Are you looking to experiment or make classic Mexican drinks? Or perhaps you are traveling to Mexico and want to know what drink when you get there.
This is the complete guide that goes beyond your classic Mexican tequila and margarita drinks.
Find your next Mexican favorite for hot, cold, boozy, and non-alcoholic drinks. ¡Salud!
1. Atole
Atole is a pre-Hispanic drink made from cornmeal and water or milk. It’s said to have been traditionally used in sacred Aztec ceremonies. It’s hot, creamy, and just what you want to drink on a cold winter morning. Atole is traditionally drunk at celebrations of Dia de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. You can sweeten it with brown sugar or honey and you can also find variations with cinnamon, vanilla, walnuts, and guava.
2. Champurrado
Champurrado is chocolate-based atole, a warm and thick Mexican beverage, prepared with corn flour (masa de maíz, o masa de harina); piloncillo; water or milk; and occasionally containing cinnamon, anise seed, or vanilla. Groundnuts, orange zest, and egg can also be employed to thicken and enrich the drink. You can even add some cloves or orange peel for some extra flavor.
Like atole, champurrado dates back to Aztec times. The Aztecs used cocoa beans to sweeten atole. Over time, the chocolate version became a drink in itself: champurrado. While champurrado is served throughout Mexico, the most delicious version must come from Oaxaca, which, unsurprisingly, is considered the land of chocolate.
3. Mezcal
Common to the Oaxaca region in Mexico, Mezcal is gaining popularity everywhere. This drink is stronger than Tequila and some people call it tequila’s smoky cousin.
For some time Mezcal was considered for a drink for the less favored classes, today Mezcal is a recognized drink, both in Mexico and throughout the world. Mezcal is a distilled spirit made from the agave plant, which is also how we get tequila.
Mezcal is cooked inside earthen pits that are lined with lava rocks and filled with wood and charcoal before being distilled in clay pots. A good mezcal will be white and will have a 45º alcohol graduation. It is recommended to consume it with hearty meals, drink water from time to time (it is a strong drink that dehydrates a lot), and, of course, not combine with other drinks because it is a very pure distillate.
4. Rompope (Mexican Eggnog)
Rompope is the Mexican version of the Spanish eggnog (called ponche de huevo). This milky cocktail is made with egg yolks, vanilla, cinnamon, milk, and sugar, and is exactly as you would imagine: rich and creamy.
Legend has it that it was first made in the convents of Santa Clara in Puebla around 1600 when the nuns used to entertain ecclesiastical authorities and government officials.
It’s usually drunk around Christmas and New Year’s, but it’s also a fitting drink for a birthday toast or along with dessert.
5. Horchata
Horchata is a slightly creamy, non-alcoholic Mexican drink recipe is a slightly creamy made from rice and almond milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Found in all freshwater stores, local markets, and even baseboards, horchata is absolutely essential.
It would be difficult to visit Mexico without trying horchata. This delicious sweet cinnamon flavored Mexican drink is perfectly refreshing and incredibly easy to make!
6. Agua de Jamaica (Jamaican water or Hibiscus Tea)
Agua de Jamaica is one of the most popular aguas frescas in Mexico.
Agua de Jamaica (aka Hibiscus tea or Jamaican water) is popular at Mexican taquerias. This drink is a sweet, non-alcoholic, and very refreshing drink. It is an infusion that is prepared using the flower of the Jamaican plant, to which magical properties are attributed.
Mexicans usually combine this infusion with lemon or ginger. Others also mix it with alcoholic beverages such as rum.
Although the plant is native to Africa, it has long been popularized in Central American countries, especially for its flower. Among the benefits of Jamaican water it stands out to be a diuretic, antihypertensive and antiparasitic. It is loaded with vitamin C!
7. Pozol
Pozol had its origins in Pre-Columbian Mexico. The drink is consumed in the south of Mexico in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco.
Pozol is a mixture of sourdough from corn, cocoa beans, water, and sugar that is best served with plenty of ice.
Pozol is sweet and slightly acidic that is drunk from morning to night. And it’s more than just a thirst quencher. According to local indigenous communities, the drink also has many healing properties
Related Article: Best 15 Authentic Mexican Dessert Recipes (Easy to Make)
8. Cebadina
A refreshing, bubbly ruby pink soda is the typical drink of León, Guanajuato.
You will find it sold in small carts in the historic center of the city. It is called Cebadina for its main ingredient, Cebadina. It is sweetened with fruit such as pineapple and tamarind, while bicarbonate soda gives it its fizz. It is left to rest in an oak barrel and when served, a small spoonful of baking soda per glass is added.
9. Tejate
Known as the “drink of the gods”, Tejate dates back to pre-Hispanic times when it was used in religious ceremonies.
Tejate is made with toasted corn, fermented cacao beans, pixtle (toasted and ground mamey pits), and cacao flowers, which are ground into a paste that’s mixed with water and stirred by hand into a smooth mixture
This Mexican drink is still very popular today, especially in San Andrés Huayapam, just outside Oaxaca, where it has its own festival, ‘Feria del Tejate’. Just drink a sip of this refreshing drink and you will understand why it is so celebrated.
10. Pinole
Pinole is a sweet drink made from cornmeal that can be taken hot or cold. Don’t be intimidated by the yellow-brown color.
The name Pinole comes from the Nahuatl word pinolli, meaning cornmeal.
Pinole is simply roasted corn, ground into flour and combined with water, some spices, and usually some form of sweeteners such as honey or sugar. Pinole can be made into a drink, a paste much like oatmeal, or baked into a cake or cookie shape so that it is portable.
Pinole is so popular that it is found throughout the Americas in different forms.
11. Tascalate
Popular in Chiapas, Tascalate is a traditional chocolate drink that was first registered in 1566 by Bishop Diego de Landa.
It’s made from a mixture of roasted maize, chocolate, chili, ground pine nuts, achiote, vanilla, and sugar. It tastes like icy spicy chocolate.
12. Yolixpa
Yolixpa is an alcoholic beverage that is served in Cuetzalan.
This pre-Hispanic drink is a rich and bitter concoction of more than 32 herbs, including mint, oregano, sage, and thyme, as well as agua ardiente. The drink is said to cure all manner of ailments.
Yolixpa, which means “heart medicine” in Nahuatl, has been traditionally used to cure diseases. Like pinole, it also has its own festival, with more than 6,000 people celebrating the pre-Hispanic drink.
13. Tepache
Tepache is an extremely delicious and refreshing drink that is easy to make!
Made from fermented pineapple and cane sugar, tepache is one of the most popular drinks in Mexico, perfect for summer nights or hot days.
There are variations to this Mexican drink depending on the region, some people will add tamarind and even banana peels to the recipe.
With its added medicinal benefits, it’s no wonder why this fruity orange sediment has become a national favorite.
14. Michelada
The michelada, more than a drink, is the most traditional and Mexican way of enjoying a good beer in the country.
It’s made with traditional Mexican ingredients. It’s basically is an ice-cold beer seasoned with lemon, tomato juice, salt, tabasco, spices, and other similar ingredients..
A michelada can be thought of as the Mexican version of a Bloody Mary because they’re often served at brunch, they’re both touted as hangover cures and they use tomatoes.
For micheladas, Corona beer is usually used, which is one of the most popular and mildest in the country. You are likely to find Michelada in any bar or cafeteria.
15. Paloma
It turns out this Mexican drink, not the Margarita, might be Mexico’s most beloved cocktail.
A traditional Paloma cocktail consists of tequila, lime juice, a grapefruit-flavored soda such as Fresca or Jarritos, and served on the rocks with a lime wedge. Adding salt to the rim of the glass is also an option.
It’s really simple, and it’s a fresh alternative to other tequila drinks like the margarita.