00:00This is the agave plant from Mexico. It's used to make two of North America's most
00:06popular spirits, tequila and mezcal. It's also the main ingredient in one of
00:14Mexico's oldest fermented drinks, pulque. Pulque isn't nearly as popular as the
00:22other two, but that wasn't always the case. In the late 1800s, pulque was
00:27Mexico's most consumed alcoholic drink. But because of false rumors, its
00:33reputation as a drink for the poor, and competition from the beer industry,
00:38pulque almost completely disappeared.
00:45Now, young Mexicans are fueling a renaissance of the dying drink. But can
00:52pulque become a global hit like tequila and mezcal? And how, against all odds, is
00:59it still standing? Between tequila, pulque, and mezcal, pulque is the oldest,
01:07dating back at least 2,000 years. Even though all three drinks are made from
01:12the agave plant, the way they are made makes them taste different.
01:16Mezcal gets its smoky flavor from roasting the heart, or the piña, of the
01:22agave plant, while the tequila gets its sweet fruitiness from steaming it. Both
01:27liquors also have complex distillation processes that can take weeks to
01:32complete and result in spirits that contain as much as 55% alcohol. Pulque,
01:39on the other hand, is made through natural fermentation, which gives it a
01:43slightly sour taste and a much lower alcohol content — around 4%.
01:52I haven't tasted anything quite like pulque. Something like it's slimy, a little bit
01:56thick, a little bit heavy on the gut, but yet it's so tasty. Pulque is also much
02:03simpler to make than tequila or mezcal, but producing it still requires the
02:08skilled hands of an expert. And Pablo Morales Rodríguez knows exactly what to
02:15do. He's been producing pulque in the town of Omealco de Bonfil in central
02:20Mexico for the last eight years.
02:38The secret lies in precisely when to cut the agave, or maguey as it's locally
02:55known. Pablo has to cut the plant at just the right age to extract the best
03:04aguamiel, the sweet sap the agave secretes that ferments into pulque. If he
03:10cuts the agave too early, it could produce low-quality aguamiel. If he cuts
03:15it too late, the agave might not produce any sap.
03:20Pablo uses a metal tool to scrape the heart of the agave.
03:34The agave is typically left to rest for anywhere from three months to a
03:40year to secrete enough aguamiel to fill the cavity, but beating the bugs has
03:48made this more difficult for Pablo.
04:04It's not a threat, it's a fact. And with wings, it flies, it moves from side to
04:09side. It enters the maguey's penca, it bites, lays its egg, becomes larvae, and
04:15destroys the maguey.
04:22It's not going to get to the heart, we've already removed the damage.
04:28We removed where it was asleep and it came out.
04:34El famoso picudo.
04:40Por eso ya no podemos dejar tanto el maguey así. Tenemos que explotarlo o dejárselo al picudo.
04:53After three months, it's time to extract the aguamiel from the agave. Pablo places
04:58an empty bottle with a hose into the cavity.
05:02For this process, we have to do this.
05:06We have to insert it.
05:09Once it's inside, it uncovers.
05:13And you suck it, look.
05:19Supposedly, this is the aguamiel.
05:33This technique has been used by pulque producers, known as telachequeros, for centuries.
05:40Traditionally, they would use a hollow gourd, called an acocote, for this step.
05:47But Pablo says using an empty bottle is more convenient.
05:52Simplemente una botella y un pedazo de manguera y va para arriba.
05:58Once the cavity is empty, he scrapes the sides again to stimulate more aguamiel production.
06:05At this stage, the average agave plant can produce anywhere from four to six liters of the sap a day.
06:13Pablo collects it two to three times a day.
06:16But unpredictable weather makes it more difficult.
06:19If rain gets into the cavity, it could spoil the aguamiel.
06:34Nicknamed the drink of the gods, pulque was once consumed during sacred rituals in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
06:42The drink lost its religious significance after the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521.
06:49And it gained massive popularity among everyday people.
06:53500 million liters of pulque were being produced in Mexico every single year by the beginning of the 20th century.
07:01But a government-driven anti-pulque campaign following the Mexican Revolution devastated the industry.
07:08Land reform in the 1920s and 1930s broke up large agave plantations into smaller plots,
07:15making industrial production of the drink impossible.
07:19Pulque production dropped from 234 million liters in 1929 to 167 million liters the following year.
07:29At the same time, the growing popularity of beer dealt another blow to pulque's popularity.
07:35The beer industry started rumors about pulque being fermented with feces,
07:40and people began associating the drink with poverty, criminality, and low social class.
07:47By the 1950s, only 42,000 acres of agave were being cultivated, less than 7% of what existed in the early 20th century.
08:06Despite the challenges, Pablo says his family had no intention of leaving pulque behind.
08:13Even though people stopped drinking pulque in cities, it was still enjoyed in rural areas, like where Pablo's family is from.
08:20It was small-scale producers like them who kept pulque from disappearing completely.
08:36They continued harvesting their agave plants and fermenting their pulque in small rooms called tinacales,
08:44like the one Pablo uses today.
08:47He pours fresh aguamiel into a plastic barrel with pulque that's been fermenting for up to three weeks.
08:55He continues to add fresh aguamiel to the plastic barrel.
09:00This is what you see now in a bottle.
09:03It's a bottle that you can pour aguamiel into.
09:07It's a bottle that you can ferment it in.
09:10It's a bottle that you can ferment it in the first step.
09:14It's a bottle that you can ferment it in the first step.
09:21He continues to add fresh Aguamiel to the plastic barrel little by little for up to 10 days
09:27depending on how strong he wants the batch.
09:51In the past, Pablo's family made money selling to local pulquerías,
09:55Mexican taverns that specialize in serving the ancient drink.
09:59But these specialty bars have been disappearing in Mexico since the mid-1900s.
10:04In 1953, there were over 1,200 pulquerías in Mexico City.
10:10Nearly 60 years later, that number had dropped to just 72.
10:15Since the 1980s, there has been a growing effort to revive pulque in Mexico.
10:22In the 2010s, pulque started experiencing a renaissance.
10:26Slowly, young Mexicans in search of ways to connect to their roots began flocking to the drink.
10:52This sentiment rings true at Cactus, a bar and restaurant in Morelia.
10:57It's one of several businesses that have opened in Mexico in recent decades to capitalize on pulque's resurgence.
11:04Today, the drink is one of its best sellers.
11:22Jose Pizano Mancera has been working at Cactus since it opened.
11:27It's also where he had his first sip of pulque.
11:30Cactus is one of many businesses in Mexico putting a spin on the traditional drink by offering different flavors like strawberry, mango, and pineapple.
11:50Jose says he's been seeing more young people coming in to try the drink.
12:20Places like Cactus are also on the front lines of dismissing rumors about the drink.
12:50He believes one day pulque will get the same global recognition as tequila and mezcal.
13:05And while those spirits are also served here, for some customers, pulque isn't a class of its own.
13:13Pulque is something so unique, so Mexican.
13:15I feel like there is nothing that can replicate the flavor of pulque, of good pulque.
13:43Like its descendants tequila and mezcal, pulque is finding its way to store shelves and bars in the U.S. as well.
14:01This could be a game-changer for the ancient drink, as tequila and mezcal brands have had massive success in the States.
14:08In 2023, the U.S. was the biggest market for mezcal and the leading recipient of Mexican tequila exports.
14:15Multiple brands have even started selling canned pulque.
14:18But expanding pulque globally has proven to be more difficult than tequila and mezcal, mainly because pulque has a shelf life of about three days.
14:39But for him, making pulque is a labor of love.
14:58For now, Pablo is more concerned with keeping pulque making alive and well in Mexico.
15:08But finding the next generation of pulque producers may be the next challenge for the industry.
15:18While more people are interested in drinking pulque, Pablo says young people haven't shown an interest in learning how it's made.
15:38Few people are interested in dedicating time to pulque making.
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