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History of Chocolate

Cultivating and consuming chocolate is an over 3000 year old tradition in Central and South America. Chocolate is a part of Mexican Indian's mythology and plays an important part in their religious rites.
Chocolate was first formed as a beverage, made by grinding cocoa beans into a paste, and adding water, sugar, and spices. This drink was prized by the Aztecs and the courts of Kings.
When the Spaniards came over in 1519, they discovered how to use it from the Aztecs. For a long time, chocolate was drunk only by high-society Spaniards. It was then introduced to England in 1657. Eventually, it became more common, and cheaper.
In the United States, chocolate was first manufactured at Milton Lower Mills, near Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1765.
In the early 1990s, annual U.S. production of chocolate and related confections exceeded 1.2 million metric tons. Annual U.S. comsumption was 11.3 lbs per person per year.

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