The Aztec emperor Montezuma reportedly drank 50 or more cups of xocoatl
each day. He served guests the chocolate drink in ceremonial golden goblets,
treating it like nectar for the gods.
• Two famous lovers, Casanova and Madame DuBarry, both believed that
chocolate was the drink of romance.
• Mass production of chocolate began when the steam engine, invented by
James Watt in 1770, mechanized the processing of cocoa beans, previously
ground by hand. The invention of the cocoa press in 1828 by C. J. Van
Houten did much to improve the quality of chocolate. The press squeezed out
cocoa butter, the fat that occurs naturally in cocoa beans.