By 100 AD, the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, centered in the tropical lowlands of present-day Guatemala, Belize, and southern Mexico, had developed elaborate cacao preparation rituals involving grinding roasted cacao beans into a bitter, frothy beverage. Cacao pods were cultivated in managed groves and the resulting drink was consumed during royal ceremonies, marriage negotiations, and religious observances. Cacao beans also served as a form of currency, embedding this early stimulant food deeply into the economic and spiritual fabric of Maya society.

Maya hieroglyphic texts and painted ceramic vessels record cacao-drinking songs and ritual poetry that accompanied its consumption, representing some of the earliest literary works directly tied to a substance that would become the basis of modern junk food. These Mesoamerican cacao traditions later fascinated European poets and writers from the seventeenth century onward, providing exotic imagery that appeared in Baroque and Romantic verse about New World commodities.