Pulque: Aztec Cactus Cooler

I was looking for Hummus and what do I find at the Devon Market? Nectar Del Razo Pulque in the cooler next to the beer from Croatia… It’s gotta be bought and it’s gonna be bought.

I got it home poured a tall one in my Blackhawks Budweiser glass and decided to google it.
http://www.tequilamescal.com/pulque.htm
It’s maguey cactus nectar that’s fermented to about 6% alcohol. It’s syrupy and tastes really good. Kind of fruity but more woody… and sweet. It’s like a Zima …but woody. I could drink this all summer long.

Happy Cinco de Mayo…

From: http://www.tequilamescal.com/pulque.htm

Pulque, a fermented beverage derived from juice
of the maguey (agave) was the historical predecessor of mescal and
tequila which wielded a heavy sociological influence during both
Pre-Hispanic and Colonial periods of Mexican history. Maguey was one of
the most sacred and important plants in ancient Mexico and had a
privileged place in mythology, religious rituals and the meso-american
economy. Pulque first appeared in Indian stone carvings about 200-200
AD.

The
pulque gods wore a half moon made of bone in their nose and their faces
were painted black and red representing the light and dark side of the
lunarscape and reflected their status as lunar beings. This kinship
with a star (the moon) that died and was reborn daily explains why the
pulque gods were representative of life and death in nature and the
celebration of the harvest. It was thought that the Goddess Mayahuel
entered the heart of the maguey and that her blood flowed out with the
gathering of agua miel during the production of pulque. Indian beliefs
held that pulque was discovered by the Tlacuache (opossum) who was the
first borrachero (drunk) who with his manlike hands he dug into the
maguey to get at the fermented agua miel. He was also thought to have
tormented the fire god resulting in his hairless tail. The Tlacuache
was thought to set the course of rivers, which were usually straight
except when he was drunk and wandered from cantina to cantina, then the
rivers followed his meandering path. Pulque was used by the royalty and
priesthood to celebrate great victories and on special days of
religious celebration and many references to the use of pulque in
pre-Hispanic celebrations have been found in hieroglyphic references.
(the Borbonicus Codex shows pulque being served during the feast of
Mixcoatl). In the central highlands, pulque was served as a ritual
intoxicant presumably to increase the priest’s enthusiasm over the
imminent sacrifice and to ease the sacrifants impending demise.