Louis World's Fair in 1904. The heat wave that year gave iced tea an instant acceptance. It has

gained in popularity steadily since then, though only within the borders of the United States and

Canada.

If you are hopelessly addicted to life in the fast lane, instant teas are on the market, though a

tea bag is virtually an instant tea, too. Contrary to what purists believe, quality tea bags produce a

very good beverage. But you lose the little bit of ritual of tea brewing when you use a bag.

Storing tea

Tea leaves are not as sensitive to oxidation as coffee beans are. Tea leaves deteriorate

slowly—their shelflife is measured in years. But they do absorb odors and outside flavors, as well as

moisture from the air. Keep loose tea in a closed container, but there's no need to place it in the

freezer or refrigerator.

COCOA

Like tea and coffee, the fruit from which we gain our incomparable chocolate, grows on a

tropical plant. It is a small tree, Theobroma cacao, similar to the coffee tree or a more familiar small

plum tree, and it grows in any hot tropical climate.

The cocoa tree originated in the Amazon Basin of South America and was carried north by

various migrating groups. The Mayans who came to Yucatan around the year 600 may have

established the first cultivated cocoa orchards there.

The Aztec Indians in Mexico had planted many cocoa plantations by the time the Spaniards

conquered them. They used cocoa for religious and other ceremonial occasions. They roasted and

dried the beans, then ground them into a fine powder and, to drink it, they whipped the powder into

a frothy, bitter, oily beverage, either in cold water or in a fermented wine-like drink. Hot chili

pepper and vanilla gave extra zip on very special occasions. It is a surprise that today no one

attempted to revive these flavors and sell them in cans.

When the conquering Spaniards arrived, they were not much taken by this strange beverage.

The conquerer, Cortez took the cocoa beans back to Spain anyway, along with the Aztec name,

cacahuatl from which the word cacao and later chocolate derived. This chocolate beverage,

unsweetened, high in oil and very unlike our present-day cocoa, still gained popularity in Europe

during the next century because of its alluring flavor.

But it really took off when an inventive and creative Spanish cook served his own version

sweetened with sugar and flavored with vanilla. Instant success! The Spanish continued to add new

and exotic flavorings like orange flower, almonds, hazelnuts, anise, cinnamon and clove, and even

musk flavor.

By the early 1600s, this wonderful sweetened beverage had spread to Italy, then France and

England. It became a particularly hot item (pardon the pun) in England. The first cocoa house was

opened in Oxford in 1650, then another one in London in 1657. During the 1700s, many more of

these cocoa houses sprang up in England, France and Spain.

The early chocolate beverages were all hot chocolates, not hot cocoas. Is there a

difference? Today even knowledgeable cooks and some cookbook authors use the two terms

interchangeably. But they are not the same. Hot chocolate drink is from chocolate and hot cocoa

is from cocoa. Until a Dutchman, van Houten discovered the process of converting high-fat

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