Before Corona. Before Tecate. Before Mexican lager.

Mexico had pulque (POOL-keh) — a thick, funky, fermented agave drink that was once the most popular alcohol in the country… and sacred to the Aztecs.

So what happened?

In this episode, we dig into one of the earliest "fake news" campaigns in alcohol history — a smear job that helped take down pulque and clear the way for industrial lager. Along the way we trace the rise of Mexican beer through Austrian brewers, railroad expansion, and the clean, crisp style we know today.

Two drinks. One country. A complete rewrite of drinking culture. Music Attribution

"Twisted" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

"RetroFuture Dirty" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/