Resides the excellent coffee that is cultivated in the hills of the Central Valley around Heredia, Grecia, Atenas, Alajuela, Cartago, Sarchi and San Jose, there is another product considered to be black gold: cacao. Cacao is made from the seeds of the cacao tree with the scientific name of Theobroma cacao. This tree has a long history going back to pre-Colombian times. The cacao tree is native to Central America and the northern part of the continent of South America and the use of it seeds were known to the ancient Maya culture, who connected the ‘Ka kaw’ seeds with fertility. It is said that the word chocolate comes from the Indigenous Nahuatl word xoclatl, which is believed to be a combination of xocolli (bitter) and atl (water). Other scientists prefer the theory that it derives from a combination of the Mayan word chocol and the Aztec word atl (water) that was made up by the Spanish conquerors. Since most of these ancient sources have disappeared or are incomplete the controversy will go in scientific circles.It is said that the Mayans and Aztecs brewed a drink of cacao, mixed with vanilla, chili and pepper. The beans were so precious that they were used as a currency by the Aztecs. The Spanish conqueror Fernando Cortez was the first to bring a large quantity of cacao beans to Europe. From there the cacao trees were introduced to the east in Ceylon, Indonesia and Malaysia. On the American continent the cultivation of cacao spread to Brazil. Also in the horn of Africa cacao plantations were developed. The cacao seeds ripen inside the fruit, where fungus starts a fermentation process that raises the temperature in the fruit up to 50 degrees centigrade. The color of the bean changes from purple to brown and is ready to be harvested after five days and are sun dried to be ready to process or exported. It took centuries to refine the techniques of producing chocolate from cacao beans. Only in 1825 the Dutch cacao merchant Van Houten discovered the process to extract the grease from the beans and laid the foundation for the high quality chocolate we enjoy today. Nowadays in Costa Rica most cacao can be found on the planes of the Caribbean in the Province of Limon. Especially the Talamanca region has a high density of cacao cultivation. In the culture of the Bribri Indians cacao plays an important role, because a ceremonial drink is brewed from the beans. Coffee and chocolate have always been a very good combination and since Costa Rica produces both, there are many specialties for sale and to be savored. In the neighborhood of the little towns of Cahuita, Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo there are some organic chocolate producers who sell different flavored kinds of chocolate and show the process how it is made. Close to Bribri the original cacao taste can be experienced, because the Indigenous families have discovered that processing cacao on a small traditional and organic scale can generate a small income. It’s there that you can come close at it gets to the ancient tradition of cacao as it started with the Mayans and Aztecs.