Home » 3 Traditional Mexican and Mayan Liquors You Have to Try

3 Traditional Mexican and Mayan Liquors You Have to Try

by Bel Woodhouse
written by Bel Woodhouse
Do you like to try different foods and drinks? Do you like Mexican culture and food? Would you like to know more about three unique Mexican liquors? I’m here to help!
Xtabentún,  Nixta Licor de Elote,  and Vino Tinto Flor de Jamaica are three traditional Mexican and Mayan liquors that you have to try. I am thankful to be immersed in the amazing culture of living in Mexico. The ingenuity of the people creates delicious surprises—like these three liquors. Thrilling my taste buds, they have shocked my understanding of spirits and become a part of my heart.
Mexican culture is famous worldwide for being unique, vibrant, and colourful. When someone says, “Mexico,” iconic images usually bubble up: People with faces painted as skulls for the Day of the Dead celebrations. Men slumbering under huge straw sombreros slumped against a cactus. And of course, tequila. And food. Each region has its own iconic mouth-watering dishes.
What I’ve found, though, is that most people don’t usually experience the local flavours through its artisan wines, liqueurs, and spirits.  Different regions have traditional recipes for some truly unique and amazing taste sensations, alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike.  Not only that, some of these have been made for centuries. Think back to when the first Spanish conquistadores were landing on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula’s shores. They were probably offered this first highly prized honey drink when meeting with cheiftans and emperors.

XTABENTÚN – Honey and Anise Liqueur

A hidden treasure in one of Mexico’s most visited destinations, the Mexican Caribbean region, there exists a delightful delicacy of the alcohol world. A traditional honey and anise liqueur called Xtabentún has been made by the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula for centuries.
Sweet Xtabentún, the honey and anise liqueur of the Maya.

Xtabentún and bottle showing a Mayan warrior presenting this honey liqueur to his Chief. ©Bel Woodhouse

The Maya have a deep connection to the natural world. This includes an almost sacred relationship with a small stingless native bee, the Melipona. For centuries before Spanish conquistadores arrived, Melipona hives were prized.  During the height of the Mayan empire, vast apiaries of 1,00-2,000 existed in the jungles surrounding major Maya cities. Their honey is highly prized, and honey-infused drinks were served to high priests, emperors and noblemen.
I was delighted to find that today’s Mayan descendents are still making this delicious and very easy to drink Xtabentún liqueur. It is a gem of the Yucatan Peninsula that most visitors have never heard of.

How to Drink Xtabentún

Xtabentún was first served to me at an organic chef’s table. The sweet liqueur served warm as a Mayan Carajillo. An Xtabentún-infused coffee. It came in a cup rimmed with sugar and served with a warm cinnamon stick to stir it and is in a class all of its own.

Mayan Carajillo – Xtabentún infused coffee served with a warm cinnamon stick for stirring in a sugar rimmed glass. ©Bel Woodhouse.

I confess I am not a coffee lover. So asked to try the Xtabentún straight.

The aroma of anise hit hard as the glass neared my nose. But hold it in your mouth for a moment, and the strong anise fades away. Soothing honey replaces it. Actually, the honey perfectly compliments the anise while leaving a not-too-sweet aftertaste. In my opinion, it is the best way to enjoy it and the way I still drink it to this day. To me, Xtabentún is perfect just the way it is.

Every person that has come to visit usually ends up taking a bottle home once they taste it. You can find Xtabentún in most supermarkets and liquor stores, and a one-litre bottle is around $200 pesos, or $10 USD.

Nixta Licor – Mexican Corn Liquor

This second unique liqueur and my personal favourite is Nixta Licor de Elote, the worlds first corn liqueur. Maize is and has always been at the pinnacle of Mexican culture, cuisine, and heritage. It is the crop Mexico was built on and the most important to modern-day Mexicans, the Maya, and their Aztec ancestors.
Nixta margarita's are both sweet and sour and totally delicious.

Nixta is great in cocktails like these margaritas. ©Nixta

This mouthwatering maize liqueur gets its name from the distilling process.

Made with 100% Cacahuazintle corn, this ancestral maíz is harvested during a very short season. It grows in the high valleys and foothills of the Nevado de Toluca volcano, a stratovolcano in central Mexico west of Mexico City.

While half the batch is kept in its raw tender state, the second half is roasted. They combine the two, and this mix is then macerated in the raw distillate. They are then added to the base madre, mother base or sour base. This important base is a blend of nixtamalized Cacahuazintle corn, water, and piloncillo, an unrefined cane sugar traditional to Mexico. 

It is then fermentated in the ancient traditional cooking method called Nixtamalization. 

What is Nixtamalixation?

After harvest from the rich volcanic soil, the Cacahuazintle maize kernels undergo nixtamalization, a 4,000-year-old Mesoamerican culinary process in which the corn is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution (usually limewater). This makes it more pliable to unlock the full potential of the non-GMO sustainably-grown kernels.

The power of this ancient grain is shown when you break it down. Cacahuanintle maize contains higher starch and less fat content than common varieties which makes it perfect to produce a liqueur. The result is a liquid that forms a rich, creamy raw material. This infuses the spirit with hints of umami and sugar.

How to Drink Nixta

Nixta is very versatile. It’s refreshing and tastes great added to cocktails, a simple mixer like soda and lime ,or by itself over ice. I love it over ice. Plain and simple, delicious and refreshing, it always makes me smile. Why?

You may laugh but when I breathe out it tastes like corn chips. Yes I know that sounds silly, but the clean corn taste starts in the back of my throat and satisfies my tastebuds as I exhale. Don’t worry. I’m not the only one. Both my Mexican and American friends agree. Nixta is one of those drinks that pleases every palate.

A chilled glass of Nixta Corn Liqueur.

A chilled glass of Nixta Corn Liqueur. ©Bel Woodhouse

The Nixta taste

When you sip Nixta, you will taste hints of roasted corn along with the sweetness of caramel and vanilla. The initial taste is slightly sweet, not overpowering. Both the corn and the piloncillo add to the sweetness and produce a very mild pleasant aftertaste. Then the pleasing roasted corn flavour hits. Subtle and satisfying, it is enhanced as you exhale, once again leaving that subtle sweetness to linger.

You can find Nixta for sale at La Europea liquor stores for $399 pesos, $20 USD.

Jamaica Vino Tinto

Vino Tinto Flor de Jamaica is an artisanal wine crafted in the Chiapas region of southwest Mexico. Like its creators, the smiling people of the Chiapas, the wine, too, is very sweet. A lightly fermented wine, it infuses another iconic Mexican favourite, Jamaica–dried hibiscus flowers, into the sweet red wine base.
Traditionally jamaica is made into a sweet iced tea very popular throughout Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Infusing it into red wine makes for a modern twist to this classic drink.
Light with a lower alcohol level, this vino is one of the most unique wines I’ve ever tasted living in Mexico. It is also unusual because it is made in the Chiapas region which is not a region of Mexico that is usually associated with wine production. The grapes are all sourced locally from a small group of dedicated growers. 

How do you make hibiscus wine?

I am a huge wine lover, so had to satisfy my curiosity. Very curious about the infused winemaking process, I asked how to make hibiscus wine first.  The answer was a true artisan’s.

They create location-specific vinifications–fermenting grape juice into wine–from herbal flowers and fruits only grown in the highlands region of Chiapas. By using the specialised oenological techniques used to make red sparkling wine, two jamaica infused red wines were developed.

The younger wine, aged in oak barrels for six months, tickles your tongue as its fermentation is obvious. Its lightly clouded, bright raspberry colour is typical of a young wine. It has a lower alcohol content of seven percent. A charcuterie board or cheese platter best accompanies this wine.  And, although the younger sparkling red wine has a stronger bubble, it only needs string to keep the cork in place, unlike a true sparkling wine or champagne.

String holding the cork in place on the younger wine. ©Bel Woodhouse

The more mature wine, aged in medium white oak barrels for 12 months, is smoother. Its deeper robust red colour is more wine-like with a 10 percent alcohol content. A fun slight bubble when first sipped smoothes out to leave a slight ash aftertaste, which I found very pleasant.

12 month (left) and 6 month (right) fermented hibiscus red wines. ©Bel Woodhouse

Overall, the result was one that is uniquely Chiapas. It highlights the region’s commitment to local growers, organic farms and the quality of the products of the state of Chiapas, Mexico.

All of this results in a sweet red wine with personality and balance. Their goal of creating a wine sweet on the palate with woody notes is well and truly achieved, and if you enjoy sweet wine then this one will definitely tickle your tastebuds.

You can purchase this wine from Chiapas Artesanal Gourmet for $175 pesos, $8.50 USD.

1 comment

Head honcho at The Travel Bag since 2015 and author of the '21 Reasons to Visit...' travel book series, Bel is passionate about travelling every opportunity she gets and highlighting destinations with stunning photos and videography. A fun-loving Aussie currently living in the Caribbean on Cozumel Island off Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, you'll generally find her frolicking in the ocean, trekking through the jungle or crawling over something as nothing is safe from her curiosity.

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