While researching the history of the word mochaccino (a cappuccino flavoured with chocolate) for potential inclusion in the dictionary, OED editors were surprised that the earliest evidence they were able to uncover was for a frozen confection at the Manhattan dessert emporium Serendipity 3, not a hot drink of coffee and chocolate:

1971 New York Times  12 Nov. 40/6 Mochaccino is a frozen brown and sweet behemoth that few people are good enough to deserve.

Another early reference to an icy mochaccino, however, explicitly states that it is inspired by the hot, coffee-based version:

1979 Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, Indiana) 20 June 7/1 Mochaccino is cool summer drink… [This] is a frozen version of mochaccino, a hot beverage usually combining espresso coffee and chocolate.

This suggests that the hot drink may have come first after all. Can you help us prove it by finding earlier evidence of mochaccino?

Posted by OED_Editor on 7 December 2012 12.30
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