Chocolate Was The National Drink of the Aztecs

One among the many new things that Columbus brought back to Europe with him was cacao. In 1519, Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico and discovered something he didn't expect: a marvelous city full of palaces. It was the capital of the Aztecs, a wealthy ancient civilization.

The emperor of the Aztecs was Montezuma. He was very fond of the chocolate drink. It is said that he drank no other beverage but chocolatl flavored with vanilla and other spices. The chocolate beverage of the Aztecs had the consistency of honey and it was taken cold. It was served in goblets made of gold and golden spoons too.

It is not known how long the Aztecs knew how to prepare their chocolate beverage from cacao. However, if we read the list of tributes that other cities paid to them, the large amounts of chests of chocolate listed lead us to believe that cacao and chocolate were very important commodities for this ancient civilization.