Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved or melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener. It is often garnished with whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate made with melted chocolate is sometimes called drinking chocolate, characterized by less sweetness and a thicker consistency.

Cacao was first domesticated at least 5,300 years ago, in the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador, and cacao beverages were consumed by the period 2,500–3,000 years ago by the Maya. A chocolate drink was an essential part of Aztec culture by 1400 AD. The drink became popular in Europe after being introduced from Mexico in the New World and has undergone multiple changes since then. Until the 19th century, hot chocolate was used medicinally to treat ailments such as liver and stomach diseases.

Hot chocolate is consumed throughout the world in versions including the spiced chocolate para mesa of Latin America, the very thick cioccolata calda served in Italy and chocolate a la taza served in Spain, and the thinner hot cocoa consumed in the United States. Prepared hot chocolate can be purchased from a range of establishments, including cafeterias, fast food restaurants, coffeehouses and teahouses. Powdered hot chocolate mixes, which can be added to boiling water or hot milk to make the drink at home, are sold at grocery stores and online.

A distinction is sometimes made between "hot cocoa", made from cocoa powder (ground cacao beans from which much of the cocoa butter has been removed), and "hot chocolate", made directly from bar chocolate, which already contains cocoa, sugar, and cocoa butter. Thus, the major difference between the two is the cocoa butter, the absence of which makes hot cocoa significantly lower in fat than hot chocolate while still preserving all the antioxidants found in chocolate.

The cacao tree was domesticated in around 3300 BCE, and has been used to make beverages since at least 700 BCE.

As of the early Classic period, cacao beverages were consumed by the wealthy from large "spouted vessels" that were often buried with elites. An early Classic period (460–480 AD) Mayan tomb from the site of Rio Azul, Guatemala, had vessels with the Maya glyph for cacao on them with residue of a cacao drink.

As the Europeans came upon the Americas, they found the Maya made a chocolate drink. Served cold, the Maya ground cocoa seeds into a paste and mixed it with water, vanilla, cornmeal, chili peppers, and other ingredients. They then poured the drink back and forth from a cup to a pot until a thick foam developed. It was available to Maya of all social classes, while among the Aztecs chocolate was a sign of high status: it was a bad omen for someone low or common to drink it.

Within Mesoamerica many drinks were made from cacao beans, and further flavored with flowers like vanilla. The Aztecs, or Mexica, required conquered people to provide them with chocolate. Cups, gourds, cacao beans, as well as other things they acquired were listed in The Essential Codex Mendoza. Cacao became used as a currency throughout Mesoamerica.