| Chocolate has long been given as a gift, particularly | | | | Christopher Columbus, although Columbus did not |
| as a gift of affection or passion.The forerunner to | | | | know what to do with the beans. Later, The Aztec |
| chocolate was the Aztec drink xocoatl, a mix of | | | | King Montezuma presented Cortez and his |
| water, spices and ground cacao beans. Aztecs used | | | | conquistadors with gifts of cocoa beans. It is |
| the beans as a form of currency and for payment of | | | | recorded that the Aztecs favored the beans above |
| tribute to their kings. An Indian Chief is said to have | | | | gold.In 1615 Spanish Princess Anna of Austria gave to |
| made a gift of a basket of cocoa beans to | | | | her new husband, King Louis XIII, a gift of chocolate. |