The Mayans consumed chocolate by first harvesting the seeds — or beans — from cacao trees. They fermented and dried them, roasted them, removed their shells, and ground them into a paste. (Much of that process remains unchanged to this day.) They often combined this paste with water, cornmeal, chili peppers, and other spices, then poured the spicy, bitter mixture back and forth between two containers to create a frothy chocolate drink.