Q 01/05

The Mayo-Chinchipe culture domesticated cacao 5,300 years ago in what is now which country?

A) Peru

B) Mexico

C) Ecuador

D) Guatemala

Answer · why

C) Ecuador

That pushes the drink's origins well south of the Maya and Aztec lands where Europeans first tasted it.

Q 02/05

Among the Aztecs, what was it considered for a commoner to drink chocolate?

A) A wedding duty

B) A bad omen

C) A cure for fever

D) A rite of passage

Answer · why

B) A bad omen

The drink signalled high status; warriors and nobles got it, everyone else did not.

Q 03/05

When cocoa beans were used as currency in Mesoamerica, thirty beans could buy what?

A) A cotton cloak

B) A small rabbit

C) A clay pot

D) A turkey hen

Answer · why

B) A small rabbit

Beans served as money from at least 400 BC, which is one reason drinking your wealth was a status move.

Q 04/05

The Maya mixed ground cacao with water, vanilla, cornmeal and which fiery ingredient?

A) Ground cloves

B) Allspice berries

C) Grated nutmeg

D) Chili peppers

Answer · why

D) Chili peppers

Sweetening it with sugar was a European habit that came much later.

Q 05/05

How did Mesoamerican drinkers raise a thick foam on their chocolate?

A) Shaking it in a sealed gourd

B) Blowing through a hollow reed

C) Beating it with feathers

D) Pouring it between two vessels

Answer · why

D) Pouring it between two vessels

The froth was the prized part of the drink; a good head of foam was the whole point.