Matcha Chocolat

Cocoa Comes to Europe When the Spanish explorer Cortéz and his army met the Aztec Emperor Montezuma in 1519 they were greeted with the drink of ‘chocolatl,’ the Aztec term for their bitter tasting, but highly prized cocoa beverage. The chronicler Bernal Díaz who traveled with Cortéz, recorded that Montezuma “was served, in cup-shaped vessels [...]

The Ancient Mesoamericans and the Food of the Gods The cocoa plant or Theobroma cacao, meaning ‘food of the gods’, is found in tropical climates throughout the world, but it was in South America that the cocoa plant first made the transition from wild, rain forest tree to cultivated crop. The ancient tribes of Mesoamerica [...]

Chocolate’s Evolution from Bean to Bar The subtle nuances of flavour and aroma that are brought out through cultivation and processing set chocolate and tea on par, and easily make them prised objects of the connoisseur. Yet, despite the many parallels that can easily be drawn between tea and chocolate, their stories are indeed quite [...]

Tea Culture Beyond China’s Borders By at least the 3rd century C.E. tea culture began taking root beyond China’s borders, first in Mongolia and Tibet, then centuries later expanding throughout all of Asia, much of Africa and the West. When brick tea found its way to the snow covered, mountainous lands of its Mongolian and [...]

  This Saturday I had the pleasure of attending an all day course with tea specialists Jane Pettigrew and Tim Clifton at the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel, London. They refer to the course as a Tea Masterclass, and it’s a day packed full of tea tasting and learning all about tea, not to mention a lovely [...]