What is the difference between cocoa and coffee?

Many friends think that cocoa and coffee are from the same plant, but in fact, there is a big difference between cocoa and coffee.

Cocoa: Cocoa (cacao, also known as cocoa) is one of the three major beverage plants in the world. It is native to tropical America and can be used to make beverages and chocolate candies. It is rich in nutrition and has a mellow and fragrant taste. Cocoa beans are the fruit of the cocoa tree. Long before Columbus arrived in the United States, the inhabitants of tropical Central America, especially the Mayans and Aztecs, knew the use of cocoa beans. They not only made cocoa beans into beverages, but also used them as a medium of exchange. In the 16th century, cocoa beans were introduced to Europe and refined into cocoa powder and chocolate; cocoa butter was also extracted.

The chocolate we are familiar with today is made from cocoa beans, which is made into cocoa powder and then added with sugar, milk, peanuts and other auxiliary ingredients. It has nothing to do with coffee.

Coffee: Coffee is a perennial evergreen shrub or small tree of the Rubiaceae family. It is a horticultural perennial economic crop. The mature coffee berries look like cherries, are bright red, have sweet flesh, and contain a pair of seeds, which are coffee beans.

After the coffee beans go through the processes of depulping, washing, and roasting, they become the coffee beans we see today. The coffee beans are ground into powder and extracted with different utensils. This is the coffee that makes me fall in love with it. Tea, coffee, and cocoa are known as the three major beverages in the world.