| Within Mexican mercados
themselves local officials nearly everywhere do a good job keeping the premises safe and
businesslike. This is not to say, however, that the same atmosphere extends to across the
street. In fact, bars and less formal drinking holes often cluster on a mercado's
perimeter. Each of Mexico's dozens of indigenous groups seems
to have at least one fermented drink that it thinks of as its own. The following list just
scratches the surface.
acachú: in Zacapoaxtla,
Puebla, a liquor of the capulín cherry
aguamiel: in central Mexico, a mildly
intoxicating drink made from sap of the maguey, of the agave family
aguardiente: aguardiente, brandy
aguardiente de caña: rum
anís: mixture of alcohol, water, and essence
of anise
bacamora or bacanora:
a kind of Indian-made mescal
batari: in Chihuahua, a tesgüino made
by the Tarahumara Indians of ground-up, germinated and fermented corn kernels
brandy: brandy
caxtila: In the Sierra de Zongolica, Veracruz,
a rum prepared by the Nahua Indians
cerveza: beer
charanda: name for various drinks, some made
from fermenting agave sap, others from sugarcane juice
charape: in Michoacán and northern Guerrero,
variously prepared, most simply from fermenting pulque with water solution of unrefined
brown sugar
chicha: variously prepared, as from fermented
pineapple, unrefined brown sugar, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, and ginger
chichihualco: in Guerrero, made from fermented
agave sap
chorreado: in Mexico State, Morelos and
Guerrero, a mixture of whiskey, milk, chocolate, sugar, and, sometimes, egg
chumiate: in Mexico State, a name for fruit
liqueurs
colonche: in central Mexico, made from the
fermentation of macerated cactus fruit and sugar
comiteco: especially in Chiapas, a drink made
from agave sap
curado: name applied to too many kinds of
drinks to specify
damiana; in Sinaloa, a fermented infusion of
the herb known as damiana, of the genus Turnera
garapiña: same as chicha
ginebra: gin
habanero: in Tabasco, a local rum; in Yucatán,
made from the tropical tree-fruit called nance
huazamoteco: in Durango, alcohol diluted with
water, with tequila
kahlúa: a coffee-flavored liqueur
mezcal: mescal, distilled from pulque (see
below)
mistela or mustela:
in southern Mexico, various recipes made with a variety of fruits such as the nance,
mango, and plum; typically the fruit is fermented with water and alcohol until hardened,
then sealed and fermented for another year
mosco or mosquio:
a liquor based on oranges or orange peel
nevado: in Puebla and Mexico State, fruit
liquors
nochotle: among the Mixtecs of central Mexico,
a drink made by adding juice from the prickly-pear cactus, nopal cardón, to pulque
podzol: in Tabasco, fermented, ground, sprouted
corn kernels, flavored with salt and chili
ponche: punch (ponche de fruta = fruit
punch)
posh: in Chiapas, a whisky based on sugarcane
juice
pozol or pozole:
in southeastern Mexico, drink from fermented corn paste flavored with salt or chili
pulque: pulque -- in central Mexico, a mildly
intoxicating drink made by fermenting the sap, or aguamiel, of the maguey agave
resacado: a high-grade whiskey
rompope: typically based on milk, almonds and
egg yolk
ron: rum
sangría: sangria
sotol: in Jalisco and Nayarit, a distilled
drink using fermented sap of the desert yucca called sotol, of the genus Dasylirion
sugiki: same as batari
taberna: in Isthmus of Tehuantepec area, made
by fermentation of juice from a local palm tree
tecuí: in Mexico State, alcohol and fruit
juice, especially juice of orange, limon, or pineapple
tejuino: in western Mexico, among Huichol
Indians, drink of fermented corn, with added alcohol
tepache: fermented drink made from the of a
variety of plants, especially sugarcane and pineapple, with brown sugar; sometimes pulque
is added
teporocha: in Mexico State, a mixture of
alcohol and soda drink
tequila: especially from Jalisco, made from
fermented sap of a maguey-like agave
tesgüino, tesgüín, or tejuino:
in northern Mexico, a weakly alcoholic drink made from fermenting corn, or sometimes agave
juice, and unrefined brown sugar
torito: dozens of recipes; in Mexico State, it
is often tequila or rum mixed with orange juice, vinegar, onion and chili pepper; in
Guerrero, mescal cured with vinegar, green chili pepper, onion, tomato, and cheese; in
Veracruz, rum with fruits, such as guava, mamey, limon and peanuts, mixed with condensed
milk, regular milk, and ice
tuba: drink from fermentation of juice from
different kinds of palm, especially the coconut palm, often flavored with pineapple,
limon, chili, etc.
tuxca: same as mescal
verdín: In southeastern Mexico, a liquor made
from aromatic leaves of the tree called hoja santa, and fennel or anise
vino: wine
whisky or wiski:
whiskey
xanath: a vanilla-flavored liqueur
xtabentún: an anise-flavored liqueur
yolispa: in central Mexico, a drink made with
whisky, honey and herbs
zotol: in Chihuahua, the same as sotol |