Forget beer, tequila, and mezcal. This drink can get the job done and take care of you at the same time.
It’s no secret that the most popular Mexican drinks are beer, tequila, and mezcal. You can find them pretty much anywhere in the world and have a wide variety of options to choose from. The drink you can’t find, however, is something called pulque. This drink is exclusive to Mexican culture, and unless you find yourself in the country’s rural areas, you won’t be tasting the real thing. Pulque is so uncommon that even many Mexicans don’t know what it is. The people who do know what this is sell rip offs of this drink in Mexico and even the US since it’s a tough drink to make. If you ever see a can that says pulque on a shelf, don’t even bother trying it. This drink has to come from the source directly in order to experience the real taste and benefits. If you want to get drunk while actually drinking something healthy, pulque is the drink for you.
What is Pulque?
Pulque is an alcoholic drink that is made from agave sap. The sap is fermented with something called aguamiel, which translates to honey water. This aguamiel comes from the agave plant and is collected daily after the agave sap is extracted from the agave plant. All the aguamiel that is collected is transferred to fermentation vats where the agave sap is, and once the fermentation is complete, the pulque is ready to drink. You can ask for more aguamiel on your pulque when its ready to drink if you wish for it to be sweet. Pulque tends to have around 4%-6% alcohol levels, making it easy to drink more than one glass if you enjoy it! If you’re lucky, you may even find people who sell different flavors of pulque, which are sweeter but just as delicious.
Benefits of Pulque
The most important benefit of drinking pulque is that it cleans your guts. It is known to kill the bacteria that live in your stomach so that your intestines can be clean and healthy. Pulque can actually treat digestion issues as well. I know this is true because ever since I drank pulque for the first time, my stomach hasn’t hurt ever again (knock on wood).
In addition to this, pulque is very nutrient rich, especially in vitamins. People from my Mexican hometown drink pulque on hot days because it is a great source of hydration. In fact, pulque is mainly made out of water, so the drink works great to stay hydrated and receive nutrients.
Pulque supposedly makes your immune system stronger as well. Again, I think this is true because I haven’t gotten sick ever since I started drinking pulque (knock on wood). I’ve heard stories of people in my hometown who drank a glass of pulque every day and lived a very long and healthy life. I know damn well that people don’t make up these stories where I’m from, so you bet I believe them.
Where to Find Pulque
As I said earlier, not many people know about this drink, even in Mexico. The ones who do know try to sell fake pulque in the city since it takes a long time to make the drink and people wouldn’t know that their drinks are not the real deal. The best shot at finding pulque is in farms or other rural areas in Mexico. Although I will say that when I visited the Teotihuacan pyramids, there were people there selling the real deal, although their pulque came in flavors like strawberry.
I personally would recommend Tlaxcala, Mexico as a great spot to search for pulque. Drive to the top of the hills and you’ll be sure to find local towns that have people who make the real deal. As long as the pulque isn’t served in a can, you can trust that someone will be giving you real pulque. Make sure you don’t look for it in a bar either since it’ll likely be mainly water or some other alcoholic drink.
I’ve been drinking pulque since I was a little boy, and I can honestly say it’s my favorite drink from Mexico. Heck, it’s my favorite part about Mexico. Not everyone will like pulque, but you should definitely give it a shot and see what you think. Even if you don’t like it, you will at least have tried it to get the benefits!
