2024 Q2 Spirited VA - 30

believe that you should get drunk, " he
says, " because that would be an insult to
Mayahuel. " In fact, they believed that if
you drank too much pulque, Mayahuel
would enter your body and make you do
stupid things.
After the Spanish arrived and the Aztec
empire fell, pulque lost its religious significance.
The Spaniards turned the low-alcohol
beverage into a distilled spirit-the
first mezcal. The Indigenous people were
accustomed to other intoxicants, including
low-alcohol fermented beverages, the
psychedelic ayahuasca, peyote and magic
mushrooms, but not to high-proof alcohol.
As with North American Indigenous peoples,
the introduction of casual intoxicants
led to health and social problems.
Later, major changes in pulque production
came from market manipulations. For
a time, government prohibited production
on moral grounds. The maker of Corona,
Modelo and Pacifico beers launched marketing
campaigns to promote its products
over the native beverage.
" That's why Corona and Modelo are in
clear bottles, " Hawkins says. Despite the
fact that light can make a beer taste skunky
(hence, most beer bottles are brown),
Modelo wanted to show off the clarity of
their beers versus the milky appearance
of pulque.
José Antonio de Cuervo was given
learn new things. "
The story of Mesoamerican appreciation
for agave begins centuries before Europeans
" discovered " the American continents.
Without written records, much of the
history is lost, but oral traditions remain,
alongside written records from the Spanish
Inquisition trials in the New World.
Indigenous people relied on agave. They
used the fibers for nets, sewing needles,
clothing, mats, baskets and more. They used
other parts as foods, deriving nutrients,
carbohydrates and hydration. The flowers
were edible and produced seeds that could
be ground into flour. People used the sap to
treat wounds (contemporary research has
confirmed that the sap has antibacterial
properties).
They also fermented the sweet sap
(aguamiel, meaning honey water) into
30 VIRGINIA ABC | ABC.VIRGINIA.GOV
a mildly alcoholic beverage, called pulque.
Mesoamericans used this agave
wine primarily in worship of Mayahuel,
the goddess of agave (which they called
maguey). Mayahuel was the woman of 400
breasts-perhaps representing the spikes
of the agave plant-and 400 rabbits. In
the Aztec religion, Mayahuel represented
motherhood and fertility.
Pulque was not a casual indulgence
but a purposeful drink. Chieftains and
religious leaders communicating with
the spirits drank pulque, as did pregnant
mothers for the nutritional benefits and
to ease birth pains.
" Pulque was a conduit from this world
to the next, so if you were coming in or you
were going out, you were allowed pulque, "
Hawkins notes.
" The natives of Mesoamerica didn't
permission by the King of Spain to harvest
blue agave in Tequila, Mexico, in 1758. His
son was granted the first license to produce
and distribute tequila 37 years later. The
Cuervo tequila legacy and the popularity
of the spirit in Mexico grew and spread
from there.
Americans were formally introduced to
tequila at the Chicago World Fair in 1893,
but low-quality mixto versions gave it a
bad reputation. Tequilas in shooters and
cheap mixers were blamed for regrettable
decisions and " wasting away. "
In the 1980s, 100% blue agave tequilas
appeared on the scene and, gradually,
appreciation grew. As American bartenders
began using mezcals to contribute smoky
notes to cocktails, that category took off
as well.
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