoothie for spiritually inclined warriors.”
While the Olmecs mysteriously vanished from history, their love of cacao didn’t. Their neighbours picked up the pod and ran with it.
The Maya: Chocolate as Ceremony and Currency
If the Olmecs introduced cacao, the Maya turned it into an institution. Around 250–900 CE, the Maya were grinding cacao into drinks, offering it to their gods, and serving it at weddings and rituals. If you were Maya and you wanted to throw a respectable do, you’d better have the cacao on tap.
Maya artwork shows gods sprouting from cacao pods, and many noble burials contained cacao vessels to accompany the dead into the afterlife—possibly to negotiate with the gods for a better seating arrangement.
Interestingly, they didn’t add sugar either. The drink was still bitter, often spiced with chilli, annatto, or cornmeal. It gave strength, stimulated the senses, and functioned as a kind of divine energy drink. Red Bull, eat your heart out.
The Aztecs: Chocolate Gets Serious (and a Bit Weird)
Then came the Aztecs, who went full throttle. They valued cacao beans so highly that they used them as currency—your monthly rent could easily be 100 beans, and a good turkey was 200.
Their emperor, Montezuma II, allegedly drank fifty cups of spiced chocolate a day from a golden chalice. If that sounds excessive, bear in mind he also believed he was part god. You try telling him to cut back.
The Aztecs also believed chocolate had aphrodisiac properties. (They were not the last to make this hopeful assumption.) For them, chocolate was consumed cold, unsweetened, and frothy—achieved by pouring the liquid from one cup to another at height. Imagine a barista with a flair for the dramatic and a very high ceiling.
Cortés and Montezuma: A Chocolate-Flavoured Culture Clash
One of the biggest episodes in chocolate’s history occurred in 1519 when Hernán Cortés met Emperor Montezuma II in the heart of the Aztec empire. According to some Spanish accounts, Montezuma believed Cortés might be the returning god Quetzalcoatl. Whether or not Cortés exploited that belief, he certainly developed a taste for Aztec wealth—including their prized cacao.
The Spanish didn’t care much for the Aztec chocolate drink at first—it was cold, bitter, and frankly not what one might expect from something so revered. But the moment sugar entered the picture, everything changed. Cacao made the voyage across the Atlantic, and by the early 17th century, Spanish monks were adding honey and cinnamon, effectively transforming a sacred ritual drink into a fashionable European hot chocolate.
By the time chocolate hit Italy and France, it was already being touted as a health tonic. “Good for the digestion,” they claimed. “Stimulating to the passions,” whispered others. Let’s just say 17th-century people didn’t need much convincing to drink warm, sugary beverages while gossiping in silk breeches.
Chocolate Houses: The First Caffeinated Social Media
In the 17th and 18th centuries, chocolate houses began springing up across Europe. These establishments weren’t exactly egalitarian. You wouldn’t find the working classes in them; they were the haunts of upper-class gossips, poets, gamblers, and philosophers.
One such establishment, White’s Chocolate House in London, became so synonymous with scandal and high-stakes betting that by 1736 it was hosting a book where gentlemen could bet on “which of two men will live longest,” or another that read: “£3,000 that a certain man dies by such a day.” Morbid, yes, but perfectly on-brand for the era, all discussed, presumably over a cup of particularly frothy chocolate.
Chocolate arrived in London in the mid-1600s, and soon after, chocolate houses opened their doors. These establishments were the Georgian equivalent of today’s coffee shops—but with significantly more powdered wigs, cane-fencing, and political scheming. Inside, men debated the finer points of Whiggism, played cards, and indulged in scandalous pamphlets, all while sipping frothy hot chocolate in porcelain cups.
From Craft to Confection: The Industrial Revolution
By the 19th century, chocolate was no longer the reserve of royalty. Innovations in processing and production made it more affordable and more versatile. The Dutch, being nothing if not efficient, streamlined chocolate into its modern form, and the British and Swiss built empires out of it.
In 1847, Fry’s of Bristol produced the first solid chocolate bar. This invention was a game-changer. Finally, chocolate could be carried in your pocket, eaten on the go, and hoarded secretly in desk drawers.
Meanwhile, over in Switzerland, Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé created milk chocolate in 1875. This creamy, smooth concoction won the hearts (and teeth) of the public. Rodolphe Lindt added conching—a slow stirring process that made chocolate extra silky. People didn’t just eat chocolate—they swooned over it.
Enter the Quakers: Sweetness and Social Conscience
The 19th century saw the rise of several chocolate dynasties. Interestingly, many of the big names—Cadbury, Fry, and Rowntree—were run by Quakers. Their religion prohibited alcohol, gambling, and dancing (so, naturally, they turned to chocolate).
John Cadbury opened his business in Birmingham in 1824 and began producing cocoa and drinking chocolate. By the 1860s, the Cadburys were marketing “pure cocoa essence” as a wholesome alternative to alcohol. One suspects that many Victorian mothers handed it out with a side of moral instruction.
In 1875, a Swiss entrepreneur named Daniel Peter added condensed milk (developed by Henri Nestlé) to create the first milk chocolate bar. A few years later, Rodolphe Lindt invented the conching machine, which smoothed chocolate to heavenly levels.
Chocolate Goes Global
By the 20th century, chocolate had gone from Aztec ritual to industrialised delight. Milton S. Hershey, an American with a dream and a moustache, brought affordable milk chocolate to the masses in the US. He even built a company town—Hershey, Pennsylvania—where workers lived in chocolate-scented harmony. Sort of.
From there, it was a whirlwind of branding, mass production, war-time ration bars, Easter eggs, novelty shapes, and a galaxy of filled confections from caramel to peanut butter and beyond.
A Note on Ethics: Bittersweet Realities
Of course, not all is sweet in the world of chocolate. The history of cacao includes colonial exploitation, slavery, and ongoing concerns about child labour in parts of West Africa today. Thankfully, movements for fair trade and ethical sourcing are growing, and companies are under pressure to clean up their cocoa supply chains. It’s something to chew on while enjoying your next ethically sourced truffle.
In Conclusion: Thank You, Cacao
So who do we thank? In no particular order:
The Olmecs, for first saying “hey, maybe we drink this.”
The Maya, for ceremonial flair.
The Aztecs, for their militarised enthusiasm.
Spanish colonists, for mixing in sugar and making it palatable to Europe.
Coenraad van Houten, for the science bit.
Fry, Cadbury, Nestlé, Lindt, and Hershey, for industrialising our cravings.
And you, dear reader, for carrying on the noble tradition of justifying chocolate consumption through historical research. Bravo.
