Hot cocoa, tea, and cider have long been used to warm up on chilly days or relax before bedtime. It turns out that our favorite wintertime drinks have an ancient history.
The Olmec of Mexico were probably the first people to sip cocoa, around 1700 B.C. The drink tasted bitter. In fact, chocolate comes from the word for “bitter water” in the Olmec language.
According to legend, coffee was born after an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi first ate the fruit that contains coffee beans, in the 800s. He was inspired to try it after seeing how it energized his goats.
But the oldest drink of all is tea. Legend says that Chinese emperor Shen Nung accidentally discovered tea more than 5,000 years ago after leaves blew into boiling water. Warm beverages have come a long way since!
People have used hot drinks to warm up for a long time. They drink hot cocoa and cider on chilly days. They sip tea to relax before bedtime. It turns out that our favorite wintertime drinks have an ancient history.
The Olmec of Mexico were probably the first people to sip cocoa. The drink was created around 1700 B.C. It tasted bitter. In fact, chocolate comes from the word for “bitter water” in the Olmec language.
Legend says that an Ethiopian man first ate the fruit that contains coffee beans. He was a goat herder named Kaldi. He lived in the 800s. Kaldi saw how eating the fruit gave his goats energy. He was inspired to try it too.
But the oldest drink of all is tea. Legend says that Chinese emperor Shen Nung accidentally discovered tea. He lived more than 5,000 years ago. One day, leaves blew into boiling water. The emperor drank it. Warm beverages have come a long way since!