Chicha is believed to have pre-Columbian roots beginning with the Incas where chosen women known as aqlla were selected to brew chicha. Chicha’s first recorded appearance seems to have been in Ecuador around to 200 A.D. (Gomes, et al. 2009, 4). The fermented drink was enjoyed by Incan elites and laborers during ceremonies and rituals. Chicha was not limited to celebrations though. It was also brewed and enjoyed at home by families (Hayashida 2008, 162) as well as shared with constituents by political figures throughout the countryside in the north coast of Peru.

Before the Spanish conquest, chicha was mainly made of corn in many South American regions (Pablo Lacoste, et al. 2015, 88), but this changed with the introduction of the Spanish. Apples, or manshana in the Mapuche language, which were brought from Spain to Chile, were used to make chicha since the original edible plants were replaced by apple trees (Antonia Barreau, et al. 2019, 422). Other fruits such as guava and murta (Chilean Guava) have been used to make chicha as well (Antonia Barreau, et al. 2019, 417). As decades passed other substances such as rice, pineapple and grapes were also used to make chicha (Pablo Lacoste, et al. 2015, 88). Today, chicha is still brewed and enjoyed during celebrations and festivals, but the clay pots that chicha was originally brewed with have been replaced by metal pots (Hayashida 2008, 162).