Pulque has the potential to be called truly the national drink of Mexico. The Indians produced it from agave juice many centuries before the Spanish conquest. The Spaniards used pulque as a raw material for the production of tequila, increasing the strength of the drink by distillation.
In pre-Hispanic times, pulque was considered a ritual drink, with which libations were made for the gods. Only priests and elderly people were allowed to drink it. Later it turned into the most popular and democratic drink available to peasants and workers. Pulque was sold on every corner and in every drinking establishment.
Drinking establishments that sold pulque — Pulquerias, now a rarity, were once the most important public places, very colorful and lively. Pulque was sold at retail in containers ranging from 3.8 liter buckets to “sample”, 200 ml glasses. There were ceramic jugs for pulque, in the making of which the potters showed imagination, in particular, decorating the edge of the jug with a molded snake, hollow inside, the tail of which descended down into the container and was equipped with a hole. The bullet was allowed to stretch, applying itself to the snake's mouth and sucking it inside, as if through a straw.
With the advent of beer and other European drinks to Mexico, the popularity of pulque began to decline, and now it is more — a tribute to tradition and rural exoticism, than the number one drink as before.
Pulque is made from the juice of certain types of agave, in contrast to mezcal, which is made from the baked pith of the agave plant, and in addition to tequila, which is made only from the pith of the tequila agave plant. The juice is extracted from the hole cut into the core of the Agave atrovirens, Agave mexicana (Agave atrovirens, Agave mexicana), a plant native to Mexico, which has several varieties: white maguey, Chalco maguey, long-leaved maguey, supple maguey, colored maguey, hamini maguey and others. The plant is cultivated in the states of Mexico City, Puebla, Michoacan, Tlaxcala and some parts of Hidalgo - in the south, on the Apan plains (Llanos de Apan) and in the Mezquital valley (Valle de Mesquital).
A person called a tlachiquero prepares pulque. The word comes from the verb from the Nahuatl languages «tlachica» — scrape, meaning that he scrapes out the pith of the agave to form the juice. The method by which juice is extracted from agave has been preserved unchanged since ancient times. After a hole is cut in the core of the plant, the juice is extracted with the assistance of akofrome — dried large hollow pumpkin, very elongated in shape with two holes at opposite ends. They use it like a giant pipette: placing the apex to the mouth, suck in air and thus suck the juice inside. The extracted agave juice is poured into a large clay jug or wooden barrel. The from containers are taken to the “tinacal”, a special room where it will ferment.
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At sunset, when the tlachiqueros return to the tinacal with the strained juice, it is poured into vats or tubs to be left there to ferment. The tubs are called "bulls" because they are made of ox skin stretched over a wooden frame. This action is almost sacred. The Tlachiquero foreman calls on the Virgin Mary for help, and his slaves sing “In Praise,” a religious hymn brought to New Spain by a Spanish monk. This hymn was sung on agricultural estates and then spread to agave farms, so that it can still be heard in the tinacals of the states of Hidalgo and Tlaxcal.
Shortly before reaching maximum fermentation, the pulque is transported in barrels to its places of consumption, in the cities of Mexico City, Pachuca and Puebla, in carts drawn by mules or oxen. After the railroad appeared in the south of Hidalgo, pulque began to be transported along it. The delivered pulque had to be processed quite quickly before it spoiled.
The complex process of preparing pulque has always limited delivery options, and shaking in transport accelerates its deterioration. Active consumption of pulque has never expanded beyond the central highlands of Mexico. In an attempt to increase its lifespan, pulque producers began packaging it in iron cans. However, such pulque loses its characteristic flavor characteristics, which is why it has not gained much popularity.
During the reign of President Porfirio Diaz (late 19th - early 20th centuries), which lasted more than 30 years, the production of pulque in Mexico brought in good income. Owners of agave farms could afford to live in Mexico City or even abroad, from time to time visiting their estates to enjoy the warm climate, engage in farming and take back the profits received from selling pulque. This is how a social stratum was formed, which was called the “pulque aristocracy.”
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After the nationalization of the haciendas where agave was grown and pulque was produced, production of the drink began to decline. In the 1930s, the government of Lázaro Cárdenas tried to reduce the consumption of alcoholic beverages with a campaign against pulque. However, the most powerful blow to pulque was the appearance of In Mexico beer. The production of pulque finally fell into decline.
Since the 1960s, attempts have begun to revive the popularity of pulque in Mexico. In the 2000s, pulque made up only 10% of the total volume of alcoholic beverages consumed in Mexico. It began to be perceived as a drink of the lower classes, as opposed to European beer. Today, pulque is still interesting to ordinary Mexicans, but rather as an old exotica and a tribute to tradition.