Our Dallmayr Sugar Free Hot Chocolate is made to be smooth yet with a definite cocoa kick.  Delicious for everyday drinking with a pronounced chocolate overtone. This product has a medium sweetness rating. 

When the Spanish arrived on the continent in the 1500s, they found it was not a pleasant drink at all. Of course, sugar had not yet reached the Americas and so the plain cacao and spices were more savoury than sweet.

That said, the value of the cacao bean was so good in ancient times that it was considered worthy of being a form of money. Whereas in the Mayan civilisation, everyone drank it, by the time the Aztecs came to the scene, only the wealthy drank hot chocolate.

Meanwhile back in Europe, because what is Belgium today, was ruled by the Spanish, when the Spanish army returned to Europe, Belgium received cacao.  The Belgians then started experimenting and the rest is, as they say, history. But had it not been for the Belgian colonisation of the Congo, they would not have had access to the supply of cacao they needed to turn their industry into a global leader.

It is interesting to note that in 1697, Henri Escher who was the mayor of Zurich, visited Brussels, tasted the hot chocolate drink and was so impressed, he took it back to Switzerland… and yes, the Swiss hot chocolate industry was born.