Brown ground beef in large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and drain well.
Meanwhile, finely chop peppers and coarsely chop onion. (I like to hand chop the onions, but chop the peppers very small in the food chopper so that the flavor permeates the whole batch of chili but no one gets a randomly large chunk of too-spicy pepper in their bowl.)
Saute onions, garlic, and peppers in olive oil in separate large pan until soft.
While your ground beef and veggies are cooking, chop your herbs if using fresh.
Add onion/pepper mixture, spices, cocoa powder, tomatoes, tomato paste, and water to browned ground beef and mix well.
Simmer over low heat at least an hour, stirring occasionally.
After chili has simmered for an hour or more, drain and add beans.
Stir, increase heat to medium low, and simmer another 15 minutes or so until beans are heated through.
Serve topped with shredded cheese, sliced pickled jalapeños, sour cream, crumbled crackers, corn chips, or your own favorite chili fixings.