The cacao tree, which produces the beans that eventually become cocoa, is native to the area around the Amazon River. The Aztecs learned how to roast and crush the beans to make a beverage they called xocolatl. The beans were considered so valuable that they were used as money, and the drink was reserved for royalty. The Spanish conquerors who pillaged the Aztec empire in the early 1500s brought the cocoa bean back to Spain; it was almost certainly the Spanish who first blended it with sugar, creating drinkable chocolate as we know it.
Cocoa powder, from which most hot chocolate (more correctly, hot cocoa) is made, is often sold premixed with powdered milk and sugar. And because cocoa powder does not dissolve instantly in liquid but tends to form lumps that must be smoothed by vigorous stirring, commercial mixes are treated to increase solubility. You will have much better hot chocolate if you start with unsweetened cocoa powder, sweeten it to taste, and mix it with fresh milk. Some cocoa powder has been ΓÇ£DutchedΓÇ¥ by the addition of an alkaline agent. Dutch-processing darkens the natural whitish brown hue of cocoa powder to a lustrous mahogany color and helps make the powder more soluble, but it does not necessarily improve the flavor. In Mexico, a special wooden stirrer called a molinillo is used to fluff chocolate drinks just before serving. This also inhibits the formation of the cream ΓÇ£skinΓÇ¥ that often appears on top. If you want this aerated effect, try a wire whisk or rotary beater. Serve the hot beverage in a deep, narrow chocolate cup to retain the heat, and spoon whipped cream on top if desired. You can also add marshmallows; use miniature ones or snip the larger kind into bits using scissors dipped in cold water.
