Chocolate has long been given as a gift, particularly as a gift of affection or passion.

The forerunner to chocolate was the Aztec drink xocoatl, a mix of water, spices and ground cacao beans. Aztecs used the beans as a form of currency and for payment of tribute to their kings. An Indian Chief is said to have made a gift of a basket of cocoa beans to Christopher Columbus, although Columbus did not know what to do with the beans. Later, The Aztec King Montezuma presented Cortez and his conquistadors with gifts of cocoa beans. It is recorded that the Aztecs favored the beans above gold.

In 1615 Spanish Princess Anna of Austria gave to her new husband, King Louis XIII, a gift of chocolate. The drink became fashionable within Louis