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Soft drinks from Mexico

Agua agria (Mexican sour maize water)agua agria

Agua agria is a non-alcoholic Mexican beverage based on ground maize and water. FAO lists it among Latin American fermented cereal products as a beverage of ground maize and water. No source with process detail was found.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Agua agria itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Pozol, the closest documented soft drinks ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Agua agria.

Short entrySoft drinks

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo source read gives amounts.
Ground maize[s1]
Water[s1]

Total time across the steps of Pozol: 25 h – 14 days

Start
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pH 5.7 → 7.5

What changes: Maize boils in lime water until the hulls loosen

Step 1 of 5 · steps of Pozol
Boil the maize in lime water (nixtamalise)
Time
1 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 5.7 → 7.5
Reported
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts
Moulds

Output: nixtamal.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the FAO bulletin says the heat destroys most microbes on the kernels and new ones enter at grinding; the lime loosens the hull

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Agua agria is a non-alcoholic Mexican beverage based on ground maize and water. FAO lists it among Latin American fermented cereal products as a beverage of ground maize and water. No source with process detail was found.

What makes this one different

FAO describes agua agria only as a non-alcoholic beverage of ground maize and water, with no process detail to compare with pozol.

Related ferments

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [s1] Haard N.F. et al. 1999, Fermented cereals: a global perspective, FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin 138, ch. 4, Table 1 (agua-agria, Mexico)gov