The Ancient Roots Of Mexico's Refreshing Agua Fresca Drink

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Mexico is famous for some pretty incredible drinks — like tequila and mezcal along with the countless cocktails they inspire. However a drink that's just as beloved in Mexico is the nonalcoholic and utterly refreshing agua fresca. Meaning "fresh water" in Spanish, agua fresca is a fruit, flower, seed, or grain-infused and sweetened water blended with ice. While they're now ubiquitous around Mexico and growingly popular in the U.S., agua fresca drinks have ancient roots, originating during the Aztec empire.

The Aztec empire presided over what is now Mexico City, located in the center of Mexico with a veritable bread basket of fruit, vegetables, and grains. The Aztec people prepared the first agua fresca drinks from fruit and flowers they collected as they traveled in canoes along the rivers and canals that flowed through Tenochtitlán. They would muddle the fruits and flowers together and add water to satiate their thirst as they paddled. It has also been surmised that the first aguas frescas were cooled with the ice from the dormant volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. When the conquistadors brought sugar cane and Old World crops like hibiscus, tamarind, cinnamon, rice, and barley to Mexico, agua fresca drinks became sweeter and more diverse. Centuries later, aguas frescas are sold by street vendors and in paleterias or popsicle shops on every street corner around Mexico. Most Mexican "comida corrida" restaurants likewise offer a selection of aguas frescas as part of their daily menu.

The Mexican government says the most popular flavors of agua fresca are chia and lime, horchata, hibiscus, and tamarind. Chia is a seed that is a native Mexican crop, supplying protein, fiber, and a pop of crunchy, jelly-like texture to agua de limon, or limeade. Horchata comes in two varieties: rice and oat. It's also one of the few agua fresca drinks spiked with milk to become extra creamy. You can swap sugar and milk for a can of sweetened condensed milk to simplify homemade horchata.

Not only is tamarind a popular agua fresca flavor, but it's also a popular candy flavor, spiked with chili and Tajín and sold as chewy fruit leathers known as Pulparindo. Hibiscus tea, or agua de jamaica, is made using dried hibiscus flowers steeped, cooled, and then blended with sugar and ice. We recommend adding a squeeze of lime, too. Along with the four favorites, other flavors of agua fresca utilize Mexico's abundance of tropical fruits including pineapple, mangoes, guanábana, passion fruit, guava, and papaya. Agua de melon, cantaloupe agua fresca, and watermelon-lime agua fresca would make for a refreshing summer treat. Regional flavors in Mexico use native fruits like mamey in Puebla, nance in Nayarit, and tuna or cactus fruit in places like San Luis Potosi and Oaxaca.