The consumption of pulque, a three-to-eight percent fizzy alcoholic drink made from fermented agave sap, can be traced back to the pre-Hispanic period, making it one of the oldest beverages in Mexico. According to an article, cultures like the Otomi, Teotihuacan, Toltec, Huasteca, Mixtec, and Nahua have taken advantage of pulque, made from the agave plant, as an essential part of their cosmovision, considering it a divine liquor.

Get to know more about pulque and what makes it an important piece of Mexico's rich heritage. Here are five facts about pulque:


1. Pulque Is Not a By-Product of Tequila or Mezcal

Pulque is not technically related to tequila or mezcal nor a byproduct of their process. Sure, they all share the same source, but mezcal and tequila are derived from the piña or heart of the agave plant, which is abundant in Mexico. On the other hand, pulque is made from the sap of the plant known as aguamiel or honey water.


2. You Don't Need To Kill the Agave Plant to Make Pulque

Compared to making mezcal and tequila in which you have to extract the agave plant from the ground, you only collect the aguamiel which gathers at the center of the plant's leaves, which the plant typically secretes for up to a year before it finally dies. You can collect up to 600 liters of sap during the period when an agave plant is producing aguamiel.

Agave sap or mead extraction can be traced back to the 5th century BC when obsidian scrapers were discovered as an effective tool to scrape the heart of the agave.

This thick, syrupy but effervescent liquor is made by collecting the aguamiel with a steel scoop, bucket, or gourd, like the way pre-colonial Mexico collects it and then ferment it in a barrel. You can ferment pulque with the wild yeast and bacteria in the air, but pulque primarily ferments from the bacteria left over from the previous batch of pulque.


3. Pulque Has Been Consumed in Mexico for Centuries

During the pre-Hispanic era, indigenous people considered pulque to be a drink of the gods. They were revered for its health benefits such as iron and vitamin C, along with lactic acid and probiotics. Consumption of pulque was a privilege only given to priests or nobility as well as the elderly and pregnant women. Upon the Spanish colonization in Mexico, pulque was almost entirely eradicated because they brought beer to the country and stigmatized those who drank it, while in turn, boosting their beer sales. However, pulque survived, and it is once again redeeming its status, especially to younger Mexicans.


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4. Pulque Can Be Used in Cocktails

With low alcohol by volume (ABV), pulque is a mild drink with the delicate process because if you ferment it for a more extended amount of time required, it will create something with a higher ABV as well as increase the risk of contamination, sourness or spoilage. To give pulque an alcoholic kick, you can add mezcal or tequila. Still, if you want a refreshing boost, you can mix it with fresh guava or pineapple juice, pistachio milk, coconut water, or even tomato juice - the choices are endless.


5. Pulque Tastes Better When You Drink It Fresh

Sadly, if you want to drink pulque at its finest quality, you need to go to Mexico. Although there are commercial brands that produce and import canned or bottled pulque, these products are pasteurized and don't have the same flavor and quality as fresh pulque. How does good pulque taste like? A mix between a lager, aloe vera sap, and kefir. On the other hand, commercial taste like sour milk and has a thicker texture.

Thanks to the pulquerias or pulque pubs and the digital information era, despite being the oldest, this ancient drink will continue to thrive as most persistent of all Mexican beverages.