Pulque

Pulque is a milky, slightly viscous, sour alcoholic drink made by fermenting aguamiel, the sap of mature maguey plants. Drunk in central Mexico since before the Spanish conquest, it is undistilled, low in alcohol and spoils within days, and it is served in traditional bars called pulquerías.

Production

A maguey takes about ten years or more to mature. When it is ready to flower, the tlachiquero, the sap collector, cuts out the central bud and hollows a basin in the heart of the plant. Sap called aguamiel, roughly 10 percent sugar according to Britannica, collects in the cavity and is drawn off, traditionally with a long dried gourd, about twice a day. The walls are scraped each time to keep the sap flowing. Britannica reports a plant can yield up to about seven liters a day until it dies, typically after several months.

The sap is fermented in vats in a building called a tinacal. Fermentation is started with a portion of mature pulque, known as the semilla or seed, and is driven largely by the bacterium Zymomonas mobilis along with yeasts. Wikipedia gives seven to fourteen days for a full fermentation; Britannica describes several days. The result keeps fermenting after it is made, so pulque must be sold and drunk quickly. It is usually consumed unpasteurized, though some is bottled.

History

Pulque, called octli in Nahuatl, was a sacred drink in the Aztec world, linked to the goddess Mayahuel. Wikipedia and Spanish Wikipedia report that its use was restricted to priests, nobles and the elderly, with severe punishments for public drunkenness among the young. A mural of pulque drinkers was found at the great pyramid of Cholula.

After the conquest pulque became an everyday drink and an important source of tax revenue. Mexico City limited the number of pulquerías by regulation in 1672, and Jesuit estates in the Apan plains of Hidalgo and Tlaxcala produced it commercially. A railway line opened in 1866 carried so much of it to the capital that it was nicknamed the pulque train, and hundreds of haciendas were devoted to the drink at its peak.

Decline and revival

Consumption fell sharply in the twentieth century. Sources point to the disruption of the Revolution and land reform, government campaigns against drunkenness in the 1930s, and above all competition from bottled beer, which kept longer and was promoted with claims that pulque was unsanitary. Hidalgo and Tlaxcala remain the main producing states. A Tlaxcala company began bottling pulque in 1994, and the state promotes a pulque route for visitors.

Curados and pulquerías

Plain pulque is often mixed with fruit, nuts or vegetables, sweetened, to make curados. Spanish Wikipedia mentions curados of red prickly pear, sold cheaply under the nickname sangre de conejo, the pricier pine nut curado, and a plain garlic curado. Pulquerías are known for painted murals, odd names and their own nicknames for glass sizes, and many serve snacks such as guacamole. Pulque is also used in cooking, for example in salsa borracha and pollo al pulque.

Recipe

Reviews

See also

• Mezcal
• Tequila
• Tepache

References

1. "Pulque". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Pulque". Wikipedia en español. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "Pulque | Description, Ingredients, & Production". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 2026-10-10.