Hot chocolate: A hug in a mug

Coffee brings you up, tea [cools you down](. Hot apple cider pairs with a cold morning at the farmer’s market; consommé is for the ailing; butter tea is largely the [province of yak farmers]( on the great Tibetan plane, or, [in its coffee form]( of biohackers in Silicon Valley. Hot chocolate is like none of these. It is a treat, but not so holiday-bound as eggnog or mulled wine; it gives you a lift, but you can still have it just before bedtime. It befits the young and the old, the sick and the well, urbanites and country-dwellers. Most of all, it is a drink that says, “I love you.” (You can use it to remind yourself of that, too, if you need to.) Wherever you go (almost), you will find a version of it. [Colombians add cheese](. Filipinos may include [peanut butter](. The Viennese top it with [a thick slug of whipped cream](. In Mexico, where it originated, it is minimally grainy and maximally invigorating. But where did it come from, and how did we all fall in love with it? Let’s put the kettle on and find out. Cheers! 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐[View this email on the web]( Sponsored by [Quartz Daily Obsession] Hot chocolate December 23, 2019 The fuzzy slippers of hot beverages --------------------------------------------------------------- Coffee brings you up, tea [cools you down](. Hot apple cider pairs with a cold morning at the farmer’s market; consommé is for the ailing; butter tea is largely the [province of yak farmers]( on the great Tibetan plane, or, [in its coffee form]( of biohackers in Silicon Valley. Hot chocolate is like none of these. It is a treat, but not so holiday-bound as eggnog or mulled wine; it gives you a lift, but you can still have it just before bedtime. It befits the young and the old, the sick and the well, urbanites and country-dwellers. Most of all, it is a drink that says, “I love you.” (You can use it to remind yourself of that, too, if you need to.) Wherever you go (almost), you will find a version of it. [Colombians add cheese](. Filipinos may include [peanut butter](. The Viennese top it with [a thick slug of whipped cream](. In Mexico, where it originated, it is minimally grainy and maximally invigorating. But where did it come from, and how did we all fall in love with it? Let’s put the kettle on and find out. Cheers! 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐[View this email on the web]( by the digits [550:]( Calories in a large Starbucks hot chocolate—the same as a Big Mac [$13.95:]( Cost of a razzle-dazzling Frrrozen Hot Chocolate at the deeply kitschy Manhattan restaurant Serendipity 3 [2,000:]( Cups of chocolatl poured and consumed every day in the court of Montezuma, the 16th-century Aztec leader [1,291:]( Instagram hits for the hashtag #blossominghotchocolate, Dominique Ansel’s telegenic chocolate-marshmallow concoction [7:3:]( Ratio of dark to milk chocolate in British food writer Felicity Cloake’s “perfect” hot chocolate [24 g (8 oz):]( Daily ration of chocolate provided to polar explorer Robert Scott’s men on their 1911 trek to the South Pole [35%:]( Growth of Mexican hot chocolate on US menus since 2015 REUTERS/Blair Gable origin story Bean there, done that --------------------------------------------------------------- People have been turning the seeds of the cacao plant into drinks for thousands of years—in Mexico, [cacao-based beverages have been a staple]( since at least 1,900 BC. Later, cacao was a popular drink among the Maya, who took it warm, and the Aztecs, who preferred it cold and seasoned with spices like chile and vanilla. (It was said to have been brought to humans by the god Quetzalcoatl, who was cast out by his divine peers for sharing it.) Early Spanish colonists weren’t so sold, however: Christopher Columbus in particular had little time for it. But gradually, the drink made its way into Spanish life, first among monks and friars and then as a luxury good, popular in the Spanish court. By the end of the 18th century, it had conquered Europe—but wrought misery in the process. Hot chocolate was so popular that it created a thriving market for slave labor in the New World, with cacao plantations variously owned by the English, Dutch, and French. Though today we think of bar chocolate as the original, most essential form of the treat, the first chocolate bar wasn’t sold until 1847, when a UK-based manufacturer, Joseph Fry, figured out the right proportions of cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and sugar to make a solid bar. Sponsored by DuPont The beauty of bacteria. --------------------------------------------------------------- Our bodies are full of bacteria—some helpful, others less so. Probiotics supply our bodies with the good bacteria we need to thrive, and modern science is expanding our understanding of the ways they work.[Explore the science]( quotable “Obviously, it’s not really delicious like hot chocolate or Coke, but for wine… brilliant.” —[Peep Show’s Jeremy “Jez” Usborne, on a pricey Italian red]( “The superiority of [hot] chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.” —[Thomas Jefferson, writing to John Adams]( giphy Gifted Forget to buy your boss a present? --------------------------------------------------------------- There’s still time to gift them a Quartz membership! Our field guides on today’s most important topics, plus ready-to-use presentations, workplace guides, and conference calls are a resource they’ll use time and time again. [Give the gift of Quartz](. Giphy pop quiz Which of these people has not expressed a fondness for hot chocolate? Courtney LoveMiranda KerrSamuel PepysVirginia Woolf Correct. Speaking to Grub Street, the Hole frontwoman noted: “I hate chocolate. Fuck chocolate. Kurt hated chocolate, too.” Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Hot chocolate? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Daily Obsession email – to the email – Explain it like I’m 5! What’s the difference between chocolate and cocoa? --------------------------------------------------------------- Although some people say “cocoa” to mean hot chocolate, cocoa powder and solid chocolate are two different products made from the cacao bean. Either can be used to make hot chocolate—cocoa dissolved into warm milk with some sugar makes a thinner concoction than the [thick Spanish style made from melted chocolate]( and milk, and used for dipping churros. Making chocolate is itself a long process. It begins with seeds from the cacao tree, which is native to Mexico. They have a very bitter taste and to improve the flavor, they are piled in vats to ferment for up to a week. After that, they’re put in the sun to dry for another week or two, before being cleaned and roasted. This gives us cacao nibs, which are then ground into a powder called cocoa mass—chocolate, in its simplest form. But there’s still a ways to go. First, that mixture is heated until it melts into a liquid called chocolate liquor. Next, it is separated into its two parts—dry, crumbly cocoa solids and the fatty pale yellow cocoa butter that gives chocolate its creamy texture. To make chocolate, they’ll be put back together with sugar and sometimes milk. Cocoa is produced when the cocoa solids are processed into a fine powder. It is intensely flavored, but not sweet at all. It is generally used in baked goods—and hot chocolate, or hot cocoa, of course. brief history [1502:]( Christopher Columbus encounters cocoa beans for the first time—but is much more interested in gold and silver. [1657:]( London’s first “Chocolate House” is opened by a Frenchman, who promises the drink at “reasonable rates.” [1828:]( A Dutch chemist adds alkaline salts to chocolate liquor, creating Dutch process cocoa powder. [1961:]( Swiss Miss becomes the first instant cocoa brand to hit US shelves. [1975:]( British soul band Hot Chocolate releases their chart-topping single “You Sexy Thing.” [2009:]( Emmy-winning choreographer Debbie Allen stages the first performance of the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, updating the festive Tchaikovsky original. [2019:]( New York’s City Bakery, home of “America’s most iconic hot chocolate,” closes its doors. DIY How-to hot cocoa --------------------------------------------------------------- [America’s Test Kitchen]( and [Alton Brown]( have similar, simple recipes for creating your own. Both recommend Dutch-process cocoa powder; as the cooks at America’s Test Kitchen point out, the alkaline salts raise the pH level, giving it “fuller flavor and deeper color.” ATK recommends white chocolate chips; Brown suggests adding a pinch of cayenne pepper like the Aztecs, which he says “ups the flavor ante quite a bit, and as called for here certainly won’t be sensed as ‘heat.’” He also adds cornstarch as a thickener, as is done in [Spain and South America](. (You can also thicken it Viennese style, [with an egg yolk]( Cayenne or chiles are common ingredients in Mexican hot chocolate, as in [this Bon Appétit recipe]( which also calls for cinnamon and almond extract. The Latin Kitchen has an [even more elaborate version]( which includes anise, nutmeg, pink peppercorn, and cardamom. Giphy fun fact! The [“hot chocolate effect”]( is the name given to the rise in pitch heard when repeatedly tapping a cup of hot liquid once a soluble powder like hot chocolate, instant coffee, or salt has been added, as you might while stirring it with a teaspoon. It is also known as the allassonic effect. watch this! The Hot Choc-Late Soldiers --------------------------------------------------------------- In this 1934 Disney short, taken from the longer Hollywood Party, a brave battalion of hot chocolate soldiers must venture forth and draw (candy) swords against warring gingerbread men, perched atop a cookie castle. Very sweet or totally saccharine? We’ll leave it up to you to decide. take me down this 🐰 hole! The moral status of hot chocolate --------------------------------------------------------------- In 1636, the Spanish historian and travel writer Antonio de Léon Pinelo pondered [a difficult question]( Did drinking hot chocolate break ecclesiastical fasts? At the time, monks and other members of the Catholic church spent a significant portion of the year fasting, including abstaining from meat, eggs, and other tasty foodstuffs. Hot chocolate didn’t obviously break any God-given rules, but it seemed deeply suspect. This [17th-century book]( written entirely in Spanish, explores [the various views]( of theologians and other thinkers on this hot topic. Despite the pope giving the drink his blessing, the anti-chocolate brigade did score some wins—the drink was banned by some [orders, like the Carmelites](. Mind you, you can hardly blame them, [writes Mexican historian]( M. Mercè Gras Casanova: “The drink’s extraordinary quality and delicacy led some to conjecture that such a delicacy must necessarily be a sin.” Giphy poll How do you drink your hot chocolate? [Click here to vote]( Marshmallows, whipped cream, the whole nine yards.Just plain, thanks.Can I have a coffee instead? 💬 let's talk! In Friday’s poll about [Star Wars]( 77% of you said you prefer the original trilogy, or episodes IV-VI; 14% of you are all about the most recent batch, episodes VII-IX; and just 9% of you most enjoy the sullen teens and political drama of episodes I-III. 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20hot%20chocolate&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) [🎲 Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Natasha Frost]( edited by [Whet Moser]( and produced by [Tori Smith](. The correct answer to the quiz is Courtney Love. Enjoying the Quartz Daily Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Daily Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States [Share this email](