Xocolatl: from monkeys falling off trees to the drink of the Gods…

Did you know that….

• monkeys die from eating the cocoa bean? They just shake the fruit, then smash it, then suck on it. It tastes a bit like a squishy banana.
• cocoa is pollinated by a tiny, minuscule mosquito?
• the Mayans created the first chocolate drink, called “drink of the gods”
• cocoa first needs to be fermented before being toasted
• hot chocolate “gourmet” fashion is actually not done with milk but with water! It’s much yummier. And healthier, because the good stuff in the chocolate doesn’t get neutralised by the milk.
• cocoa butter is so good for the skin!

After our ziplining adventure we decided to dive into the world of agriculture and understand how the famous Costa Rican cocoa and coffee is harvested and processed. We signed up for tour with low expectations of it being a typical tourist attraction but instead we learned so much! Even Mama and Papa were surprised by how little they knew.

We started off with the cocoa bean. As said above, we first learned how cocoa was initially discovered (by seeing monkeys shake the fruit), then how it is processed. The steps are as follows:

1. the raw fruit is put into a box with some sugar cane juice to kick off fermentation. 2. it is then left in the box for 5 days. During this fermentation, the beans are transformed from their original white squishy form to light brown smelling a bit of vinegar to finally dark brown with a pungent odor. 3. The beans are then toasted which gives us the cocoa nibs that mama buys and puts into our cereals. 4. The toasting releases the natural oils and the beans are then rubbed on a volcanic stone to give a cocoa paste. It’s SOOOO bitter.

This paste is then the base for whatever you want to do with it. Our guide made us some traditional hot chocolate. We first ground the beans to a paste, he then added some salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, a pinch of chili, some vanilla and then he added some water to turn it into a “dip”.

Some history: we take the present-day word ‘chocolate’ from the Mayan word ‘xocolatl’, which translates to mean ‘bitter water.’ And that is an accurate description of the traditional Mayan chocolate beverage as early as 900 AD. The Mayans did not cultivate sugar cane so they had no means of sweetening the bitter cocoa beans. They made the drink by crushing the cocoa beans, then adding chili peppers and water. Before serving it, they would rapidly pour it from one cup into another until a frothy foam formed on the top. The Mayans believed that chocolate was a gift to humans from the gods (the botanical name for the cacao tree is “Theobroma,” which translates to “food of the gods”) and, therefore, should be shared with all of the people. Anyone in the Mayan civilization could partake of the beverage, regardless of their social standing. The Mayans consumed xocolatl on a daily basis, much like how we drink our morning coffee. That changed drastically when the Mayan civilization gave way to the Aztecs. The Aztec people did not grow their own cocoa beans and had to trade for the beans. Therefore, they placed a higher value on the xocolatl drink. Only the very wealthy, the royalty, and the high priests could afford to drink it. In fact, the beverage was so valued that it was served in goblets made of gold that were discarded after just one use. (Source: https://historydaily.org/xocolatl-the-mayan-food-of-the-gods)

Our guide then sliced up some bananas and we got to dip it into our homemade chocolate paste. Even I loved it and I normally don’t like bananas! We then used the rest of the dip to fill up with hot water and make our own “drink of the gods”.

After all this excitement, on to sugar cane. We pressed a big cane with a lot of effort of the three of us 🥵. Our guide added a squeeze of lemon and we all had a taste. It was SOOOOOO sweet!! Mom did not like it and did not like us drinking it. Vyas loved it and started spinning around like a toupie Beyblade.

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Off to the final part: coffee!

We then went to a coffee bean plantation, where our guide showed us how coffee was made: from the bean collecting to the drink my brothers and my parents love. I don’t like it at all 🤢. Anyway, it starts with collecting the bean. Nowadays, machines collect the coffee bean. But not in Costa Rica. Here, we still do it the artisanal way, with a chorreador, which is is a bag you put around your neck, then, you go to the coffee bean plantation and collect as much coffee as possible to fill up your chorreador. This is a family affair. The whole family goes out together to collect the ready coffee beans during the coffee season, which is from November to February.

Then, they sell the coffee (for approximately 2$ / 1kg) to coffee companies.

The coffee companies then dry the coffee. You can then choose which type of coffee you want.

The short type of coffee is roasted for 22 minutes, the medium type for 24 minutes, and the long type for 26 minutes. Next, we use a grinder to grind the roasted coffee beans. We then filter them with hot water (the process is ” coffee water coffee water etc.”).

We did just that, and the guide gave us each a taste of the coffee. Even I liked it “😐”!!!

In Costa Rica, kids drink coffee as of 2 years old 😯!!

After all that sugar and caffeine (and morning excitement zip lining), Mom was happy when we finally fell into bed.

Pura Vida!