Cocoa - Kakao - why?

Another thing about English and German vocabulary that I have always found quite strange is the way the Os and the As are the other way round in these two words:

Cocoa (pronounced: ko-ko) and  Kakao (pronounced: ca-cow)

We talk of 'cocoa beans' to make bars of chocolate and Kakaobohnen to make 'Schokolade'. 

When it comes to the drink, however, there is some disparity once again. The hot milky drink that the Germans call 'Kakao' is known as 'hot chocolate' in English.

What the British call 'cocoa' is also a drink, but not very chocolatey, and you certainly wouldn't order it in a cafe. It's made with milk or water, a bit of cocoa powder and usually sweetened with sugar. It's what the Brits used to drink before bedtime. Hot chocolate is a much richer, more pleasurable and more decadent concoction.

As the Sleep Charity organisation says:

A classic pre-bedtime beverage, hot cocoa isn’t to be confused with hot chocolate. Cocoa is powder without the fat from the cocoa butter whereas ‘drinking chocolate’ is shavings or pellets of chocolate melted and mixed with milk, cream or water. The drawback of hot chocolate is not just the caffeine but the sugar content.  It also contains phenylethylamine, which causes a natural high.

So enjoy a cup of cocoa before bedtime and sweet dreams.