Drinks from mexico

Fresh water at a street position in Mexico City

The set of Mexican drinks is the part of Mexico's gastronomy that brings together the wide diversity of soft drinks, liquors, wines, juices and other beverages that are typical of the country. In the menu of national Mexican drinks, traditional pre-Hispanic drinks such as atole or mezcal are combined with products brought from the Old World and that have been adapted to the American soil, such as coffee from Mexico or wine from Mexico.

Six drinks are legally protected with the Denomination of Origin seal, mostly distillates: bacanora, charanda, mezcal, raicilla, sotol, tequila.

Everyday drinks

Traditional elaboration of atole in Ihuatzio, Michoacán

Fresh waters

Aguas frescas are a family of simple non-alcoholic drinks that are served during meals at home or in restaurants across the country. They basically consist of freshly squeezed fruit juices diluted in cold water with sugar. They can be found in a wide variety of flavors: lemon, melon, watermelon, peach, guava, papaya, orange, mango, as well as other non-fruit vegetables, such as the popular tamarind water and Jamaica water.). Horchata water is based on rice and milk, sometimes cinnamon.

Atole

Atole or atol is a popular sweet drink made from ground corn, either in flour, semolina or dough, along with cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon or other flavors.

Coffee

Coffee pot

Coffee in Mexico has been cultivated since the XIX century, and since then it has achieved great acceptance among consumers. Coffee is a basic drink and accompanies the Mexican breakfast. Café de olla is traditional, which is spiced with cinnamon, anise, chocolate and other condiments, and sweetened with piloncillo.

The states of Chiapas, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Puebla are the main producers. 98% of Mexican coffee production is non-mechanized, in environmentally sustainable polycultures, which translates into a coffee of great quality. quality. Two of the sixteen Mexican designations of origin are for coffee: the DO Café de Chiapas and the DO Café Veracruz.

Beer

Beer made its appearance in Mexico in the XIX century, but it became popular in the last century. A typical beer-based preparation are micheladas.

Pulque

Pulque is an alcoholic beverage that is obtained by fermenting maguey mead. It is characterized by a viscous texture and a flavor that does not leave you indifferent, to which various ingredients can be added, having: strawberry pulque, pineapple, tuna, oats, tomato, pistachio, etc.

Mezcales and other distillates

Mezcal shot

Mezcals are spirits distilled from maguey (Agave), and have a millennial tradition. The most popular mezcal is tequila, although often considered two different drinks, tequila is a specific variety of mezcal (Agave tequilana). Both denominations are protected. Other protected designations of origin for distillates are raicilla, bacanora or sotol.

To obtain mezcal, the heart of the maguey is cooked and its sugars are extracted from it to prepare a must that is fermented with yeast and distilled.

Tepache

Pineapple fermenting to make tepache

Tepache is a fermented pineapple drink, slightly alcoholic (>1%). Although pineapple is the original fruit, guava tepache, prickly pear, etc. are also made.

Wine

Both white and red wine are produced in Mexico in the traditional European way. The Baja California wine region is the most representative of the country. It is also widely made in the states of Querétaro, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas and Coahuila.

Festive Drinks

Cocktails

Certain cocktails prepared by bartenders around the world have their origins in Mexico. In these cases, tequila is a common ingredient, since it is the liquor with the highest alcohol content that the country offers. The best known is the Margarita, made with tequila, triple sec and lemon. The Charro Negro is prepared with tequila and Coca-Cola. The menyul is a Veracruz version of the mint-julep.

There are also Mexican-inspired cocktails, like the Matador.

Cocoa drinks

Popo

Cocoa drinks deserve a special mention because there is a wide diversity and they are all of pre-Hispanic origin. They are usually foamed a lot using a grinder, and are served locally at patron saint festivities and similar events. Are included:

• Water rod
• Bupu, zapotecos del Istmo (Oaxaca)
• Champurrado
• Chilate, typical of the state of Guerrero, made from cocoa, rice, cinnamon and sugar and served cold. It is very present in amuze, Mixtec, Tlapanecas and afromexican communities.
• Popo, Veracruz, Oaxaca
• Pozol de cacao, better known as chorote, Tabasco
• Kakapoté, Chiapas
• Tascalate, Chiapas
• Polvillo, Tabasco

Punch

Fruit punch is a hot and sweet drink that includes sugar cane, prunes, apple, cinnamon, piloncillo, hawthorn, guava, tamarind, Jamaica flower, and pineapple. It is prepared exclusively during the Christmas period.

Regional drinks

Peanut puppy

• Comiteco: Destilado de aguamiel de maguey Comiteco, maguey endémico de la meseta comiteca tojolabal, del estado de Chiapas.
• Charanda: traditional Michoacán. It has a denomination of origin. It is made from the Caña of sugar cultivated in the Uruapan area.
• Coyote, typical drink of Pilcaya, State of Guerrero; is in presentations by Naranja, Maracuyá, Maracuyá with Naranja, Naranja with Jumil, Nanche, Arrayán and Betabel.
• Colonche, fermented drink of the tuna cardona juice typical of the Bajío. Sometimes it also makes pitaya colonche.
• Huachicol: adulterated alcoholic beverage with cane alcohol.
• Pajarete: booze that consists of bronca milk, cane alcohol and chocolate.
• Holcatzín: Capulin liqueur consumed in Campeche and Yucatan.
• Ponche
• Pox: is a distilled of endemic criollos maizes of Chiapas, sugar cane and wheat.
• Rompope
• Tuxca: Destilado de agave, mezcal wine from the South of Jalisco.
• Torito: Typical drink of Veracruz of different flavors such as guanábana, jobo, nanche, coconut to coffee, peanut or walnut mixed with frippé ice.
• Xtabentun

• Tejuino: Originary of Jalisco.
• Cebadina: Traditional in Guanajuato.
• Pinole
• Tejate: Originary of the State of Oaxaca.
• Lechuguilla: typical south drink of the state of Jalisco made from the ferment of the lettuce agave, water and sugar.
• Tepache: drinks made based on the fermentation of pineapple. The word tepache comes from the nahuatl tepiatl, which means corn drink, because it was originally made with this cereal although nowadays its best-known version is that of pineapple with sugar.
• Tuba: drink extracted from the palm, very traditional in the Pacific Coast states, such as Colima and Jalisco.
• Bate de chan o chía
• Mosco