Who invented Mexican hot chocolate?
According to Alarcon, this traditional recipe can be traced back to Mexico’s ancient civilizations, such as the Aztecs and Mayans, who blended cocoa beans with vanilla to make an energizing drink.
What do you need to make Mexican hot chocolate?

Ingredients
- 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder.
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- 1/8 teaspoon chili powder.
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne (optional – you can omit this if you don’t want it too spicy)
- 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate.
Why does Mexican hot chocolate taste different?
At its most basic, Mexican chocolate is made from coarsely ground cacao, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Chiles, nuts, and spices can also be worked into the mix, resulting in a complex, intense flavor. Besides its added ingredients, Mexican chocolate also has a more rustic texture than many other styles of chocolate.
What is Mexican hot chocolate made of?
What is Mexican chocolate? Mexican chocolate is made by grinding cacao nibs, sugar, and cinnamon, and has a more granular texture than what most Americans are used to. Depending on the brand, other flavorings like chiles, allspice, or nutmeg may also be added.

Who invented the hot chocolate?
Early on, London pharmacies manufactured and sold the beverage as a medicinal remedy. Later, in the 19th century, the Cadbury Brothers commercialized the recipe under the name “Sir Hans Sloane’s Milk Chocolate.” As hot milk chocolate’s popularity spread, so did Sloane’s fame as the inventor of modern hot chocolate.
Is Mexican hot chocolate actually Mexican?
The fact that the brand uses the terms “Mexican hot chocolate” does not mean that it was made with Mexican cacao; it means it is a style of drinking chocolate. Even if you purchase the Mexican chocolate in Mexico from Mexicans, it might be cacao from Africa or another country.
What makes Mexican chocolate different?
Mexican chocolate is not your average chocolate. Made from ground roasted cocao nibs, sugar, and cinnamon, it has a slightly granular texture and a distinctive spiced flavor. Besides cinnamon, Mexican chocolate may also contain other spices like nutmeg or allspice, as well as chilies for heat, and nuts for texture.
Whats the difference between American hot chocolate and Mexican hot chocolate?
What is different about Mexican hot chocolate? Mexican hot chocolate is often grainer than our powdery American hot chocolate, as spices, such as cinnamon, are combined throughout. It’s known for its creamy and frothy texture, which comes from the use of a traditional ‘molinillo’ (wooden whisk).
What is the difference between Mexican hot chocolate and American hot chocolate?
Is Mexican hot chocolate authentic?
Mexican hot chocolate recipes differ from standard, or American, hot chocolate or hot cocoa in several ways. Traditional Mexican hot chocolate combines ground, unsweetened cacao nibs (bits of dried cocoa pod seeds) with water, sugar, and spice — primarily cinnamon. This results in a very rich, somewhat grainy, drink.
Who invented Abuelita chocolate?
Fábrica de Chocolates La Azteca
Abuelita is a chocolate tablet, syrup, or powdered mix in individual packets, made by Nestlé and used to make Mexican-style hot chocolate, also known as chocolate para mesa (English: “table chocolate”). It was originally invented and commercialized in Mexico in 1939, by Fábrica de Chocolates La Azteca.
What is Mayan hot chocolate?
Mayan and Aztec Hot Chocolate Xocolatl, translated as chocolate or ‘bitter drink’, was made of cocoa beans ground up with spices and served as a beverage. Since they didn’t have any way to cultivate sugar, the drink was bitter and spicy, unlike the modern-day version of hot chocolate.
Did Mayans drink hot chocolate?
The Mayans, and later the Aztecs, made a beverage from the beans of the cocoa pods that was used for a popular, everyday drink but also used in rituals and healing practices. The beverage was a far cry from the sweetened hot chocolate that we enjoy today.
What’s the difference between Mexican hot chocolate and regular hot chocolate?
Why is it called Mexican hot chocolate?
What makes Mexican hot chocolate unique from American hot chocolate?
Why is Mexican chocolate gritty?
As a bar, chocolate in Mexico is minimally processed to retain the health benefits and integrity of cacao, which results in a more gritty, rustic texture than European chocolate. More often than not, chilies, cinnamon, sugar and or honey is added to drinks, mole and solid cacao products, like bars of chocolate.
Which came first Ibarra or Abuelita?
So, when it comes to Mexican hot chocolate, there are two brands that dominate the market: Chocolate Abuelita and Chocolate Ibarra. Chocolate Abuelita was first launched in Mexico City in 1939, before being acquired by Nestle in 1995. Chocolate Ibarra was first launched in 1946.
Where is Abuelita chocolate originated?
Mexico
Abuelita Chocolate, established in Mexico over 70 years ago, is now owned and manufactured by Nestlé. True to the traditional Mexican recipe, the chocolate tablets include cinnamon.
Did the Aztecs make hot chocolate?
How did the Aztecs make chocolate drink?
Mayan chocolate was a revered brew made of roasted and ground cacao seeds mixed with chillies, water and cornmeal. Mayans poured this mixture from one pot to another, creating a thick foamy beverage called “xocolatl”, meaning “bitter water.” By the 15th century, the Aztecs used cocoa beans as currency.
Who first invented hot chocolate?
The first chocolate drink is believed to have been created by the Maya around 2,500–3,000 years ago, and a cocoa drink was an essential part of Aztec culture by 1400 AD, by which they referred to as xocōlātl.
What is authentic Mexican hot chocolate?
What’s the difference between Mexican and regular hot chocolate?
In most of the world outside of Mexico, Mexican hot chocolate is made with milk instead of water, and sweetened with sugar. Many packaged Mexican chocolate products actually include grains of piloncillo to cater to a sweet tooth when they are sold outside of Mexico.
This delicious, not-too-sweet Mexican hot chocolate is richly flavored with cocoa and delicately seasoned with spices. The whole-stick cinnamon stirrers come in handy, as the old-fashioned chocolate mixture settles if not stirred before drinking. The blend of cinnamon and chocolate flavors is wonderful! —Kathy Young, Weatherford, Texas
Where can I buy hot chocolate in Mexico?
In Mexico, hot chocolate is most often prepared with tablets of rustic chocolate de mesa, “table chocolate”, which can be easily found stateside at Mexican grocery stores and even large supermarkets. The two most common brands are Ibarra (made by a company in Jalisco, Mexico) and Abuelita (a Nestle product).
What kind of chocolate is used to make hot chocolate?
In Mexico, hot chocolate is most often prepared with tablets of rustic chocolate de mesa, “table chocolate,” which can be easily found in the U.S. at Mexican grocery stores and even large supermarkets. The two most common brands are Ibarra (made by a company in Jalisco, Mexico) and Abuelita (a Nestle product).