Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC. The majority of the cacao was used by the Mayans, Olmecs, and Aztecs as a ritualistic and indulgent beverage called cacahuatl, meaning “sun beans”. This South American concoction was seen as possessing aphrodisiac and revitalizing powers. A cold, foamy mixture of cacao paste and water was coveted and revered while the actual beans were so precious they were used as money.

"The divine drink which builds up resistance & fights fatigue. A cup of

this precious drink permits man to walk for a whole day without food."

Hernan Cortes

(1485 - 1547)

In 1517 Hernan Cortes received his first taste of Montezuma’s beloved drink, Xocolatl, as part of a royal welcome.  It is said that Montezuma drank 50 cups of Xocolatl every day from a golden vessel, often before going to his harem.

Montezuma and the Aztec people falsely believed Cortes to be the reincarnation of the deity Quetzalcoatl, and thus paid him the homage of a god, welcoming him into the city.  Montezuma realized his mistake too late, shortly before being taken prisoner by Cortes. By 1519 Cortes had conquered Montezuma’s entire kingdom and gained possession of the emperor's prize possession, the magic beans.

However, it was Christopher Columbus who introduced the fascinating and mysterious cacao bean to the Spanish nobility later in the 16th century. The initial response to the dark, bitter liquid was not positive so the addition of sugar cane and some spices such as cinnamon or vanilla it became more palatable, thus changing it from a medicine to a dessert thereby beginning the European love affair with chocolate.

Theobroma Cacao is native to South America but now 70% of the world's chocolate is produced from cacao grown in Africa. Rest assured our beans are of the highest organic quality grown by the Ashaninka in the Peruvian rainforest where the beans are left to dry in the sun so the beans are sun kissed and full of flavour.

Chocolate throughout the last 3,000 years has evolved, and unfortunately when the big corporates decided to sell it to the masses and produce it on a gigantic scale the unique taste and healing properties were destroyed by the addition of refined sugar and milk, with the inherent magic lost in the industrial process.

Now in the 21st century we are rediscovering this special bean and all its powerful properties and the Chocolate Harlots are excited to reveal this long lost secret.