An ancient form of currency: Cacao and what does it have to do with chocolate?

Through an alchemic process, Chocolate is made from cacao beans that are found inside of cacao pods that grow on a Cacao tree, in Latin the tree is Theobroma cacao. Cacao has has been prized for thousands of years throughout Mesoamerica and has been revered by the Olmacs, Toltecs, Aztecs and Mayans as the Fruit of the Gods.
Legend has it that,the great god of cacao, Quetzalcoatl stole the cacao tree from the gods and gifted it to his favored people, the Toltecs so they could have the sacred drink, "xocoatl," which was only to be drunk by the gods. This great and revered gift from Quetzalcoatl not only bought personal vitality, it also brought material wealth. Valued culturally to the extent that the cacao bean was used as a barter currency long before the Spanish conquest and the historic arrival of Cortes in 1519 to what is modern day, Vera Cruz, Mexico. It was quite a surprise to the Spaniards that cacao was more prized by the indigenous than was gold or other metals. It seemed bizarre to them that something that grew abundantly on trees was more valuable than gold.

Throughout all of Mesoamerica goods and services were bought and sold using cacao beans as a barter currency. The use of cacao beans as money continued in to the 19th century, and remarkably, continued as currency remotely in parts of central america until the early 20th century.

CACAO BEANS AS MONEY! AND THEY EVEN LOOK LIKE GOLD!
Fermented, sundried cacao beans were the currency medium for hundreds of years and they can be keep for many years when stored properly. The Aztec and Mayans knew this, and hence they maintained storehouses of cacao beans from varies regions and of varies qualities of cacao. Cacao was actively traded throughout South and Central Americas as a common "edible" currency. (What a novel idea!) It was not until the mid 1800's when cacao was first transformed into "modern day" chocolate. The first step in making hot chocolate or modern day chocolate is to roast the beans. Roasting the cacao beans is an art in and of itself. Under roasted beans are astringent and over-roasted beans lose their flavor. And the magic continues throughout the lengthly process of cacao beans to become modern day chocolate.
As a modern day, regenerative cacao farmer of Costa Rica, and tree-to-bar chocolate maker, I use cacao and chocolate as a form of personal currency. I am amazed at how many things I can can pay for with cacao or chocolate. I have discovered many of the secrets and gifts of cacao and I will continue to post about them here for the Steemit community. Please follow me to learn more about cacao and many other things of interest. This is my first Steemit post and I am excited about sharing and learning with all of the community. Please upvote my post to help me in my endeavor. So much LOVE and Pura Vida to you all, my friends.