Two important drinks at this time were octli (native wine) and chocolate. Octli was made from fermented agave.

Only the rich, upper-class and noble people drank cacao. Also, people with children and grandchildren were allowed to drink cacao, but only four cups a day were allowed. Cacao became a replacement for octli because if found drunk people were put to death.

Hernandez Cortez was sent to the America’s to find medicinal plants. He had an experience with cacao and took it back to Europe where they modified how it was drank. Europeans thought it was too bitter to drink, so spices and other flavors were added. The Europeans used honey, cinnamon, and other spices.
  The most popular mix of cacao by the Mayans and Aztecs was white corn and spicy chili. This was called chilcacahuatl. Achiote or annatto made the cacao have a red color. Honey and flowers were sometimes added. It was also popular to drink it with a foam on top.

Other countries also had their encounters with cacao.

It was reported by Columbus’ son, Ferdinand, by Guanaja 1502 north of Honduran mainland Bay Islands that they discovered a Maya trading canoe and reported it was filled with "wine of maize and “almonds” (beans of cacao). The Europeans complained it was bitter and did not inebriate.

Spain liked it hot rather than cold or room temperature, which is how the Mesoamerica people drank cacao. They sweetened it with cane sugar, spices: cinnamon, anise seed, black pepper. From metate (curred grinding stone) to froth by a molinillo. They did not like the word cacahuatl or caca (feces in Spanish) so it was changed to chocolate.

Kekchi Maya of Guatemala visited Prince Philip in Spain in 1544. Many presents were brought.

The French ambassador’s wife–Marie de Villars - went to Spain and stated there was “nothing better for health”.

Roman physician Paola Zacchia brought it from Portugal and called it a medicine chacolata. Taken early in the morning comforts the stomach and aids digestion; but thanks to its “hotness” it must be used cautiously (this was the peppers that were added).

Chocolate was not seen in India, SE Asia or the Far East. Chinese eat only a bar of chocolate for every 1000 consumed by the British. Cacao lied wholly in Mesoamerica until AD 1521. Italy started mixing it with food and France with desserts. The Industrial Revolution brought chocolate factories.

The cacao belt is 20 degrees north and south of the equator. The climate has consistent temperatures, high humidity, and well-distributed rainfall. It is a tropical plant.