Pulque

Name for a spirit that is considered the national drink in Mexico along with tequila. It is made from the fermented juice of various agaves, especially Agave salmiana (75%) and Agave americana. The fermentation is not caused by yeasts, but by the bacterium Zymomonas mobilis. The milky, cloudy pulque has only a low alcohol content of about 2 to 6% by volume. Pulque spoils quickly and cannot be stored or transported, which is why the drink is hardly available outside Mexico. Pulque was already produced by the Aztecs, who called the agave "Metl" and "plant of the gods", because they considered pulque to be their blood. At the end of the Aztec calendar year, the people were allowed to get drunk senselessly for five days. There are numerous finds of cups or goblets from pre-Columbian times in the shape of a monkey; the monkey symbolises the intoxicated state of the drinker. Pulque was the precursor of tequila, which was invented by the Spanish conquistadors; unlike tequila, it is fermented but not distilled.

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Pulque

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