Who Discovered Chocolate – Its Journey from Bean to Bar

Who discovered chocolate? Find out the answer and everything you need to know about the tale of chocolate here in this blog. Keep reading to learn more…

Who discovered chocolate? My recent bar of chocolate had me wondering this. Who’s the creator of this delightful treat? After all, only amazing minds can come up with such amazing creations. With this question stuck in my mind, I started researching. And what I found was as amazing as this treat is. Chocolate was not discovered years ago, or decades ago or centuries ago. In fact, it was discovered AGES ago. And its journey toward becoming the world’s most loved treat is even more amazing. Want to know about it? Let’s dig in! Or better say: Let’s bite into it!

Who Discovered Chocolate? From Bean to Bar

The Olmecs are said to be the ones who discovered chocolate. But this is not all. There is so much else for you to know. Let’s begin our expedition from bean to bar. Here I’m going to walk you through every bit of how a mere plant became this magnificent treat loved by everyone. And by everyone, I mean everyone! After all, who doesn’t love chocolate? Well, if there’s anyone who doesn’t, sad for them because they’ve deprived themselves of such deliciousness. Anyhow let’s not distract from the main topic: who discovered chocolate?

The Origin of Chocolate – Olmecs Drank Chocolate

Chocolate is the most loved dessert but it’s not a treat of today. It’s an age-old treat. If someone says it was the forbidden fruit that had Adam and Eve kicked out of heaven, I’d believe it. Because it’s that DELICIOUS!! Jokes apart, the history of chocolate hails back to several origins. Moreover, the most acceptable theory makes the Olmecs the creators of this delight. And the most interesting thing: the discovery took place 5300 years ago. 

Moreover, researches show that the chocolate tree (hey, you imagining a tree with chocolate for fruits? SAME!) – Theobroma cacao tree was first found in South America in the Amazon forests. Afterward, their domestication took place in Central America. At that time, the Olmecs used chocolates as medicine – lucky them. I mean, give me chocolate as medicine – I CAN HAVE IT ALL THE TIME. Anyway, they also used to drink it in rituals.

Chocolate – the Godly & Blissful Drink of Mayans

The Mayans presented chocolate drinks to honor their gods. Ancient people were having them as medicines and gods as drinks – peeps were having the time of their lives! Moreover, they roasted and ground cocoa beans to make the drink. And here comes the most surprising ingredients of this drink: chilies, cornmeal, and water. Mixed together with cocoa, they created a godly drink – the chocolate drink.

Aztecs Got the Chocolatey Gift of God

Let’s discover more about origin of chocolate. By the 15th Century, chocolate reached the Aztecs and they believed it was the gift of god Quetzalcoatl. Because it was a gift from god, people were delighted to have it. But this wasn’t the only reason people were so happy to have it because it was delicious. And this is not all! In fact, the Aztecs used cocoa beans as currency too. This means they used to buy stuff with chocolate. Interesting, right? Moreover, they even used chocolate to prepare for war. 

Chocolate Drink Finally Arrived in Europe

According to the legend, chocolate became a worldwide traveler in the 1500s. Furthermore, it was the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés who brought it to his homeland. Moreover, in search of gold and riches, he found the real gem: chocolate! Yes, that’s true! The Aztec emperor offered him a cup of cocoa which blew him away with its amazing taste. He believed his people deserved to taste this deliciousness too. So, he brought cocoa seeds with him.

Soon, chocolate became a popular drink among the rich and healthy of Spain and people were just loving it. A century later, chocolate reached France and gradually the rest of Europe. Slowly, several countries set up their own cocoa plantations.

Chocolate – And It’s Solid Popularity

The European Royals were already loving the chocolate. But what about the commoners? Didn’t they deserve the chocolatey goodness too? Well, seems like their wishes were granted in the 1800s when chocolate production was commercialized. A machine was introduced named the chocolate press. It produced cocoa powder. This was later mixed with liquids and then solidified into the AMAZING CHOCOLATE!!! And this is how our very own, favorite treat chocolate was discovered. 

Coming back to our question of who discovered chocolate? We know that we can’t give credit to just the ancient peeps. After all, it came into being because of a lot of creative people.

Chocolate Making Process – How the Magic Happens?

We know – who discovered chocolate? – but do we know how is chocolate made? Well, chocolate is so delicious because of it’s intricate composition. Moreover, the magic lies in its decedent process. The cocoa beans go through several steps to become your beloved delicious bar. Here are the steps of the chocolate making process:

• Fermentation
• Drying
• Roasting
• Grinding
• Tempering
• Refining

Ending Thoughts – Who Discovered Chocolate?

The first ever people to find out that they can put cocoa plant to good use were Olmecs. However, we can’t give them full credit. After all, cocoa beans have come a long way to become the treat they are now: chocolate! Moreover, this treat is not just cocoa. In fact, it also contains milk, sugar, butter and additives to give it its creaminess and indulgent taste. Besides, the chocolate revolution took place when chocolate reached Europe and countries started to grow their own cocoa. Soon, they had their own chocolate production factories. From beans to drink to a range of delightful treats, chocolate’s journey has been remarkable.