Cacao was most commonly drunk as xocolatl ("bitter water", the origin of the word chocolate) and was the beverage of warriors and nobles. It was considered a potent intoxicant and something that was drunk with great solemnity and gravity which was described as something "not drunk unthinkingly" by the Spanish chronicler Sahagún. Chocolate could be prepared in a huge variety of ways and most of them involved mixing hot or tepid water with toasted and ground cacao beans, maize and any number of flavorers such as chili, honey, vanilla and a wide variety of spices. The ingredients were mixed and beaten with a beating stick or aerated by pouring the chocolate from one vessel to another. If the cacao was of high quality, this produced a rich head of foam. The head could be set aside, the drink further aerated to produce another head, which was also set aside and then placed on top of the drink along with the rest of the foam before serving
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