Agave Spirit
Ixcateco is a central activity of our town. Here’s how we make it:
Harvest
We usually harvest the maguey in the dry season. This is the time of year when we achieve greater yield during distillation because the sugar content of the agave is greater during this season.
Cooking
We transform the fructans of the plant into fermentable sugars by slowly cooking the heart of the maguey in an underground oven, which is one of the oldest ways of cooking around the world.
Milling & Fermenting
The roasted agave is milled into fine pieces, first by cutting them with a machete and then by pounding those chopped pieces with large wooden mallets. The milled agave is then collected into cow-hide vessels. Fermentation takes place in these cow-hide vessels, and the sugars are transformed into alcohol.
Distilling
We use clay pots made in nearby Oaxaca City, a very old clay making region, to distill our agave spirit. The agave spirit is distilled twice, over an open fire.
The Maguey
Papalomé (agave potatorum) is traditionally the only maguey used by the Xuani to make agave spirit, although there are many other maguey species around our lands — such as rabo de leon, cimarrón, maguey blanco, and pulquero. We use the other magueyes for construction, textiles, and pulque.
Maestr@s
Every maestro or maestra palenquero is also a peasant farmer who has had a unique experience and learning process. Their individual influences result in unique recipes that lead to equally unique flavors. Every agave spirit has an author, and every author has their own voice.
The Palenque
Palenque, in this community, is the common name for a family-run, small-scale agave spirit distillery. A bit larger than back in the day, many palenques are still small, with several clay pots, one or two cow-hide fermentation tanks, and a mid-scale oven. Ours holds about two tons.