In Peru and other areas of Latin American, cups of faience or organic materials, used especially in the colonial era to serve hot chocolate or other hot beverages. Chocolate drink was consumed by the Mayans as early as 150 BCE, and in the following centuries it became a popular beverage among many indigenous groups. To create a Western-style form of the traditional mate cup, Spanish colonists improvised by using gourds, coconuts, wood, and other organic materials already in use, to which they added European-style bases, handles, and rims made of silver.
