6 Ancient Chocolate Drinks that Are Healthier than You Imagined

Hot chocolate didn't spring to life in the 1900s. Ancient Mexicans and other cultures have prepared cocoa drinks for centuries, utilizing raw ingredients and aromatic spices. Travelers and laborers enjoyed healthy drinks made from water, cacao, corn flour and, sometimes, a hint of sweetener.

"Healthy" isn't a word that you ever thought you'd use for hot cocoa, but these weren't cups of bubbling chocolate loaded with milk, sugar and cream. Ancient recipes often swapped out the milk for water, sugar for vanilla and cream for ground corn flour, infusing the drink with nutrients and antioxidants.

Often, these drinks are a little bitter and watery for modern palates. Diners around the world occasionally slip in milk and sugar. However, if you think milk chocolate is too sweet, these beverages might allow you to finally enjoy cocoa.

Want to eat like an Aztec? Tired of the old powdered drink mixes? Try one of these recipes that challenge the way you think about chocolate's culinary uses.

1. Champurrado

Champurrado grandly appears during Christmas and the Day of the Dead. Milk, cinnamon and two tablets of Mexican chocolate give this drink a rich creaminess, but champurrado features a surprising ingredient: masa harina, the same corn flour that makes tortillas and tamales. Spices, such as clove and star anise, enhance the earthiness.

The Mexican chocolate you find in champurrado is different from Hershey bars. A combination of roasted and ground cacao nibs, sugar and cinnamon creates a bitter taste and grainy texture meant for cooking instead of snacking. You can make this at home or buy commercial brands.

2. Pozol

Corn is also the main ingredient in pozol, which gets its thickness and flavor from cocoa mixed with fermented corn dough. Water turns the dough into an ancient Mexican drink that travelers have enjoyed since the 1500s. Pozol has the perfect bitterness if you prefer dark chocolate--but if not, a little sweetener won't hurt.

3. Tejate

Tejate, Oaxaca's famous beverage, has nourished people for centuries with a comforting blend of corn flour, cacao beans, dried flowers and pits from mamey, a fleshy orange fruit. Traditionally, women prepare tejate and serve the beverage in dried, hollowed-out gourds called jicaras. Oaxacans still enjoy tejate daily, savoring the rich, dense foam that floats to the top.

4. Pinolillo

Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras residents know that kitchen appliances can't replace the mortar and pestle that gives pinolillo its iconic grittiness. With roasted and hand-ground corn, toasted cacao beans and fragrant spices, pinolillo celebrates the original, unprocessed ingredients that people appreciated centuries ago.

5. Xocolātl

Modern hot chocolate evolved from xocolātl, an Aztec beverage with a spicy, bitter tang. In fact, etymologists believe that the term "chocolate" originates from the word "xocolātl." Aztecs enjoyed cacao directly from the bean without vegetable oils or other additives.

To prepare this recipe, cooks boil green peppers, then remove them and whisk cocoa powder and vanilla extract into the chile-infused water. Connoisseurs note that xocolātl isn't the richest drink, but the simple ingredients offer a healthy alternative to mugs brimming with syrups and artificial sugars.

6. Tascalate

Recorded as early as 1566, tascalate has roots in the indigenous Chiapanecos' rich culinary history. Roasted corn tortillas, cinnamon, annatto paste and cacao beans create a beverage with a spicy flavor and reddish tint. Authentic Mexican restaurants often serve tascalate for lunch instead of dessert because the savory outweighs the sweet.

Did it surprise you to learn that cocoa isn't always bad for you? Would you try any of these delicacies, or do you prefer rich, creamy chocolate loaded with peppermint and marshmallows? Sound off in the comments.