Trivia: Drink of the Gods

from Madrid Agribusiness Digest Feb 2009 Vol.19 No.10

Chocolate comes from the cacao bean, which was first cultivated by Mayans and Aztecs over 3,000 years ago. Chocolate was believed to be the favored beverage of the Gods, and this cacao product played an important role in religious and social traditions and ceremonies.

It was the ancient Mayans who first concocted chocolate into a beverage. They mixed the fermented cacao paste with water, chili peppers and cornmeal to make a frothy, spicy chocolate drink.