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ABOUT AGUAS FRESCAS

According to Mexican lore, the Mexica (Aztec) muddled the first aguas frescas from fruits gathered while paddling along the waterways of Tenochtitlán, now the bustling concrete monolith of Mexico City. They then added ice from the dormant volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl nearby. Over time, aguas frescas became especially popular among the street fare and home kitchens of Guatemala and Mexico, booming in the sugarcane state of Michoacán. By the 1940s, the agua fresca and its close cousin, the paleta, migrated into the U.S. in vendors’ carts along with other sweet and savory treats, and in time, entire business empires were built on cold fruit infusions. Those eventually turned into some of the most recognizable chains, including La Michoacana.

A classic and popular beverage is Agua de tamarindo or tamarind water, a plant that came to Mexico all the way from India during Colonial times and that was adopted by Mexican taste. The tamarind tree is native to tropical regions of Africa, specifically Sudan. However, it has spread to other tropical areas in the world, especially Mexico. The tamarind tree produces pod-like fruit that contains an edible pulp. In Mexico, the pulp is used to make sweets and fresh water.

The easiest example is Agua de Jamaica or hibiscus water. Hibiscus is a flower that comes from África and that was brought to Mexico in Colonial times. It currently grows in Campeche, Colima, Guerrero, and Oaxaca, but is consumed practically in all Mexican homes and restaurants. In different regions of Africa and the Middle East, this flower is simply boiled with other plants and drank as a tea, but in Mexico, it is left to cool to then lower the concentrate with water and sweeten it, for few people resist such an acid flavor as the one of pure hibiscus tea.

In Mexico, horchata water is a beverage usually made with rice grains soaked in water that are then ground and mixed with sweetened water. A pinch of cinnamon is added as an extra flavor. Horchata water is originally from the Mediterranean. It came to Mexico through the Spanish. According to a Catalan or Valencian legend, the name of this beverage comes from the time a young peasant offered a glass of this water to King James I of Aragón. Horchata comes from the Latin hordiatam, from hordia, meaning barley.