Pre-Hispanic foods are often discussed more or less daily. However, pre-Hispanic drinks are not. Aside from atole or champurrados, ancestral beverages seem to have fallen into a hole of invisibility, into being “seen” but not acknowledged, or worse, into disuse. 

Like dishes such as molli or memelas, drinks made from native ingredients of Mexico like corn and cacao preserve ancestral knowledge and flavors. Furthermore, it's worth remembering that cacao is not only food; it is a ritual drink, a connection between the cosmos and the earth. Corn is the clay of creation in ancient cosmogony, the foundational pyramid of our culture. 

Perhaps the reason pre-Hispanic drinks are not talked about much is because their production is limited to a specific geographic area. Locals know them, perhaps consume them, but their fame does not extend beyond their region. This happened to me a couple of years ago when I discovered one of my favorite colonial drinks, tuba, in Colima. Before my visit to its capital, tuba was nonexistent on my culinary radar.

Outside of Oaxaca, Chiapas, or Tabasco, where the cultivation of native corn and cacao unleashed a large list of non-alcoholic ancestral drinks, little is known about pre-Hispanic beverages. Another fact: there are all kinds of books and literature regarding the cuisine before the arrival of the Spaniards, but not so much about the drinks. 

Probably outside of tascalate, ancient alcoholic beverages are the ones that have the greatest diffusion. Among them, tepache or pulque stand out, whose mythology refers to a ritual drink that recalls the Mexica goddess of maguey, Mayahuel. Mezcal, pox, tequila, sotol, or raicilla came several centuries later, with the distillation brought by the Spaniards and learned from the Arabs. Sugar was also imported from the Spaniards, which began to be used to produce aguardientes and liqueurs following the Conquest.

The list is extensive. Perhaps much more than we can make visible. Here are some of those non-alcoholic pre-Hispanic drinks that are worth preparing, trying, or at least recapping.  

This is a drink similar to atole, originating from the Isthmus of Oaxaca, made from the May flower. Don’t recognize this flower? You probably do; it’s the triangular emblematic flower of Hawaii and native to Mexico. The drink includes all the ingredients ground together, toasted cacao, and powdered panela or piloncillo. 

This Chiapan drink is noted for its slightly spiced and spicy flavor, the result of the achiote and cinnamon in its recipe. It is probably the pre-Hispanic drink with the widest diffusion. It is prepared with ground tortillas and cacao. 

From Oaxaca to the world, this is known as the “drink of the gods.” Visually, its main characteristic is the clumpy powder that rises to the surface, peeking out from the jicarita of guaje in which it is usually served. The recipe includes mamey pit, toasted and ground corn, cacao flower, and fermented cacao seeds.

Consumed mainly in Tabasco and Chiapas, its function is to refresh the body. It is prepared like an atole: with masa de maíz and processed cacao. Its nutritional value is so important that the Mayan indigenous people used to place it in the mouths of the deceased to give them strength to cross to the other side.

The name already announces its main ingredients: chile and atl, or water. This drink from Guerrero is made with masa de maíz, chile, cacao, cinnamon, piloncillo, and water. In some regions, rice water is also added.

The peculiarity of pozontle is that it is prepared with the root of the cocolmeca, a plant also used for weight loss. This Oaxacan drink also includes cacao, nixtamalized native corn, and piloncillo for sweetness. 

This drink is consumed cold or hot in the markets and rural communities of Tabasco. To prepare it, toasted corn is ground until a sort of flour is formed and mixed with finely ground cacao. Finally, water and sugar are added. 

My absolute favorite. It is a fermented corn drink that, in some regions, is kept until it develops alcohol and is used as a celebratory drink at parties and ceremonies. In Jalisco and Colima, fermentation is barely perceptible, so no alcohol is formed. Street vendors prepare it with lime, salt, and chile. The plus is a scoop of lemon ice cream that makes it even more refreshing.