Alberto, a great question. If you look on the counter the tall cone is sugar. Sam Murphy from our Historic Trades has provided some details on how it was used: The process of sweetening the chocolate drink occurs when the hot liquid is added to the grated chocolate. This is also when the additional flavorings are added. Adding sugar to the chocolate liquor doesn't happen until later in the 19th century in a process called conching.
This is cool, but you might as well get a real molcajete to break down the cocoa beans. You could also just use the metate to break the nibs down. Folk still do chocolate like this. You missed a good opportunity to talk about chocolate origins, types of cacao, etc.
Thank you.
No sugar?
Alberto, a great question. If you look on the counter the tall cone is sugar. Sam Murphy from our Historic Trades has provided some details on how it was used:
The process of sweetening the chocolate drink occurs when the hot liquid is added to the grated chocolate. This is also when the additional flavorings are added.
Adding sugar to the chocolate liquor doesn't happen until later in the 19th century in a process called conching.
This is cool, but you might as well get a real molcajete to break down the cocoa beans. You could also just use the metate to break the nibs down. Folk still do chocolate like this. You missed a good opportunity to talk about chocolate origins, types of cacao, etc.
Got 45 seconds into the vid and had to stop. These folks need some coaching