Aztecs and cacao
Chocolate starts its history as a beverage in early Mayan and Aztec cultures. The wild beans were roasted and added with other ingredients to form either hot or cold frothy drinks. The Aztecs believed that drinking chocolate gave mortals the wisdom of the Gods.

Bringing back the booty
Columbus bought Aztec cacao to Europe. It was on his fourth voyage to the ‘New World’ that the fearless Italian happened across a Mayan trader and spied beans he mistook for almonds. The Mayan was reluctant to part with his goods so for the glory of Church, State and Christopher Columbus, he stole them.

The invention of Drinking Chocolate
It was the krafty Dutch who learned how to create the delight we know today as chocolate. The process of ‘Dutching’ involves using alkaline salts to remove the bitter taste. Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten was the inventor of this process that is still called ‘Dutching’ to this day. It was his father Casparus who then went on to use a hydraulic press to extract the fat from cacao and make it more water soluble and so the modern chocolate drink was born. ‘Dutched’ chocolate is still considered superior to other methods of cacao processing.

Discovering the world’s finest chocolate
In the 1800s cacao was introduced to the African continent where today 70% of the world’s chocolate comes from. In 1928 a Dutchman called KJ Gerkens built a factory and sourced his chocolate from Africa where a much drier climate produces a richer less acidic chocolate. Gerken chocolate was an instant hit.

Yahava Hot Chokolat heralds from this same world-famous factory where we make it much easier for you to discover.

Try these delicious hot and cold drinks.

*Based on a 300ml serving

Hot Chocolate

1) Put 3 heaped teaspoons of Chokolat in a glass (and we mean heaped).

2) Add a splash of boiling water.

3) Stir the mixture into a syrup.

4) Fill the glass with hot creamy milk and stir well.

Iced Chocolate

Repeat steps 1 to 3 but then fill the glass with chilled milk, chocolate ice cream and ice cubes. Another great addition to our Chokolat drinks is our Peppermint Essence, to make delicious Peppermint Hot Choks.