Anyone Here Ever Sampled Pulque?

[mawnansmiff]

In one of the books I'm currently reading I came across the word 'pulque' which I had to look up in the OED.

Made from fermented aloe juice I wonder if it is related to tequila?

Here is what the OED says...

pulque, n.​

A drink made in Mexico and some parts of Central America from the fermented sap of the agave or maguey (Agave americana); = octli n. Cf. mescal n. Although still made locally, pulque is rarely found outside the regions mentioned as the difficulty of storing and preserving it (see the etymology) renders export largely impracticable.

1572 H. Hawkes in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) 548 The people of the Countrey, are..giuen much to drinke..a certain kind of wine, which they make wit hony of Maguez, and rootes, and other things... They call the same wine Pulco.

1693 London Gaz. No. 2848/1 The Viceroy Commanded, That the Indian Natives should not..consume any Mays in the making of a Drink common among them, called Pulche.

1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. p. vi A Liquor called Pulque.

This is what my book says...

"The sap may be made to flow by incisions in the stem, and furnishes a fermented liquor, called by the Mexicans pulque; from this an agreeable ardent spirit, called vino mercal, is distilled".

So, have you tried it and if so what does it taste like?

Regards,

Jay.

 

[simong]

Pulque? Yeah, tastes like piss jay………I should imagine.
Of more interest (to me) was your link to the OED. There I noticed their delightful ‘word of the day’. The hitherto unbeknown to me ‘TABANCA’.
A Caribbean word used to describe a heavy dose of the blues over a woman or a case of unrequited love.
Cheers jay, learned something new there. Come in handy too, when I’m ‘jive talking’ & trying to chat up the birds in south london. Lol

copied from the OED:

A state or feeling of depression or melancholy, esp. as a result of unrequited love or the end of a romantic relationship; lovesickness; (also) deep longing for a person or thing which is absent or lost. In Trinidad and Tobago often in carnival tabanca, referring to the melancholy and longing felt after the end of the country's annual carnival celebration.

 

[shanez]

It doesn't taste bad but it's not great either.

It has a somewhat sour taste but also has a sweetness to it. It also has another hard to describe taste that maybe dough or something which I'm not sure if it's a result of the yeast or not. It also has a light fizziness.

Maybe if you got the ratios right and mixed grapefruit flavored soda, flour, and tequila you might be able to approximate the flavor.

I'm seeing it more and more in nicer restaurants where they make interesting, and good, cocktails with it.

 

[kcghost]

Under no circumstances would I even try this beverage.

 

[OzPiper]

Akin to toddy, I imagine, which is made by slashing coconut flower inflorescences and collecting the sap.
Fermentation is spontaneous by ambient native yeasts

If drunk when a few hours old, the alcohol content is @4-5%, and rather enjoyable.
Because the yeasts continue fermenting, it can become very alcoholic after 24 hrs.

 

[bullet08]

S

Akin to toddy, I imagine, which is made by slashing coconut flower inflorescences and collecting the sap.
Fermentation is spontaneous by ambient native yeasts

If drunk when a few hours old, the alcohol content is @4-5%, and rather enjoyable.
Because the yeasts continue fermenting, it can become very alcoholic after 24 hrs.

Sort of like pumpkin juice after Halloween that squirrels get drunk on? Native yeast and spontaneous fermentation reminds me of lambic.

 

[OzPiper]

S

Sort of like pumpkin juice after Halloween that squirrels get drunk on? Native yeast and spontaneous fermentation reminds me of lambic.

I recall seeing a video (years ago) of elephants drunk on fermented amarula fruit
I was quite young then, and thought it hilarious to see those behemoths with the staggers

 

[OzPiper]

I should add that toddy is native to South India and Sri Lanka and SEAsia
(Malaysia/Singapore)
Being tropical and with no temperature control, fermentation progresses at a fast and furious rate.

One of my best friends is rather fond of a 50:50 toddy and Guinness concoction.
He claims it makes the toddy more palatable.
I suspect by diluting the toddy’s alcoholic “kick”

 

[camaguey]

Yes , it is a low alcohol drink. Pulque may be related to tequila as beer is to whiskey. I have never seen it available outside Mexico.

 

[Servant King]

Good scrabble word. Happy to see it would hold up to a challenge.

 

[shanez]

One of my favorite places to go even has a dish made with it:

LA TEQUILA

latequila.mx

 

[crawdad]

Having spent many a day wasted in Mexico as a young man, I can say that in its unflavored form, it is sour with a little acidity. No real flavors jump out. Get it with fruit flavors and watch out, it’s known as a muscle relaxer.

 

[chefmike]

It doesn't taste bad but it's not great either.

It has a somewhat sour taste but also has a sweetness to it. It also has another hard to describe taste that maybe dough or something which I'm not sure if it's a result of the yeast or not. It also has a light fizziness.

Maybe if you got the ratios right and mixed grapefruit flavored soda, flour, and tequila you might be able to approximate the flavor.

HA!! This!! I had it in college in a village north of Mexico City. And this is EXACTLY how I remember it. EXACTLY. "dough or something"... in fact my mom made us homemade palydough when we were kids... notes of THAT. Not strong.

Maguey is readily available and poverty was such that babies were given pulque. Not a good developmental supplement.