18 Most Popular Mexican Drinks (2024)

A common mistake tourists commit when touring Mexico is ignoring the local drinks.

Yes, Mexican cuisine is famous for its delicious food delicacies bursting with robust, unique flavors, but their drinks have just as much to offer.

You’re missing out if you drink the same beer and soda brands in Mexico.

There’s an array of popular Mexican drinks to choose from. They range from family-friendly breakfast champurrado bowls to hard-hitting cerveza margarita highballs. Other traditional local drinks include jarritos, aguas frescas, horchata, tejate, Mexican ponche, margarita, palome, and tequila.

Feel like you’ve heard some of these drinks before but can’t seem to remember where?

Keep reading as we explain the most popular drinks you’ll only find in Mexico, the history behind each glass, and the best ways to enjoy these local drinks.

1. Jarritos

With annual revenue of nearly $70 million, it’s no exaggeration to say Jarritos is the leading Mexican soft drink brand in the American market today.

What popularized them is their diverse set of flavors.

They come in guava, mandarin, tamarind, strawberry, and pineapple—all of which are non-conventional carbonated drink flavors.

These days, locals hail Jarritos as a soft drink brand that manufactures sweet, kid-friendly soda.

However, they didn’t always have this fun reputation.

When Don Francisco “El Güero” Hill established the company in the 1950s, his focus was to create a delicious carbonated version of coffee.

Only in later years did he decide to take the company in a new direction and start producing fruit-flavored soda that is arguably the most famous latin soda in the world.

2. Champurrado

Champurrado is a corn flour-based chocolate drink locals often have for breakfast or lunch.

Think of champurrado as your favorite hot chocolate drink, but far richer and denser thanks to the extra corn flour or, as the locals call it, masa.

You’ll find vendors serving champurrado bowls everywhere, from small roadside food stands to upscale five-star dining establishments.

They’re a classic Mexican specialty.

The mass production and use of cocoa play a crucial role in the origin of champurrado.

Natives have been drinking atole, another corn flour-based drink, since the early 1600s.

However, cocoa drinks such as champurrado only popularized after Spanish conquistadors (conquerors) arrived in Mexico.

3. Atole

Atole is another popular corn flour-based drink in Mexico.

You’ll see large pots of atole served right beside champurrado as the locals would usually have either of the two for breakfast.

The only difference between champurrado and atole is that the latter does not have cocoa.

Other than that, they’re essentially the same warm, rich, thick breakfast drink.

Also, champurrado is a type of atole.

What makes atole so amazing is that the popular Mexican drink already existed long before the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez colonized the Aztec empire to create modern-day Mexico City in 1521.

Atole derives from the dominant pre-colonization Uto-Aztecan Language, which is Nahuatl.

4. Aguas Frescas

If you’ve ever been to a busy street market in Mexico, you might have noticed one or two food carts selling bright-colored fruit juice in large plastic containers. These are agua fresca.

The term agua fresca roughly translates to fresh water and is a very popular refreshment in Mexico.

It’s affordable, accessible, easy to make, and most importantly, delicious.

The natives love this Mexican street food so much it is often sold by the liter.

Agua fresca is about as simple as a drink can get.

It consists of nothing but fresh fruit juices mixed with water—sometimes, vendors will also sprinkle in some sugar to make their drinks a bit sweeter.

Popular flavors include papaya, lime, watermelon, cinnamon oats, tamarind, and hibiscus.

Natives claim that agua fresca has been around even before the colonization of modern-day Mexico.

Historical records suggest that the ancient Aztecs’ diets primarily consisted of the wild fruits growing around Tenochtitlán—now Mexico City—so it’s not unlikely for them to create refreshments using wild fruits as well.

5. Horchata

Mexican Horchata is a popular drink known across the world.

Different countries such as Nigeria and Spain have variations of it, but we’re here to talk about its Mexican version.

In Mexico, horchata is arguably the most well-known agua fresca flavor. It’s even popular outside the country.

You might have seen horchata on the menus of traditional Mexican restaurants at least a few times now.

Both natives and foreigners love it for its sweet, rich, and thick flavor that pairs well with anything from sweet churros to spicy tacos.

Contrary to popular belief, horchata does not use milk.

Rather, it consists of rice water sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

Assembling the drink is relatively easy.

The difficult part of the process is the preparation, as it involves a lot of time-consuming straining and soaking.

6. Tejate

Tejate is a cold, refreshing chocolate-based drink the natives would regularly enjoy on hot afternoons.

You’ll see street vendors peddling them alongside agua frescas jars.

What makes tejate so captivating among tourists is that it uses local ingredients exclusive to Mexico, including crushed mamey sapote pits and flor de cacao buds.

The mamey sapote pits have a sweet honey-like flavor, while the flor de cacao buds give the drink a dense, floral aroma.

Tejate hails from Oaxaca, Mexico, and natives claim that the recipe has been around even before the 16th-century Spanish colonization.

Oaxaca residents pride themselves on the fact that they retained many of their Aztec cultures and traditions despite the Spanish conquistadors’ influence.

7. Mexican Christmas Punch (Ponche Navideño)

Christmas in Mexico is a bit different.

For one thing, instead of serving eggnog, the locals make large pots of Mexican punch or Ponche Navideño, for the entire family to share.

There are plenty of ways to prepare Mexican ponche, but the base ingredients are apples, brown sugar, guava, hawthorn, sugarcane, cinnamon, hibiscus flower, and tamarind.

Since the recipe calls for five fruits, locals called the drink ponche, which derives from the Indian word for five, pac.

In Oaxaca, Mexico, their variation of the Mexican ponche is similar to eggnog.

The recipe also calls for sugar, cinnamon, eggs, and milk.

Mexican Ponche is a Mexican Christmas tradition.

8. Cerveza Margaritas

Men tend to stray from margarita co*cktails as these drinks cater largely to a feminine market.

If you want to enjoy some margaritas but feel like the original recipe is a bit too sweet and cloying for your taste, try cerveza margaritas.

The cerveza margarita is a modern Mexican co*cktail that translates to beer and margarita, and that’s what the drink is.

Preparation is very simple.

You just need to mix a bottle of beer, a cup of tequila, and a can of limeade in a large pitcher.

Of course, don’t forget to coat the serving glass’ edge with salt and a lemon wedge.

9. Agua de Jamaica

Do you find yourself downing gallons of soda while eating lunch?

When you’re in Mexico, skip the common soda brands and opt for some agua de jamaica instead.

It’s a popular aguas frescas flavor made with steeped hibiscus flowers.

What makes agua de jamaica unique is its main ingredient: flor de jamaica.

The flower’s sweet, tart-like flavor that’s neither bland nor cloying is the perfect lunch accompaniment.

Flor de jamaica originated from Eastern countries like India and Africa. They only arrived in Mexico during the colonization era in the 16th century.

The natives have long since made the flower their own and incorporated it into many traditional Mexican food and drink recipes.

10. Michelada

Due to michelada’s bright red color, foreigners and tourists often referred to it as the “Mexican bloody mary.”

That name’s not a bad description considering it consists of beer mixed with chile spices, peppers, tomato juice, and lime juice.

The only difference between a michelada and a bloody mary is that the latter uses vodka in place of beer and doesn’t have spicy Mexican peppers.

A cool fact about micheladas is that they have two origin stories. The first one pertains to the name’s etymology.

They say that michelada derives from the Mexican phrase mi chela helada, which roughly translates to “my ice-cold beer.”

The second origin states that the drink was first popularized in the 1960s at a club in San Luis Potosi called Club Deportivo Potosino.

Stories say that a customer named Michel Ésper always ordered a specially made drink.

It consisted of beer and lime juice in a salt-rimmed glass.

Other customers soon wanted to drink the same thing, but they’d just call it Michael’s lemonade since they had no name for it.

The name eventually shortened to michelada.

11. Paloma

When it comes to tequila-based drinks, two names will come to mind: the paloma and the margarita.

The latter may be a bit more widespread than palomas, but palomas are arguably more popular at clubs and bars in their hometown.

These drinks consist of tequila, lime juice, and grapefruit.

Many over 20 might prefer palomas over margaritas since they offer a more mature and complex blend of sweet, sour, and bitter flavors.

12. Margarita

Margaritas started taking off in the mid to late 90s during the popularization of Mexican tequila brands such as El Jimador,

Don Julio, 7 Leguas, and of course, the oldest tequila brand in the world: Jose Cuervo.

Although, the first recorded mention of the modern margarita dates back to 1938.

Records show that Carlos Danny Herrera made the margarita as a specialty for a VIP guest who was allergic to alcohol, save for tequila.

13. Tequila

One of the most popular contributions of Mexican cuisine to the alcohol industry is tequila.

It’s known worldwide, and there are thousands of tequila-based drinks to choose from.

Of course, you can also enjoy tequila on its own. If the taste is too strong, try sucking on salt-rimmed lemon wedges after every two or three shots.

The alcoholic drink has a very rich history dating back to pre-Columbian Mexico in the 1500s.

Farmers were already producing tequila almost a century before the establishment of Tequila city.

14. Rompope

The Mexican ponche hasn’t completely replaced eggnogs in Mexican households.

In fact, Mexico has its version of eggnog: rompope.

The recipe is very similar to the original eggnog recipe and consists of milk, eggs, sugar, crushed almonds, and vanilla flavoring.

Although, most eggnogs have nutmeg instead of almonds and vanilla.

Also, it’s not common practice to spike rompope with alcohol.

Historical records show that the earliest mentions of rompope date back to the 1600s.

Natives also claim that the first versions of rompope were by Santa Clara convent nuns from Puebla.

15. Cafe de Olla

The original cafe de olla recipe consists of coffee roasted with unprocessed cane sugar (piloncillo), cinnamon, cocoa, and cloves in clay pots.

Modern variations use brown sugar in place of piloncllo.

This sweet, smooth, and creamy coffee-based drink has a meaningful history dating back to the Mexican revolution in the early 1900s.

Adelitas and soladeras, roughly translates to “female soldiers” in English, would brew cafe de olla for the male soldiers every day.

The rich, sweet ingredients provided a lot more nutrients and calories than plain coffee did.

16. Mexican co*ke

Yes, Mexican co*ke!

You may think, what’s the difference? How much different can it possibly be?

Well, many swear by the formula used to create the Mexican version of Coca Cola also referred to as Mexico*ke.

The supposed difference in the two is the American-made co*ke uses fructose as a sweetener while the Mexican Coca-Cola uses cane sugar.

Mexico*ke is so popular in the United States that you’ll easily find it in many Costcos, Walmarts and even perhaps your local supermarket.

17. Tepache

Tepache is a home-brewed pineapple Mexican beverage that’s slightly effervescent, made from fermented pineapple peel.

It’s made by adding sugar, pineapple skin, and cinnamon sticks to water and keeping it in a sealed jar at room temperature.

Fermentation takes up to 5 days, producing a low-alcohol drink.

You’ll commonly see Tepache sold on the streets of Mexico.

18. Mexican Beer

Latin America has many excellent beers.

But is there anything better than enjoying a traditional Mexican dish with a native beer?

Mexicans love their beer! And with good reason.

It’s no coincidence that Mexico exports a ton of beer into the United States.

Take a look at this chart shared via Twitter by Bart Watson, chief economist at the trade group Brewers Association,to see how Americans simply can’t get enough of their favorite brand of Mexican beer.

Everyone is familiar with Corona, Dos Equis, Modelo and Tecate.

But Mexico is home to many more lesser known brands that are arguably just as good.

Final Mexican Drink Thoughts

Mexico has plenty of unique local drinks to offer.

If you’re into sweet, family-friendly options you can share with the kids, go with champurrado, horchata, tejate, and atole.

Meanwhile, partygoers looking to enjoy the wild Mexican nightlife can try out michelada, cerveza margaritas, Mexican ponche, and of course, tequila.

Don’t forget to sample the best meals and snacks that Mexican cuisine has to offer as well.

Any of these drinks will wash down your favorite Cinco de Mayo foods.

Remember, Mexican drinks and foods go hand in hand to create a full dining experience.

Don’t forego one for the other.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Jarritos
• Jarritos: The colorful history of Jarritos
• Zoom Info: Jarritos
• Chicago Tribune: Making atole, a warm, liquid gift from ancient Mexico
• Wikipedia: Champurrado
• Wikipedia: Atole
• Ducksters: Mexico Timeline and History Overview
• Wikipedia: Nahuatl
• Wikipedia: Agua Fresca
• The Culture Trip: Aguas Frescas, Mexico City’s Favorite Drink
• Nex Mexico: THE BEAUTY OF AGUAS FRESCAS
• Wikipedia: Horchata
• Mexico News Daily: Horchata is a rice-based drink that pairs well with spicy food
• Atlas Obscura: Why Are So Many Different Drinks Called Horchata?
• Thrillist: The Surprising Origins of Horchata
• Wikipedia: Tejate
• Atlas Obscura: Tejate
• Eater: Taste History With Tejate, an Ancient, Pre-Hispanic Street Drink
• Eluniversal: The true origin of Mexican ponche
• Experience San Miguel de Allende: Ponche Navideño The Traditional Hot Christmas Punch of Mexico
• Smithsonian Magazine: The History of the Margarita
• Taste of Home: Cerveza Margaritas
• Wikipedia: Margarita
• Wikipedia: Michelada
• Montoyas Micheladas: History of the Micheladas
• Taste co*cktails: The Paloma Recipe and History – How to make a Paloma co*cktail
• Tequila: Amherst
• Matador Network: How the Margarita took over America — and lost its soul along the way
• The Washington Post: Rompope
• Wikipedia: Rompope
• Latino USA: The Revolutionary Origins of Café de Olla and the Mexican Americans Keeping the Tradition Alive