We have been lied to time and time again. Restaurants, friends, and parents are all responsible for deceiving us and causing us to believe we are drinking one thing, when in fact, we are drinking something completely different. Hot chocolate and hot cocoa are not the same.

Hot chocolate is a rich, wondrous beverage that warms our frigid bodies in the cold, dark abyss of winter. Composed of chocolate shavings and milk, hot chocolate is more sophisticated and delicious than hot cocoa. To make hot chocolate, heat milk on the stove until it bubbles around the edges. Then, add chocolate shavings and whisk until melted. Lastly, enjoy your hot chocolate and reminisce on why you made hot chocolate instead of hot cocoa.

On the other hand, hot cocoa is a warm beverage that poisons our precious bodies. Composed mostly of filth, artificial chocolate powder, and boiled tears of children, hot cocoa is a cheaper and more processed alternative to hot chocolate. Unfortunately, hot cocoa is more common than hot chocolate. Also, many people falsely refer to hot cocoa as hot chocolate. This fallacy only adds to the number of misinformed hot cocoa consumers. Hot cocoa is powdered chocolate added to boiled water, or sometimes milk. The powdered chocolate is not always pure chocolate and can upset sensitive stomachs.

On the contrary, sophomore Megan Park believes that “hot chocolate is just chocolate with milk, whereas hot cocoa is a sweet, yummy goodness of warmth.” She would “choose hot cocoa over hot chocolate any day,” said Park. Park is obviously wrong, but she is entitled to her own opinion.

Now that you are enlightened about chocolate drinks, please think before you refer to something as hot chocolate.

Fun Facts

• Two-thirds of the world’s cocoa is produced in West Africa
• Cocoa is produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree
• Cocoa has been cultivated for at least three millennia
• Originated in Mexico and Central and Northern South America
• 1100 BC the Aztecs created the first hot cocoa beverage know as “Nahuati” or “bitter water”

Read more fun facts at http://www.statista.com/topics/1638/chocolate-industry/