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Pulque (; ), occasionally known as octli or agave wine, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the Agave americana plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, a rather Viscosity consistency and a sour yeast-like taste.
The drink's history extends far back into the period, when it was considered sacred, and its use was limited to certain classes of people. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the drink became secular and its consumption rose. The consumption of pulque reached its peak in the late 19th century. In the 20th century, the drink fell into decline, mostly because of competition from beer, which became more prevalent with the arrival of European immigrants, but pulque remains popular in many parts of Central Mexico, however, and there have been some efforts to revive the drink's popularity elsewhere through tourism. Similar drinks exist elsewhere in Latin America, such as guarango in Ecuador (see miske).
It is one of two types of fermented agave drink known from Mexico at the time of European contact: pulque is made with sap taken from the stem, while the other was made with pit barbecue stems and leaf bases.
The manufacturing process of pulque is complex and requires the death of the maguey plant. (2009). 9781592404643, Gotham Books. ISBN 9781592404643 As the plant nears maturity, the center begins to swell and elongate as the plant gathers stored sugar to send up a single flower stalk, which may reach up to 20 feet in height. However, plants destined for pulque production have this flower stalk cut off, leaving a depressed surface 12-18 inches in diameter. In this center, the maguey sap, known as aguamiel (honeywater), collects. (2025). 9789687074467, Minutiae Mexicana S.A de C.V.. ISBN 9789687074467 It takes a maguey plant 12 years to mature enough to produce the sap for pulque.
According to another story, pulque was discovered by the Tlacuache (opossum), who used his human-like hands to dig into the maguey and extract the naturally fermenting juice. He became the first drunk. Tlacuache was thought to set the course of rivers. The rivers he set were generally straight except when he was drunk. Then they follow Tlacuache's meandering path from cantina to cantina.
Another account traces the discovery of aguamiel to the Toltec Empire, when a noble named Papantzin was trying to get the emperor to marry his daughter Xochitl. He sent her to the capital with an offering of aguamiel, honey of the agave plant. The emperor and princess wed, and their son was named Meconetzin (maguey son). In other versions of the story, Xochitl is credited with discovering pulque.
For the indigenous peoples of the central highlands of Mexico, the imbibing of pulque was done only by certain people, under certain conditions. It was a ritual drink, consumed during certain festivals, such as that of the goddess Mayahuel, and the god Mixcoatl. It was drunk by priests and sacrificial victims, to increase the priests' enthusiasm and to ease the suffering of the victim. There are many references in Aztec codices, such as the Borbonicus Codex, of pulque's use by nobility and priesthood to celebrate victories. Among commoners, it was permitted only to the elderly and pregnant women. (2025). 9789687074467, Minutiae Mexicana S.A de C.V.. ISBN 9789687074467 Production of pulque was ritualized and the brewers were superstitious. They would abstain from sex during the fermentation period because they believed that sexual intercourse would sour the process.
In some casta paintings, pulque consumption was depicted. Some casta painters depicted different castas safely consuming and selling pulque. Other casta painters depicted Indigenous Americans intoxicated in the streets and incapacitated, which as a result required their families to escort them home. In one of his 1828 depictions, Italian lithographer Claudio Linati showed two Indigenous women engaged in a dispute outside of a pulquería.
Depictions of tlaquicheros, pulquerías, and pulque haciendas were the subject of photographers in the late Porfiriato, including photographers C. B. Waite, Hugo Brehme, and Sergei Eisenstein. The tlaquichero "was perhaps the most widely known and successful of the images of Mexican types."Debroise, Olivier. Mexican Suite, p. 122.
As late as 1953, Hidalgo and Tlaxcala still obtained 30 and 50% respectively of their total revenues from pulque. This has diminished since then since irrigation, roads and other infrastructure has made possible other, more lucrative enterprises. (2025). 9789687074467, Minutiae Mexicana S.A de C.V.. ISBN 9789687074467
The complex and delicate fermentation process of pulque had always limited the product's distribution, as it does not keep long and agitation during transport speeds degradation. Since pre-Hispanic times, its consumption has mostly been limited to the central highlands of Mexico.
The decline of pulque began in the first decade of the 20th century, when the Mexican Revolution caused a decline in its production. In the 1930s, the government of Lázaro Cárdenas campaigned against pulque, as part of an effort to reduce alcoholic consumption in general. But the most decisive factor to the decline of pulque has been the introduction of beer.
European immigrant beer brewers in the early 20th century had their own campaign against the native pulque, claiming that pulque producers used a muñeca (doll), a textile bag containing human or animal feces which was placed in the aguamiel to hasten the fermentation process. Some pulque producers have insisted that the muñeca is completely a myth, but modern historians suggest that it did happen, although only rarely. Beer producers promoted the idea that pulque was generally made this way, generally by word of mouth and insinuation. This was done to inhibit pulque sales and to promote the consumption of beer, which they claimed was "rigorously hygienic and modern".
In part because of this strategy, pulque now generally looked down upon, and imbibed by relatively few people, with Mexican-brewed beer ubiquitous and extremely popular. Pulque's popularity is low and continues to fall. Before 1992 about 20 trucks would come every three days to Xochimilco (in southern Mexico City) to deliver pulque, but by 2007 it was down to one or two. Only five pulquerias remained in this district, where there used to be 18. The situation is similar in most other parts of Mexico. The remaining pulquerias are very small establishments, selling a product made by small producers.
In the state of Hidalgo, in which most maguey is grown, fields of this plant are disappearing, with barley taking its place. Most maguey plants here serve as boundary markers between properties. Many of these plants do not survive long, as they are often vandalized. An estimated 10,000 plants are mutilated each week by cutting off the lower leaves for barbacoa or destroying them completely to look for the edible white grubs or ant eggs that can inhabit them.
A recent series of PBS travel shows feature pulque and say that it is once again a very popular drink and that there is a retro movement leading younger people seeking to establish their Mexican heritage to drink this beverage in large quantities. It has become a trendy drink among youth and back-to-your-roots types. The prohibition on female drinkers has also been lifted and co-ed pulquerias are now the norm.
Also flavored syrups, seasonings and so on are now common with one pulqueria featured in the special offering 48 separate flavors.
The collected juice is placed into 50-liter barrels and carried from the field to the fermentation vats. These vats, called tinas, are located in a special building called a tinacal. This word derives from Spanish tina and Nahuatl calli that means house of vats. When pulque haciendas reached their peak in the late 19th century, hacienda life revolved around these tinacals. It typically was a rectangular shed of stone with a wooden roof. The upper parts of the walls opened for air circulation and the façades were sometimes decorated with indigenous designs or other images associated with the making of pulque. One popular motif was the discovery of pulque by Xochitl. Other popular elements were the images of the hacienda's patron saint and the Virgin of Guadalupe. Inside were the vats, which were cowhide stretched over wooden frames lined up against the walls. In larger tinacals, there were three or four rows of vats. Today, the tinas are made of oak, plastic or fiberglass and hold about 1,000 liters each.
After placing the juice in the fermentation vats, mature seed pulque ( semilla or xanaxtli) is added to "jump start" the process. Unlike beer, the fermenting agent present in pulque is a bacterium of the species Zymomonas mobilis (syn. Thermobacterium mobile ) rather than yeast. Those in charge of the fermentation process guard their trade secrets, passing them on from father to son. Fermentation takes from seven to 14 days, and the process seems to be more art than science. A number of factors can affect fermenting pulque, such as temperature, humidity and the quality of the aguamiel. Finished pulque usually reaches 2–7% alcohol by volume (ABV).
The process is complex and delicate, and can go sour at any point; various rituals and prohobitions have developed around the process. Songs and prayers may be offered, and women, children and strangers are not allowed inside the tinacal.
Just before the peak of fermentation, the pulque is quickly shipped to market in barrels. The fermentation process is continuous, so the pulque must be consumed within a certain time before it spoils.
Traditionally, pulque is served from large barrels on ice. and served into glasses, using a jicara, which is a half of a calabash tree gourd. The bartender is called a jicarero. In a pulquería, cruzado, meaning something like "bottoms up", is a frequent salute. Drinking glasses have colorful names and can reflect a customer's ability to drink pulque. Large two-liter glasses are called macetas (flower pots), one-liter glasses are called cañones (cannons), half–liters are called chivitos (little goats), quarter-liter glasses are catrinas (dandies), and eighth-liter glasses are tornillos (screws). Traditionally, these glasses are made from a greenish, hand blown glass. Pulque can be drunk straight from the barrel or can have a number of additives, such as fruit or nuts, added. Pulque prepared this way is called curado or cured. One of the limitations to pulque's popularity has been the inability to store it for long periods or ship it far. Recently, pulque makers have found a way to preserve the beverage in cans, but they admit this does change the flavor. The aspiration is that with this innovation, pulque can regain its lost market in Mexico and even achieve success as an export item, like tequila. It is already being offered in the United States by Boulder Imports, selling the brand "Nectar del Razo". The original market was Mexican-American men, but the company reports the product is having success as a health food, sought out by athletes and body builders.
These old haciendas varied widely. Some were ostentatious with great architectural harmony such as the Montecillos Hacienda, of Spanish colonial style and originally built in the 17th century by the Jesuits or San Antonio Ometusco Hacienda built by architect Antonio Rivas Mercado. However, most haciendas were the result of a constructive process that started in the 16th century, with mixed architectural styles and methods of both Mexico and Europe. One characteristic feature is Neo-Gothic towers. The Santiago Tetlapayac Hacienda has murals related to charreada and attributed to the painter Icaza. The Zotoluca Hacienda has an octagonal floorplan in Neo-Moorish style and was restored in the 1950s. But the center of each of these pulque haciendas is the tinacal. They were planned and decorated befitting their importance. Almost all have interesting architectural details, such as a specially decorated main doorway, murals or sculpted windows. Some are considered works of art, such as the tinacal at the Montecillos Hacienda or the one at the San Antonio Ometusco Hacienda, which also has an elegant canopy covering the shipping dock with moulded iron columns and walls decorated with murals relating to the history of pulque.
Awareness of pulque received a boost after the release of the 1966 film, The Appaloosa. In the film, Matt Fletcher (Marlon Brando) is sitting in a cantina enjoying a pulque.
In season 1 episode 3 of the 2025 Netflix series Serpientes y Escaleras (English: Snakes and Ladders), Tiño (Benny Emmanuel) goes to an openly LGBTQ disco-like Pulquería with Juana (Loreto Peralta) and Nicolás (Germán Bracco), where they order pulque.
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