The Story of Chocolate
Like Duolingo, but for The Story of Chocolate. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
Free during early access · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Key ideas in The Story of Chocolate
- Ancient chocolate was a bitter drink flavored with spices like chili.
- Mesoamericans used cornmeal as a thickener and prized the foam on top.
- Cacao was believed to be a gift from the gods with spiritual power.
- Cacao beans were so valuable they functioned as a form of money.
- The process began with harvesting and fermenting the raw cacao seeds.
- Ancient chocolate ingredients and characteristics
- The final step involved pouring the liquid from height to create a thick foam.
- Cultural roles of cacao
- Sequence the traditional Maya process
- Cacao beans were portable and durable enough for trade
- The difficulty of growing cacao ensured a controlled, scarce supply
- Cacao ownership was a marker of high social status
- Merchants facilitated trade by moving beans between regions
- Cacao beans had value both as a medium of exchange and a food product
- Physical properties of cacao currency
- Consumability prevented the currency from becoming worthless
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives The Story of Chocolate the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What did people do to make their chocolate drink look like it had soap bubbles on top?
Get it right to open this lesson and 25 more in the app.
Where The Story of Chocolate takes you
Follow the journey of chocolate from a bitter ancient drink to the world's favorite sweet treat. Discover how a simple bean changed history and conquered our taste buds.
- 1
The Ancient Roots of Cocoa
- The Spicy Drink of the Gods
- Using Beans as Money
- How the Aztecs Drank Chocolate
- The First European Encounter
- 2
Chocolate Conquers the World
- Adding Sugar in Spain
- The Secret Recipe Spreads
- Fancy Chocolate Houses in London
- The Invention of the Cocoa Press
- Making the First Chocolate Bar
- The Secret to Smooth Milk Chocolate
- 3
Modern Chocolate Culture
- How Chocolate is Made Today
- Why We Give Chocolate for Love
- The Future of the Cocoa Bean
3 sections · 13 units · 26 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
The Story of Chocolate is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
More Food & Drink on Tomo
Baking Your First Whole Wheat Loaf
Stop buying store-bought bread and start smelling the aroma of fresh toast in your own kitchen. Learn the simple steps to turn flour and water into a hearty, healthy loaf you'll be proud to slice.
Mastering Your Morning Cup
Stop settling for bitter coffee and start brewing like a pro. Learn to fix your flavor, master the Moka Pot, and unlock the science behind the world's favorite bean.
The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
Move beyond the back-of-the-bag recipe to master the textures and flavors of a world-class cookie. Learn how small tweaks in technique and ingredients create the specific chew, crunch, and depth you crave.
Mastering Your Kitchen
Stop following recipes blindly and start understanding how heat transforms food. Learn to cook anything in your fridge by mastering the fundamental techniques that professional chefs use every day.
The Versatile Chef: Mastering Every Way to Cook
Move beyond following recipes to understanding the 'how' and 'why' of the kitchen. Explore professional techniques, sensory cooking, and the science of heat to become a truly intuitive cook.
The Kitchen Garden Masterclass
Stop buying flavorless produce and start growing your own feast. Learn to plant, harvest, and cook incredible meals using the secrets of history's greatest gardeners.
Start The Story of Chocolate today.
Download Tomo, search The Story of Chocolate, and play your first lesson in under a minute.