A cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate flakes

Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a hot drink. It is usually made by mixing chocolate or cocoa powder, sugar, and usually a sweetener. Hot chocolate may be topped with whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate is usually drunk to make the drinker feel happier or warmer. Some studies have shown that hot chocolate may be healthy because of antioxidants that are in cocoa. Until the 1800s, hot chocolate was also used by doctors as a medicinal drink.

It is believed that the hot chocolate drink was first made by the Mayan people about 2,000 years ago. Another cocoa drink was made by the Aztecs by 1400 AD/CE. The drink became popular in Europe after being brought from Mexico, and has changed a lot since then. Today, hot chocolate is used around the world. It comes in many different types such as the very thick cioccolata densa in Italy, and the thinner hot cocoa that is usually drunk in the United States.