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And now, it's time for Who Smarted?
Psst, hey, smarty pants, hear that?
Brr, cold and snowy here in Smartyville.
But a fun one, because cold and snowy means sledding with friends.
Of course, now my face is numb and my teeth are chattering.
Better get warmed up.
Ah, there's just one thing I can think of to warm me up when I'm cold.
A nice hot drink.
Mmm, that hit the spot.
And while I enjoy a nice cup of tea or some coffee now and then, there's one special hot drink that not only warms my hands and mouth but also my heart.
Aww.
Smarty Pants, can you guess what I'm talking about?
Of course, it's none other than hot...
Uh, chocolate?
Shh!
We don't want people to hear about that.
Hear about what?
Hot chocolate?
Shh!
But that's today's topic.
Oi!
Ah, no, no, no, no, no.
Hey, that's my Who Smarted mug.
I was drinking that.
We must keep it a secret.
What if the French found out or the British?
They'd steal our recipe.
Uh, it's a little late for that.
Hot chocolate is already enjoyed by people all over the world.
Is that so?
Adios mio.
Then we have some work to do.
We do?
Also, who are you?
I am the Spanish Miss.
Oh, is that like Swiss Miss?
One of the top-selling brands of hot chocolate.
The Swiss?
Did they steal our Spanish secret too?
Not quite.
Swiss Miss is made here in America, and hot chocolate was around long before Swiss Miss existed.
In fact, some people even make their own hot chocolate.
It's not very hard.
Ay caramba!
Making their own!
This is worse than I thought!
We must find out who revealed the secret of the Spanish!
So, in other words, you want to find out how your hot chocolate leaked.
Was that a joke?
Yeah, and it wasn't one of my best.
No.
So, are you with me?
What do you think, smarty pants?
Are you down to discover the secrets of hot chocolate?
Like, where did it come from?
What's in it?
And why do we serve hot chocolate with marshmallows?
And why was it once a secret?
It's time for a whiff of chocolatey goodness as well as some science and history on Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
Who's smart?
Is it you?
Is it me?
Is it science or history?
Listen up, everyone.
We make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smart?
Ah, now that's some good hot chocolate.
Shh, give me that.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I'm sorry, Spanish Miss.
But if we're going to find out who leaked the secret of hot chocolate, I A think I should take some along for the ride and B need you to stop breaking all my mugs and getting hot chocolate all over my house.
Oh and C?
Smarty pants.
If you can, you might want to pause this episode and have an adult help you get yourself a cup of hot chocolate too.
It's okay.
I'll wait.
Okay, we're back.
Fine, fine.
But please, don't tell any more people about it.
And, um, that smells good.
Mind if I have some too?
Of course.
I have a cocoa packet and some hot water right here.
I'll just add them together in a mug.
Give it a stir.
Add some of these guys, and here you go.
Ay, caramba!
What are these little white things floating in my hot chocolate?
Smarty Pants, can you guess?
Go ahead, call out your answer.
Why, of course, they're mini marshmallows.
A.K.A.
Hot Chocolate's Favorite Partner.
Smarty Pants, can you guess when mini marshmallows and hot chocolate first became a thing?
Is it A About 100 years ago, B About 200 years ago or C About 500 years ago?
You said C, then you probably should listen to our marshmallows episode.
Because marshmallows were used as medicine 500 years ago, not as a topping for hot chocolate.
So the answer is A, about 100 years ago.
Ooh!
In 1917, a marshmallow maker, hoping to sell more marshmallows, published a booklet suggesting new ways to enjoy this soft candy treat.
And it included a recipe for hot chocolate and marshmallows, and they've been together ever since.
Oh, this hot chocolate with marshmallows.
It's tasty.
Bravo!
See?
Aren't you glad the secret is out?
No!
I can't believe I fell for that.
I can't believe you're smashing all my mugs.
Come, we must follow the choco trail and find who gave away the choco secret.
Ah, those sound effects must be a clue.
It looks and sounds like a battlefield during the American Revolutionary War.
There was hot chocolate here?
Indeed.
Look at that nurse giving some to that soldier over there.
Thank you, nurse.
That sure tasted good.
Indeed it does.
Drink up, brave soldier.
Smartypants, why do you think nurses would give soldiers hot chocolate?
Is it A. It was always cold during the Revolutionary War.
B. Hot chocolate was known to help heal and energize people.
Or C. The nurses were secretly employees of Hershey.
The answer is B.
While pure hot chocolate doesn't fight disease like modern medicine, it does have health benefits.
Chocolate with high cocoa content and less sugar is loaded with minerals and antioxidants which help the immune system.
It's also an energy and mood booster and can be good for the heart.
Thanks to this hot chocolate, you're going to survive your injury.
Well, I only twisted my ankle in a gopher hole.
Oh.
Well, drink up anyway.
So the secret was leaked to cure people?
Partly.
Back then, people still had hot chocolate for fun, too.
American founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both big fans of the drink.
So were the people they fought, the British.
Aha!
So the British stole our secret.
I knew it.
Uh, not exactly.
Here, I'll show you.
Where are we?
What is this place?
We're inside one of the many 17th century chocolate houses, which were similar to today's cafes and bars, but instead of serving coffee or tea, these places served hot chocolate.
Look!
Look at all these people enjoying it!
And did these chocolate houses serve chocolate bars, too?
Smarty Pants, what do you think?
Did chocolate houses serve chocolate bars?
The answer is...
No.
So why is that?
Was it A. It was illegal to sell chocolate bars in drinking establishments.
B. Chocolate bars were only for the rich and powerful.
Or C. Chocolate bars were not invented yet.
If you said B, well, these chocolate houses were for the rich and powerful.
Hot chocolate was expensive back in the 1600s, and only those with money could get it.
What they couldn't get were chocolate bars.
As you may know from our chocolate episode, solid chocolate was invented 200 years later, in the 1800s.
So the answer is C, chocolate bars were not invented yet.
In other words, hot chocolate, the drink, is older than solid chocolate.
Way older.
Go ahead, take a sip, Spanish Miss.
Ooh, this is fancy.
Yep, it sure is.
But here's the thing.
Hot chocolate was fancy before it reached England.
Here, I'll show you why.
Where are we now?
Why, we're in a French castle.
A French castle?
Why?
Because since the early 1600s, French nobles loved their hot chocolate.
Ha!
I knew it.
The French are thieves.
Well, not exactly.
Say King Louis over there?
His wife, the Queen of France, was Maria Theresa.
Can you guess what country she's from?
Is it A, France, B, Italy, or C, Spain?
That's right.
Maria Theresa is from C, Spain.
Aye, so that's how they got our recipe.
Maybe.
Spanish and French royalty were marrying each other at the time, and often the Spanish would come with gifts of hot chocolate.
But the cocoa beans might have spilled before then, from inside of Spain itself.
What?
What do you mean, señor narrator?
You'll see and hear, right after this quick break and a word from our sponsor.
Hey, Smarty Pants.
It's me, the trusty narrator.
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I can't wait to see you and chat with you live in the sea.
Now back to Whosmarted.
Buenos dias, you lovely monks.
Whoops, sorry.
Smarty pants.
The Spanish Miss and I are in a Spanish monastery in the 1500s.
Here, religious people known as monks are guarding a very secret very hot, very chocolatey recipe from the rest of Europe.
The Spanish thought they'd have an advantage over the rest of Europe if they didn't reveal how they made this delicious drink.
It's a source of Spanish pride.
Shh.
But Smarty Pants, answer this.
True or false?
The Spanish invented chocolate.
The answer is false.
What are you saying, trustee?
I'm saying Spanish explorers took it from what is now the Americas, where chocolate had existed for at least a thousand years before.
Whoa.
Oh, okay.
I see where you're going with this.
But let me ask you, have you ever tried the ancient chocolate drink?
Well, no, but... Here, I happen to have some with me.
You do?
Yep, here you go.
Try it.
It's okay, I'd rather not.
Why not?
I insist you enjoy some of this ancient chocolatey goodness.
I really shouldn't.
Drink it.
Okay, okay.
Disgusting!
And cold.
And you can really taste the cornmeal.
And the chili peppers.
So, while the Spanish didn't invent hot chocolate, they did invent hot chocolate that tastes good.
Right?
Si.
I mean, yes.
Smarty Pants, while the Spanish still made their chocolate using cacao beans from the Americas?
How did they improve the taste?
Was it A. They warmed it up.
B. They added sugar.
Or C. They added cinnamon.
The answer is all three.
Yep.
While the Spanish were not inventors of chocolate and weren't quite the first to heat it, they did create a hot sweet, drinkable chocolate that many believe is the first version of the hot chocolate you and I enjoy today.
And when you come up with a treasure like that, you don't want anybody stealing it.
Smarty Pants, how long were the Spanish able to keep their hot chocolate secret?
Was it A, just 10 years, B, about 35 years, or C, about 100 years?
The answer is C, about 100 years.
Until somebody leaked it.
Exactly.
Maybe it was royalty or a monk entrusted to guard the recipe, but couldn't resist giving it away.
But wait, serious question.
Is the secret getting out such a bad thing?
Well um, As you've heard, hot chocolate has only gotten better, making people happy and helping some survive, and not just in war.
Smarty Pants.
Did you know that the first explorers of the South Pole were able to get there and back because they packed a lot of hot cocoa?
Whoa.
Wait, you just said hot cocoa.
Is hot cocoa the same as hot chocolate?
Ooh, great question.
Smarty Pants, what do you think?
Is hot cocoa and hot chocolate the same drink?
The answer is...
No.
There is a slight difference.
Hot cocoa like Swiss Miss is made with cocoa powder from dried and roasted cacao beans, along with sugar and milk.
Just add hot water.
It has a flatter flavor, but is less acidic.
Pure hot chocolate, on the other hand, comes simply from melted chocolate mixed with hot water, milk or cream.
It is a richer, thicker treat.
But people usually ignore the technical difference and call them both hot chocolate.
And let's face it, either one will warm you up on a cold day.
You're right.
I'm so grateful to have this cup of hot chocolate.
See?
Aren't you glad the secret is out?
Okay, okay, you're right.
I, um, say, got any more of those marshmallows?
Of course.
A special shout-out to five-year-old Smarty fan Charlotte G. from New Canaan, Connecticut.
We hear you love listening to Who Smarted on your way home from school and that your favorite episode was How Elevators Work.
Well, we're so glad to have you smarting with us and look forward to lots of laughing and learning in the future, Charlotte.
Thank you.
This episode, Hot Chocolate, was written by Dave Bittersweet Beaudry and voiced by Melissa Del Choco Schaffner, Adam Quicks-Davis and Jerry Colburn.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hershey-Hahn.
Our associate producer is Max Nestle-Kamasky.
The theme song is by Brian Swiss-Miss Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis.
Who Smarted? was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Colburn.
This has been an Atomic Audio production.
Too smart and...
