National Chocolate Milk Day is September 27th. If you’re a chocolate milk enthusiast like I am, then you should be as excited as I am to sit down on this special day and celebrate with a cold one. A cold glass of frothy, chocolate milk, that is.
After finding out that there was a day dedicated to my favorite drink of all time, I decided to do some research. Chocolate has been used as a beverage for almost its entire history. The earliest record of using chocolate dates back before the Olmec. In the 15th century, the Aztecs would use chocolate as a sacred offering to their fertility goddess. It was the Mayans, however, who are credited with making the modern chocolate beverage that we drink today, before all the European adaptations that the drink went through. Check out the picture below, where a Mayan chief is forbidding someone to touch a jar of chocolate (which is what I do when someone tries getting their hands on my chocolate milk):
Fast forward to the 1600s, where an Irish physician Sir Hans Sloane was struck with the brilliant idea while in Jamaica. Sloane was brought to Jamaica in 1687 to be a physician, and during that time he recorded about 800 different plant species, and that is where he encountered cocoa. He would drink it mixed with water, and we can see how that can be pretty gross. He was then struck with the brilliant idea to mix it with milk. When he came back to England, he brought back his recipe and sold chocolate milk to apothecaries to use as medicine.
photos via wikipedia
Thanks, dude.
In the 1820s, the Van Houten company in Amsterdam invented a way to press cocoa to make a light powder.
Now, we enjoy different variations and ways of making this drink. Whether hot or cold, here are some of the popular brands of chocolate milk that give us chocolate milk lovers a common bond:
- Nesquik began as a chocolate powdered mix in the United States in 1948. Launched by Nestlé, Nesquik became a quick favorite. Now, the brand has expanded to cereals and refrigerated, already made versions of chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and other flavors of milk.
- Horizon Organic have organic lowfat chocolate milk that is equally as delicious as anything with all the sugar and calories, and it’s perfect for anyone out there who prefers to eat and drink organic! Silk also provides a soy alternative for all you non-dairy milk drinkers.
- Hershey’s syrup mixed with a glass of milk is another way to make chocolate milk. After adding the syrup, some variations include adding cinnamon, vanilla, or even more sugar to this sweet treat. I prefer my chocolate milk sans additional flavoring, but this recipe is great if you want to measure your chocolate to milk ratio as carefully as possible.
- Ovaltine was developed in Switzerland. Now, Ovaltine is an international favorite. And who can forget in A Christmas Story when Ralphie disappointingly figures out the secret message from the Little Orphan Annie radio program, only to find out the message was to drink more Ovaltine? “A crummy commercial!”
photo via tumblr
This is what I plan on doing for this year’s celebrations. You’ll find me on my couch unable to move. Judge me.
Do you plan on enoying some chocolate milk for this year’s celebration?
