Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11

n,ant is ready for p,Iluue The conc or
flower stalk is then cat out OF the hase
OF the plant. leaving there great noe
or bowl. into which the sap from the
leaves runs down. The sap runs 50 fast
that 4 plant will yield ten or fifteen pints
every day and continue its flow Sor three
or four months. yielding barrels anu
sometimes hogsheads OF liquor
This sap. when fermented forms nat
ural beer. AS Il flows into the bowl II IS
as sweet as sugar and as clear "a purT
alcohol After twenty-four hours rs
color turns to that OF skim milk. ana ~
tastes not unlike buttermilk. IL then he
gins TO give forth an odor. and this odor
grows stronger as the pulque grows
older Indeed. | believe that one couh
81 Ut his eyes and find the pulque saloons
10y his nose.
| have tried some of this beer. II has
about the same effect strong German
book II makes one feel conioriaplea ann
If you take little too much II VIII z"
to your head. IL acts upon the liver ana
kidneys. and is an excellent tonic y
taken before retiring At night, one nee.
have no fear of insomnia. lie soon goes
to sleep and his rest is without dreams
lave travelled for miles through
these puque plantations and have seen
dirty Indian poems al work gathering IN"
liquor. Each carries with him a sack
made of Unframed pigskin. and he draws
the juice from the plants into this by
means of a gourd lie first sucks the
gourd full OF sap and Il en- pours the sap
into the bag. When the bag is fun IL IS
emptied into a cask. where the liquor
is allowed TO ferment- II sometimes Ter
ments in the bag and the fcrments-
ton is hastened by throwing in little
old pulque which has become RANK
and sour. Ii takes only twenty-four hours
TO turn the sap into beer. and the oeeF
is marketed the day il is made. II il gets
very old Ii spoils and grows nat. ih-
pulque saloonists are compelled 10y law
to sell none OF the liquor which mas been
brewed for more than twenty-four hours.
There are about thousand puidu@
saloons at the capital. You End them
on almost every block and YOU can ten
them by the fiorid-faced Indians VINO
hang around them. They have none Of
the ornamentation and glitter OF our
beer saloons. and the drinkers are Al
most invariably OF the lower classes
Pulque does not seem to excite the drlilh-
err. Ii Is rather quieting than otherwise
and II is sad to have medicinal value.
There is a tradition here that from
pulque comes the origin or the American
cocktail The beer was used by the Ioi-
tees. who antedated the Aztecs. and ac-
cording to whose legends IL was first
named Xochitl. name which mas been
degraded to the word cocktail lhr
original name came from a beautfful girl
who first discovered the delights of pull
que This was Miss Nochitl She had
tasted the fermented sap and was So
pleased with it that she sucked out
gourd full and carried ii to the king or
that day. He drank deep and long, and
as the fluid ran down his throat and
crawled up to his brain, he threw his
arms around the blushing damsel. and
lifted her 10 seat on his throne, say
ing:
Tell me. o maiden. the secret or this
drink of pure honey.
Thereupon Miss Xochitl, or. as We might
call her, Miss Cocktail" replied:
You are right. mighty king. 1t is q,
honey, indeed, which the gods have made
for our drink.
FRANK G. CARPENTER