The Cacao Codex — what the Aztecs wrote, and the Mayas did not.

Almost everything taught today as a "Mayan cacao ceremony" actually stems from Aztec sources. Yet, hardly anyone mentions this.

The Florentine Codex—completed around 1590 by the friar Bernardino de Sahagún based on information from Mexica informants—is the most detailed surviving source on how cacao was prepared in Mesoamerica. Nothing the Maya left in writing comes close to that level of detail, and the reason is historical: Mayan books were burned.

This book gathers the content of those pages.

What you will find

▪ Aztec cacao additives and their Nahuatl names—*tlilxochitl*, *mecaxochitl*, *hueinacaztli*, *izquixochitl*, *chiltecpin*—along with descriptions of each and how to substitute them in Brazil.

▪ The seven colors. Sahagún recorded chocolate drinks in green, honey, bright red, orange-red, pink, black, and white, all served to the ruler. Seven complete reconstructions, including ingredients and preparation methods.

▪ The technique almost everyone gets wrong. The *molinillo*—the wooden whisk sold worldwide as a traditional Aztec tool—is a European introduction. The original method was different, and it is explained here step-by-step.

▪ Mexica warnings. Sahagún’s own informants noted in the 16th century that consuming too much posed a risk, and they described the symptoms of excess with clinical precision. This provides the best existing argument for setting dosage limits in a ceremony circle.

▪ The reversal no one talks about: pure cacao was a remedy. The drink used for celebrations and rituals was always a complex blend.

▪ A ready-to-use gathering format: the "Seven Colors Circle," complete with serving order and facilitation guide.

Who it is for

For anyone who leads cacao circles and wants to move beyond simply repeating what they have heard others say. For facilitators who have already realized that "that's how it was done in the old days" is a phrase that doesn't hold up when someone asks where it comes from.