Tequila And Mezcal's Newest Rival Is Over 2,000 Years Old | Still Standing | Business Insider

Key Takeaways

this is the agave plant from Mexico it's used to make two of North America's most popular Spirits tequila and Mescal it's also the main ingredient in one of Mexico's oldest fermented drinks buul buul isn't nearly as popular as the other two but that wasn't always the case in the late 1800s pul was Mexico's most consumed alcoholic drink but because of false rumors its reputation as a drink for the poor and competition from the beer industry almost completely [Music] disappeared now young Mexicans are fueling a Renaissance of the dying drink but can pul become a global hit like tequila and mezcal and how Against All Odds is it still still standing between tequila pul and Mescal pul is the oldest dating back at least 2,000 years even though all three drinks are made from the agave plant the way they are made makes them taste different mzcco gets its Smoky flavor from roasting the heart or the paa of the agave plant while the tequila gets its sweet fru from steaming it both Liquors also have complex distill ation processes that can take weeks to complete and result in spirits that contain as much as 55% alcohol buul on the other hand is made through natural fermentation which gives it a slightly sour taste and a much lower alcohol content around 4% I haven't tasted anything quite like P something like it's slimy a little bit thick a little bit heavy on the on the gut but yet it's so tasty bu is also much simpler to make than tequila or Mezcal but producing it still requires the skilled hands of an expert and Pablo Morales Rodriguez knows exactly what to do he's been producing bu in the town of omeco De bonfi in central Mexico for the last 8 years [Music] the secret lies in precisely when to cut the Agave or M as it's locally known Pablo has to cut the plant at just the right age to extract the best aguamiel the sweet sap the Agave secretes that ferments into pul if he cuts the Agave too early it could produce lowquality auam if he cuts it too late vave might not produce any sap Pablo uses a metal tool to scrape the heart of the agave the Agave is typically left to rest for anywhere from 3 months to a year to secrete enough aamal to fill the [Music] cavity but beating the bugs has made this more difficult for Pablo [Music] spe [Music] after 3 months it's time to extract the aamal from the Agave Pablo places an empty bottle with a hose into the cavity [Music] [Music] this technique has been used by PK producers known as tachos for centuries traditionally they would use a hollow gourd called an akot for this step but Pablo says using an empty bottle is more [Music] convenient once the cavity is empty he scrapes the sides again to stimulate more aamal production at this stage the average agave plant can produce anywhere from 4 to 6 lers of the sap a day Pablo collects it two to three times a day but unpredictable weather makes it more difficult if rain gets into the cavity it could spoil the AA meow any no nicknamed the drink of the Gods P was once consumed during sacred rituals in pre-colombian mesomer the drink lost its religious significance after the Spanish conquered the Aztec empire in 1521 and it gained massive popularity among Everyday People 500 million liters of bul were being produced in Mexico every single year by the beginning of the 20th century but a government-driven anti- buuk campaign following the Mexican Revolution devastated the industry land reform in the 1920s and 1930s broke up large Agave plantations into smaller plots making industrial production of the drink impossible buet production dropped from 234 million liters in 1929 to 167 million lers the following year at the same time the growing popularity of beer dealt another blow to P's popularity the beer industry started rumors about pul being fermented with feces and people began associating the drink with poverty criminality and low social class by the 1950s only 42,000 Acres of agave were being cultivated less than 7% of what existed in the early 20th century despite the challenges Pablo says his family had no intention of leaving pul behind even though people stopped drinking p in cities it was still enjoyed in rural areas like where Pablo's family is from it was small scale producers like them who kept P from disappearing completely they continued harvesting their Agave plants and fermenting their p and small rooms called tinal like the one Pablo uses today he p pours fresh aam into a plastic barrel with pul that's been fermenting for up to 3 weeks he continues to add fresh AAL to the plastic barrel little by little for up to 10 days depending on how strong he wants the bat [Music] [Music] in the past Pablo's family made money selling to local buas Mexican taverns that specialize in serving the ancient drink but these specialty bars have been disappearing in Mexico since the mid 1900s in 1953 there were over 1,200 buas in Mexico City nearly 60 years later that number had dropped to just 72 since the 1980s there has been a growing effort to revive pul in Mexico in the 2010s P started experiencing a Renaissance slowly young Mexicans in search of ways to connect to their Roots Began flocking to the [Music] [Music] drink this sentiment Rings true at Cactus a bar and restaurant in Morelia it's one of several businesses that have opened in Mexico in recent decades to capitalize on P's Resurgence today the drink is one of its best sellers J Pisano Manera has been working at Cactus since it opened it's also where he had his first sip of P Cactus is one of many businesses in Mexico putting a spin on the traditional drink by offering different flavors like strawberry mango and pineapple Jose says he's been seeing more young people coming in to try the drink [Music] [Music] places like Cactus are also on the front lines of dismissing rumors about the drink [Music] he believes one day P will get the same Global recognition as tequila and Mescal and while those Spirits are also served here for some customers P isn't a class of its own P it's something so unique so Mexican I feel like there is nothing that can replicate the the flavor of pul of good pul [Music] like its descendants tequila and mezcal PUK is finding its way to store shelves and bars in the US as well this could be a game Cher for the ancient drink as tequila and Mescal brands have had massive success in the states in 2023 the US was the biggest market for Mescal and the leading recipient of Mexican tequila exports multiple brands have even started selling canned pul but expanding pul globally has proven to be more difficult than tequila and Mescal mainly because P has a shelf life of about 3 days [Music] but for him making pul is a labor of [Music] love for now Pablo is more concerned with keeping P making alive and well in [Music] Mexico but finding the next generation of P producers may be the next challenge for the industry while more people are interested in drinking P Pablo says young people haven't shown an interest in learning How It's [Music] Made [Music] for m now