<P> Because sugar was yet to come to the Americas, xocōlātl was said to be an acquired taste . What the Spaniards then called xocōlātl was said to be a beverage consisting of a chocolate base flavored with vanilla and other spices that was served cold . The drink tasted spicy and bitter as opposed to sweetened modern hot chocolate . As to when xocōlātl was first served hot, sources conflict on when and by whom . However, Jose de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, described xocōlātl as: </P> <P> Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant taste . Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men who pass through their country . The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolate . They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that "chili"; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh . </P> <P> Within Mesoamerica many drinks were made from cacao beans, and further enhanced by flowers like vanilla to add flavor . This was a tribute to the Aztecs . The Aztecs, or Mexica, required conquered people to provide them with chocolate . Cups, gourds, cacao beans, as well as others things they acquired were listed in The Essential Codex Mendoza . Cacao became used as a currency throughout Mesoamerica . The Aztecs used chocolate to show high status . Seeing it as if someone of a low or common status was to be drinking the chocolate, it was a bad omen . Europeans' first recorded contact with chocolate wasn't until 1502 on Columbus's fourth voyage . </P> <P> After defeating Montezuma's warriors and demanding that the Aztec nobles hand over their valuables, Cortés returned to Spain in 1528, bringing cocoa beans and chocolate drink making equipment with them . At this time, chocolate still only existed in the bitter drink invented by the Mayas . Sweet hot chocolate and bar chocolate were yet to be invented . After its introduction to Europe, the drink slowly gained popularity . The court of King Charles V soon adopted the drink, and what was then only known as "chocolate" became a fashionable drink popular with the Spanish upper class . Additionally, cocoa was given as a dowry when members of the Spanish Royal Family married other European aristocrats . At the time, chocolate was very expensive in Europe because the cocoa beans only grew in South America . </P>

When did in n out start selling hot cocoa