Hot Cocoa Mix is a powdered mix that is added to a hot liquid such as boiling water or milk to make a hot chocolate drink. To be technically correct, Hot Cocoa is made from cocoa powder, while hot chocolate is made by powdering solid chocolate which also includes cocoa butter and sugar. Hot Cocoa tends to be lower in fat than hot chocolate, but still retains the antioxidant properties of chocolate.
The origins of Hot Cocoa Mix dates back to the first uses of the cacao bean, 3,000 years ago by Central American cultures. The Aztecs used the cacao bean not only to make a chocolate drink but used it also as a currency. Since there was no sugar in the Americas, the original Hot Cocoa drink had a bitter and often spicy flavor due to the addition of cinnamon, vanilla or chili peppers. By the 1500’s, this cacao drink was introduced to Europe via Spain, where they removed the chili spice and added sugar. It wasn’t until 1700 that the English added milk to their cacao drink.
In the 1800s Coenrad Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, invented a process that separated cocoa butter from the cacao seeds, resulting in a purer cocoa powder. Further, Van Houten discovered that adjusting the pH of cocoa powder allowed it to be converted into a Hot Cocoa Mix more easily incorporated into liquids. This technique became known as Dutching. Also it was discovered that adding cocoa butter and sugar back to the cocoa powder made it possible to press the mixture into bars, thus his development of Hot Cocoa Mix led to the creation of the beloved chocolate bar.
Today, the recipes for hot chocolate drinks made from Hot Cocoa Mix vary depending on where you are in the world. In the USA, dissolving Hot Cocoa Mix, which is made from cocoa powder, dried milk and sugar, into boiling water is a common style of preparation. In Europe, hot chocolate drinks made from Hot Cocoa tend to be thicker, more like a pudding, while Mexican hot chocolate is often spiced and served with breakfast.
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