Post #410297 by savoy6 on Sat, Sep 27, 2008 4:51 AM

while as a historian, i hate using wiki as reference material...their info on this is pretty good and conscise...

Chocolate residue found in several jars from the site of Puerto Escondido in Honduras, from around 1100 B.C., is the earliest evidence to date of the use of cacao. [7] The evidence found indicates that the earliest use of cacao seems to have been as an alcoholic beverage. Slightly later, around 600-400 B.C. there are traces from jars in Belize. An early Classic (460-480 A.D.) period Maya tomb from the site of Rio Azul, Guatemala, had vessels with the maya glyph for cacao on them and had residue of a chocolate drink. The Aztecs associated chocolate with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility. In the Americas, chocolate was consumed in a bitter and very spicey drink called xocoatl, often seasoned with vanilla, chile pepper, and achiote (which we know today as annatto). Xocoatl was believed to fight fatigue, a belief that is probably attributable to the theobromine content. Chocolate was an important luxury good throughout pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and cocoa beans were often used as currency. Other chocolate drinks combined it with such edibles as maize gruel (which acts as an emulsifier) and honey.

so the concept has been around for a little while....though the whole "sweet/hot" concept is fairly recent here in the US.as for the spicy tequila,has anyone tried using serrano chiles in it?