This is more of a question than answer but I’ll pose some theories that have been tossed around.  Citing (again), Diane Ackerman’s wonderful, “A Natural History of the Senses”, where she said:

“Because chocolate is such an emotional food, one we eat when we’re blue, jilted, premenstrual, or generally in need of TLC, scientists have been studying it’s chemistry.  In 1982, two psycho-pharmacologists, Dr Michael Liebowitz and Dr. Donald Klein, proposed an explanation for why lovesick people pig out on chocolate.  In the course of their work with intense, thrill-seeking women who go into post-thrill depressions, they discovered that they all had something remarkable in common- in their depressed phase, virtually all of them ate large amounts of chocolate.  They speculated that the phenomenon might well be related to the brain chemical phenylethylamine (PEA), which makes us feel the roller coaster of  passion we associate with falling in love, an amphetamine-like rush.”

Others, however, have challenged the PEA theory (including the Chocolate Manufacturer’s Association) noting that, “the PEA content of chocolate is extremely small, especially in comparison with that of some other commonly consumed foods.  The standard serving size of three and a half ounces of smoked salami contains 6.7 mg of PEA.  The standard serving size of cheddar cheese contains 5.8 mg of PEA.  The standard 1.5 ounce serving of chocolate (the size of the average chocolate bar) contains much less than 1 mg.

Still other “experts” argue that it is craved because it is a carbohydrate.  Yet, we don’t eat pounds of pasta to scratch our love itch.  It could be the theobromine (“food of the gods”), a mild caffeine-like substance.  So, for the sake of argument, let’s say it’s just the serotonin and the relative of caffeine that we crave, a calm situation, a culinary oxymoron few foods provide.  It might even explain why some women crave chocolate when they’re due to menstruate, since women who suffer PMS have been found to have lower levels of serotonin, and premenstrual women in general eat 30 percent more carbohydrates than they do at other times of the month.  But if it were as simple as that, a doughnut and a cup of coffee would do the trick.  Chocoholics don’t crave potato chips and pasta;  they crave chocolate.

I’m not sure why people crave chocolate but as long as it’s legal, we are going to provide the solution.  Our “Drinking Chocolate” is the closest thing that you will find to a chocolate bar converted to drinking form.  Some customers have referred to it as fresh, out of the oven, liquid brownies.  Even on a warm day it satisfies.  If you find yourself south today and craving some theobromine, serotonin or just plain old chocolate, stop by Holy Cacao and say hi…we’ll be waiting for you!