Once cocoa-bearing ships reached North American eastern ports, the “chocolate nuts” were off-loaded, roasted, shelled, and ground into chocolate. Chocolate, along with coffee and tea, was considered a “necessity” and found widespread use as a beverage throughout the colonies. Dorothy Jones and Jane Barnard received licenses in 1670 to serve “Coffee and Chocaletto” in their Boston houses of “publique Entertainment”. Benjamin Franklin sold locally manufactured chocolate in his Philadelphia print shop. Colonial demand for chocolate increased dramatically so that by 1773 the annual import of cocoa beans by English colonists had exceeded 320 tons. Manufactured chocolate was traded and shipped between east coast ports throughout North America.

Photo courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation