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Tepache (Mexican fermented pineapple), lime, chili, salt. A Free Pour highball that tastes like a vacation — fruity, fizzy, with a faint heat that lingers.

Tepache is pre-Columbian. The Nahua people of central Mexico were making it before contact with Europe. The drink survived the Spanish conquest, the colonial era, the Mexican Revolution, and three centuries of American cultural neglect; in the 2020s it finally hit American grocery stores. The pineapple variety we know today is itself a Mexican domesticate.

Ingredients

• Fresh Lime Juice½ ounce
• Salt1 pinch
• Tepache5 ounces
• Pineapple Wedge1 each
• Fresh Chili Slice1 each
• Tajín (rim)1 pinch

Directions

Rim half the rim of a highball glass with Tajín. Add the lime juice and a pinch of salt. Fill with ice. Top with chilled tepache. Stir gently. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a thin slice of fresh chili.

Notes

Tepache is the fermented juice of pineapple rinds, sugar, and spices (usually cinnamon and clove). Traditionally fermented 2-4 days at room temperature; the result is 0.5-1% ABV — technically still legally non-alcoholic. Make your own or buy from De La Calle, which makes excellent commercial tepache.