What People Drink in Puebla: 6 Traditional Alcoholic Beverages

Puebla’s drinks reflect a landscape that swings from high volcanic valleys to cloud forests and the arid Mixteca. Apples thrive in cool Zacatlán, maguey anchors the semidesert near Tehuacán, and sugarcane climbs the humid Sierra Norte.

These ingredients shape what locals pour at markets, fiestas, and family tables. Expect pre‑Hispanic ferments, convent recipes, and village spirits served neat in veladoras or sweetened for seasonal toasts.

Pulque is Puebla’s ancestral ferment: a living, low‑alcohol drink made by fermenting fresh aguamiel (sap) from maguey pulquero such as Agave salmiana and A. mapisaga. Tlachiqueros scrape the plant’s heart to collect sap daily, which ferments naturally with wild yeasts and lactobacilli in vats—traditionally wood or leather, now often plastic—without distillation. The result is 3–7% ABV, slightly effervescent, tangy, and viscous.

Across the Atlixco Valley, around Tehuacán and San Andrés Cholula, pulque is served midday in pulquerías and markets, sometimes as curados (fruit‑flavored blends) with guava, oatmeal, celery, or pine nut to soften acidity. Historically tied to ritual use in central Mexico, today it’s a social, daytime drink that pairs with barbacoa or cemitas on weekends. Ask for it joven (fresh) and expect delicate dairy notes, a faint barnyard aroma, and a short shelf life—pulque is best the day it’s made.

Puebla forms part of Mexico’s Mezcal Denomination of Origin, and its heartland lies in the Mixteca and the Tehuacán‑Cuicatlán region. Mezcaleros cook mature agave—often A. marmorata (papalometl), A. potatorum (tobalá), and A. angustifolia (local espadilla/espadín)—in conical earthen pits fueled by mesquite, mill the caramelized piñas with a stone tahona, then ferment in open wooden tinas with ambient yeast. Distillation is typically in copper alembics; some families maintain clay pot stills.

Bottled strength usually ranges 45–50% ABV, with aromas that skew mineral and herbal, lightly smoky, and occasionally resinous from papalometl. The arid soils around Zapotitlán Salinas lend a saline, stony character. Mezcal is sipped neat from a veladora glass with orange and sal de gusano, often at patron‑saint fiestas or as a slow evening drink. Look for labels naming the agave and the town; provenance is central to flavor and to the stewardship of Puebla’s drylands.

In Puebla’s cool, high valleys, apples have flourished since colonial times, and two towns—Zacatlán de las Manzanas and Huejotzingo—turned that harvest into sidra (cider). Producers press the fruit, ferment the juice to a light wine, and either bottle it still or carbonate for a festive sparkle. Styles run from dry to dulce; ABV typically sits between 4–7%. Some are blended with pear or spiced for holiday releases.

Expect crisp orchard aromas, soft tannin, and a gentle mousse in sparkling versions. Sidra is the classic toast at Christmas, New Year’s, and weddings across Puebla, with Zacatlán’s August Feria de la Manzana celebrating the apple economy. In both towns and in Puebla City, you’ll find family‑run sidrerías and market stalls selling bottles by sweetness and fruit variety. It’s a daytime or early‑evening drink—served well‑chilled in flutes—designed for toasts, not intoxication.

Rompope is Puebla’s custard‑rich liqueur, widely credited to the Clarisse nuns of the Convento de Santa Clara during the colonial period. The recipe blends milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon with tempered egg yolks, then fortifies the base with cane spirit and rests it to integrate. Bottled strength ranges from about 12–20% ABV, depending on dilution and sweetness.

The texture is velvety, with aromas of vanilla bean, cinnamon, and cooked milk; flavors conjure flan in liquid form. In Puebla City’s historic center—especially along the so‑called calle de los dulces—rompope appears in confections, ice creams, and as a small after‑meal glass at home. You’ll see it at Christmas, quinceañeras, and baptisms, and it pairs naturally with polvorones, camotes poblanos, or a simple café de olla.

Yolixpa is an intensely herbal liqueur from Puebla’s misty Sierra Norte, especially around Cuetzalan and Tlatlauquitepec. It starts with sugarcane aguardiente, into which families macerate a guarded blend of local herbs—often including mint, anise, basil, epazote, and other cloud‑forest plants—for days or weeks. After straining and sweetening to taste, it’s bottled at roughly 30–40% ABV.

The nose is minty and resinous; the palate is bittersweet, warming, and slightly medicinal. Traditionally sold in markets by the bottle or poured in thimble‑sized copitas, yolixpa is touted as a digestif and a remedy for cold, and it appears at patron‑saint fairs and coffee harvest celebrations. In Cuetzalan’s plazas, you can sample versions that emphasize different botanicals—some bright and mint‑forward, others darker with anise and forest floor—reflecting the Sierra Norte’s biodiversity and the enduring role of household recipes.

Pasita is a raisin liqueur rooted in Puebla City’s historic center and immortalized by the cantina Casa de la Pasita, operating since 1916. Producers macerate dried grapes in cane alcohol, add sugar and sometimes spice, then rest the blend before bottling around 28–30% ABV. The result is mahogany‑colored, with aromas of dried fruit, caramel, and oxidized wine.

Order it the traditional way: a shot garnished with a skewered raisin and a small cube of cheese that adds salt and fat to the liqueur’s sweetness. Locals treat Pasita as an aperitif or a nightcap, sipped during an afternoon paseo or after dinner. While you’ll see fruit liqueurs across Puebla, Pasita’s ritual service and century‑old bar make it a city icon—a snapshot of Puebla’s urban drinking culture shaped by European techniques and Mexican ingredients.