Legend has it that the feathered god of the wind, Quetzalcoatl, brought cacao to humans from the heavenly realm. The Greek name Theobroma cacao, translated as "food of the gods," is therefore very fitting.

Aztec leaders are said to have sipped the sacred bean daily in the form of a hot, bitter drink. In addition to cacao beans, their beverage contained a wide variety of spices, chili, allspice, and wild honey. It is said that King Montezuma II would guzzle up to 50 cups before attending to his lovers. It makes perfect sense that cacao was declared a currency. 10 beans for a rabbit and a mere 100 for a slave.

With the announcement at the royal court, the addition of sugar and spices like vanilla began. The Spanish kept the food of the gods to themselves for a century before they let the secret out due to an international marriage. Shortly thereafter, chocolate houses already existed in the posh corners of Europe. The nobility knew how to sweeten their time.

​When Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé invented milk chocolate in 1875, the healing effect of cocoa was a thing of the past. What remained was an oversweetened industrial product with strong addictive potential.