How It's Made

Drink Xoma Maguey Agave Cavity Pulque Pulcatta

In the Central Mexican plateau, agave plants are grown in abundance and have been utilized for thousands of years for food, medicine, building material, and more. Throughout the plateau, Agave is called Maguey - a marvelous - and to many - a sacred plant. Maguey is also the plant from which Xoma is derived and below is how this incredible spirit comes to life.

After waiting up to 12 years for the plant to mature, its core, referred to as the heart of the Maguey plant, is carved out using a machete and a traditional barretta.

Patience

The Process Begins

Aguamiel

The next day, the tlachiquero (the agave farmer), is greeted by a pool of cloudy, sweet, and viscous aguamiel which is rich in essential amino acids, sugars, vitamins, mineral salts, and natural gums. Using his lungs as a vacuum to harvest the liquid from the plant, the tlachiquero siphons the aguamiel into an acocote (a hollowed out gourd), and then deposits the sap into a container.

This process continues with the same plant every dawn and dusk for 3-6 months.

Fermentation

Fermentation is the process when sugar converts to alcohol. The fermentation process begins inside of the plant and continues in a tinacal, or fermentation room, where the aguamiel is deposited into fermentation tanks. The fermentation is kickstarted with a stronger "seed" or "mother starter." The result is one of America's first probiotic and alcoholic beverages.

Distillation

Distillation, also known as purification, is the process of slowly heating up and then cooling down a lower concentration of alcohol so that the remaining liquid has a higher concentration of alcohol. In our case, we distill pulque to turn it into what's called Pulcatta.

After 6 months, the hollowed out cavity of the maguey plant is scratched to begin stimulation of its sap.

Scratch & Siphon

After every siphoning, the maguey cavity is scratched to stimulate the secretion of more sap. This scratching and siphoning occurs until the plant dries up and dies 4-6 months later.

Pulque

Once aguamiel has been fermented to a certain degree (between 4% and 7% alcohol) it can now be called pulque. Pulque is usually consumed after 7-14 days.

Pulcatta

The alcohol percentage varies depending on the brand and tasting qualities that the distiller is looking for. In the case of Xoma, we distill the pulque to 40% alcohol by volume.

Introducing Xoma

The first pulcatta spirit in the US market.

TRY XOMA

Interested in a bottle?