By 1200, the Aztecs had conquered the Mayas and the Toltecs. In recognition of their supremacy over the rest of Central America, the Aztecs imposed delivery revenues. of cocoa beans as tribute from conquered tribes. Later, in the court of the Aztec emperor Montezuma, cocoa became the favored beverage for the Emperor himself and for his privileged intimates. The drink was flavored with vanilla and drunk out of ornate golden goblets - at the reputed rate of fifty large jars a day for the court alone.

But chocolate was too precious a commodity to remain the exclusive property of the New World. In 1502, on his 4th trip to the New World, Christopher Columbus landed in Nicaragua and saw cocoa beans used as currency. He also encountered natives drinking chocolate. Columbus brought several specimens of the beans back to King Ferdinand's court, however, cocoa was not considered of any importance by the Spaniards. In 1519 it was Hernando Cortez, who successfully conquered Mexico, was probably the first European to actually have tasted chocolate. He did not really like it, but understood very quickly that it was an important drink, because of the high esteem in which the natives held it.