As previously noted, chicha was originally produced using corn. The process of making chicha in pre-Hispanic times included soaking corn seeds, sun-drying and milling the seeds to create a corn mash known as jora. Soon after being created, the jora was boiled inside a clay pot, constantly stirred, and then transferred to a separate clay pot called a pondo in order to ferment (Gomes, et al. 2009, 5). However, ancient methods were not only specific to soaking, drying and milling, producers also chewed the corn seeds before adding them to boiling water and completing the fermentation process (Gomes, et al. 2009, 6). 

As time passed and traditions became more dynamic, the process of making chicha modernized. Today, producers use the same steps, but some of the techniques have changed. For example, fruits and grains have replaced the original ingredient of corn in some regions. In terms of the mash, some makers take their seeds to a mill to be processed into flour while others purchase the jora from a vendor saving producers time and labor. Large metal pots may be used instead of clay pots in order to boil the chicha mash which is then transferred into another vessel to ferment for up to six days before distributing or bottling (Hayashida 2008, 163).