Around the World in 20 Drinks: Mexico

If you’ve ever come home from a night on the tiles with a vicious headache and a taste of salt-covered pennies in your mouth, you will be familiar with the work of the agave plant. The spiky beast that gets its pollen from bats (!), and is responsible for many of Mexico’s craziest beverages.

First of all, there’s Tequila. Of course, tequila. Salt, lemon, slam. Simplicity in itself, but with over 120 different producers knocking up their versions across Mexico there’s a fair amount of variation to be found. At the madder end of the spectrum are the flavoured tequilas from Voodoo Tiki (lime, kiwi, or prickly pear, if you feel like a quick Baloo the bear impression) which come in painted bottles labelled with one of 100 ‘magic’ words.

Just when things couldn’t get odder, let’s introduce Mezcal. Tequila’s rebellious old brother, Mezcal is unpredictable, smells of smoke and leaves worms lying around its bottle. The traditional way to drink your Mezcal is with a plate of fried worms, chilli, salt, and lime. Alternatively, you could just stick a burning newspaper in your mouth and be done with it.

To counteract the heat and smokiness, why not try a Pulque? After all, it looks like milk, and has the same kind of consistency. Oh, what’s this? “A sour, yeasty taste”. Yummy. Pulque was once the big drink for Mexican workers, until the Europeans brought the dual gifts of beer and horrible slander against pulque producers. Not to fear though, as young Mexican hipsters are bringing the traditional drink back, thus earning their ‘saving my community from gentrification I am partly responsible for’ badges.

If none of this agave-based insanity appeals, then may we suggest a nice glass of Tepache. Fermented pineapple, cinnamon, and a splash of beer. Light, refreshing, and favoured by Mexican prison inmates. Crikey. If the odd one out of this month's line-up is the one the convicts are drinking, this agave stuff must have more power than we thought.