5 ms·

Mexican Whiskey Is on the Rise, Powered by Ancient Corn

28 points by Thevet 3y ago

helsinkiandrew 3y ago
https://archive.ph/Fk8Vl https://archive.ph/Fk8Vl
7thaccount 3y ago
Balcones makes a really good and interesting bourbon out of baby blue corn. Flavor is certainly different than the standard bourbon. Not really a Mexican corn whiskey I don't think, but I thought this was relevant as it involves using a native American (Hopi) corn to make a whiskey. https://whiskeyreviewer.com/2018/10/balcones-baby-blue-corn-whiskey-review/ https://whiskeyreviewer.com/2018/10/balcones-baby-blue-corn-...
eth0up 3y ago
I've always avoided corn-based whiskey and preferred rye. Generally, I avoid any US corn products where possible. Mexico takes their staple crop seriously. They've banned the Bayer/Monsanto engine corn. When making tortillas, I use Mexican masa harina. Strangely, most Mexicans here (US) use the Azteca brand, which is about as Mexican as Moses. I'd definitely go for some heirloom corn Mexican whiskey.
- bigbillheck 3y ago
  > about as Mexican as Moses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Mexico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Mexico
  - eth0up 3y ago
    A wee bit anachronistic, considering the dates mentioned. But yeah, Ladinos are real.
    - alephnerd 3y ago
      Plenty of more recent Jewish Mexicans too after WW2 and the final years of the Ottoman and Russian Empire. Louis CK is a notable member of the community, as is Leon Trotsky technically. They are one of the larger communities in CDMX.
- RajT88 3y ago
  I went to school with a Mexican guy named Moses actually!
- throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
  It's not strange. The last thing a poor Mexican in a foreign country thinks about is whether their ingredients are authentic enough. You buy what's readily available.
billytetrud 3y ago
Have you ever had Nixta? It's a corn spirit with a very unique and pleasant flavor
- twic 3y ago
  A liqueur rather than a spirit, to be pedantic. I agree that it's very nice - a bit like popcorn, but not in a tacky way!
gameshot911 3y ago
Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/dining/drinks/mexican-whiskey.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ok0.6RPc.eTX6AJoTWpRK&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/dining/drinks/mexican-whi...
aaron695 3y ago
[dead]
CyberDildonics 3y ago
This is an obvious PR piece and an advertisement. The only "hacker news" aspect would be an explanation of how to get articles like this made in the first place.
- alephnerd 3y ago
  People think it's cool. All content is an advertisement at the end of the day (or indirectly sponsored). At least it's not as bad as a bunch of the political content the ends up on here because of SlateStarCodex's shutdown (eg. never saw Marginal Revolution get much traction on HN until after that happened).
  - CyberDildonics 3y ago
    All content is an advertisement at the end of the day (or indirectly sponsored) This is not true at all. General writing is not an advertisement and you could say that talking about a project is promoting it, but this is a straight advertisement for https://granmaizal.com/ https://granmaizal.com/ https://abasolowhisky.com/en/home/ https://abasolowhisky.com/en/home/ https://www.sierranortewhiskey.com/ https://www.sierranortewhiskey.com/ and https://www.maiznation.com/en/taller https://www.maiznation.com/en/taller Anyone who has worked with a PR firm knows that a big part of it is trying to get articles like this placed on big web sites and it isn't cheap.
    - alephnerd 3y ago
      I know. I'm just pointing out that a lot of content on HN is very clearly astroturfed. A good YC buddy of mine even confirmed how a couple startups would attempt to astoturf or guerilla market on HN, sometimes getting caught, other times not so.
  - fullspectrumdev 3y ago
    Didn’t SSC reopen/rebrand shortly after the “doxing” kerfuffle as ACT on substack anyway, with some subscriber only content?
AdmiralAsshat 3y ago
Novel, but not unheard of. The popular Japanese Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky (which, last I check, commands a price tag of $80 a bottle) is mostly made from corn. I could see this becoming a luxury product in short order. Especially with all of the varieties of corn available in Mexico.
- kasey_junk 3y ago
  I’ve never seen any marketing saying Nikka was made with anything other than commodity dent corn. I can’t find anything on the web about it either. Do you have a link?
- tyingq 3y ago
  Moonshine is just corn whiskey that hasn't been aged, isn't it?
  - jfengel 3y ago
    Usually. Ideally, pot-distilled. But there isn't any legal standard of identity. It's just a marketing label. The pot-still corn liquor is supposed to taste like the illegally-made homebrew, but some products are basically just watered-down ethanol.

28 points by Thevet 3y ago

https://archive.ph/Fk8Vl https://archive.ph/Fk8Vl

Balcones makes a really good and interesting bourbon out of baby blue corn. Flavor is certainly different than the standard bourbon. Not really a Mexican corn whiskey I don't think, but I thought this was relevant as it involves using a native American (Hopi) corn to make a whiskey. https://whiskeyreviewer.com/2018/10/balcones-baby-blue-corn-whiskey-review/ https://whiskeyreviewer.com/2018/10/balcones-baby-blue-corn-...

eth0up 3y ago

I've always avoided corn-based whiskey and preferred rye. Generally, I avoid any US corn products where possible. Mexico takes their staple crop seriously. They've banned the Bayer/Monsanto engine corn. When making tortillas, I use Mexican masa harina. Strangely, most Mexicans here (US) use the Azteca brand, which is about as Mexican as Moses. I'd definitely go for some heirloom corn Mexican whiskey.

bigbillheck 3y ago
> about as Mexican as Moses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Mexico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Mexico
- eth0up 3y ago
  A wee bit anachronistic, considering the dates mentioned. But yeah, Ladinos are real.
  - alephnerd 3y ago
    Plenty of more recent Jewish Mexicans too after WW2 and the final years of the Ottoman and Russian Empire. Louis CK is a notable member of the community, as is Leon Trotsky technically. They are one of the larger communities in CDMX.
RajT88 3y ago
I went to school with a Mexican guy named Moses actually!
throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
It's not strange. The last thing a poor Mexican in a foreign country thinks about is whether their ingredients are authentic enough. You buy what's readily available.

billytetrud 3y ago

Have you ever had Nixta? It's a corn spirit with a very unique and pleasant flavor

twic 3y ago
A liqueur rather than a spirit, to be pedantic. I agree that it's very nice - a bit like popcorn, but not in a tacky way!

gameshot911 3y ago

Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/dining/drinks/mexican-whiskey.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ok0.6RPc.eTX6AJoTWpRK&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/dining/drinks/mexican-whi...

aaron695 3y ago

[dead]

CyberDildonics 3y ago

This is an obvious PR piece and an advertisement. The only "hacker news" aspect would be an explanation of how to get articles like this made in the first place.

alephnerd 3y ago
People think it's cool. All content is an advertisement at the end of the day (or indirectly sponsored). At least it's not as bad as a bunch of the political content the ends up on here because of SlateStarCodex's shutdown (eg. never saw Marginal Revolution get much traction on HN until after that happened).
- CyberDildonics 3y ago
  All content is an advertisement at the end of the day (or indirectly sponsored) This is not true at all. General writing is not an advertisement and you could say that talking about a project is promoting it, but this is a straight advertisement for https://granmaizal.com/ https://granmaizal.com/ https://abasolowhisky.com/en/home/ https://abasolowhisky.com/en/home/ https://www.sierranortewhiskey.com/ https://www.sierranortewhiskey.com/ and https://www.maiznation.com/en/taller https://www.maiznation.com/en/taller Anyone who has worked with a PR firm knows that a big part of it is trying to get articles like this placed on big web sites and it isn't cheap.
  - alephnerd 3y ago
    I know. I'm just pointing out that a lot of content on HN is very clearly astroturfed. A good YC buddy of mine even confirmed how a couple startups would attempt to astoturf or guerilla market on HN, sometimes getting caught, other times not so.
- fullspectrumdev 3y ago
  Didn’t SSC reopen/rebrand shortly after the “doxing” kerfuffle as ACT on substack anyway, with some subscriber only content?

AdmiralAsshat 3y ago

Novel, but not unheard of. The popular Japanese Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky (which, last I check, commands a price tag of $80 a bottle) is mostly made from corn. I could see this becoming a luxury product in short order. Especially with all of the varieties of corn available in Mexico.

kasey_junk 3y ago
I’ve never seen any marketing saying Nikka was made with anything other than commodity dent corn. I can’t find anything on the web about it either. Do you have a link?
tyingq 3y ago
Moonshine is just corn whiskey that hasn't been aged, isn't it?
- jfengel 3y ago
  Usually. Ideally, pot-distilled. But there isn't any legal standard of identity. It's just a marketing label. The pot-still corn liquor is supposed to taste like the illegally-made homebrew, but some products are basically just watered-down ethanol.