On the eve of hiking Guatemala’s third highest peak, Acatenango, I found myself at a bar asking some backpackers for advice. The group laughed, their advice was not to go to the bar the night before a hike, but one woman earnestly warned, “Bring a hat and wear layers. It’s cold up there.”
I had chosen, like many backpackers, to forgo a comfortable night in one of Antigua’s affordable hostels to sleep on the side of this nearby volcano. The attraction is not so much the hike up the black, igneous slopes, but the view. At night, you can look across the valley at Volcán de Fuego, an active volcano, and watch glowing, red lava spew into the black Guatemalan sky. Fireworks.
Twenty-four hours later, I am huddled around a fire with five other backpackers shivering with regret at not having packed more clothes, warmer clothes, anything to keep my blood hot through the night. The wind whips across the tree-bare slope drowning out conversation as we glance from our sputtering campfire over to the distant hell of Fuego’s bursting red peak. Echoes of eruptions reverberate across the valley like a thunderous belly laugh—Fuego mocking the gringo for his stupidity.
One of my fellow hikers, an Austrian, breaks the ice. He holds a bottle the size of his hand. We recognize it immediately. Quetzalteca.
Anyone who has traveled in Guatemala knows Quetzalteca. It is ubiquitous, cheap, and strong. With a traditionally dressed indigenous woman welcoming you on its logo, Quetzalteca acts as Guatemala’s unofficial national drink.
The largest distillery in Guatemala (owner of Zacapa and Botran Rum for those familiar with Guatemalan rums) distills Quetzalteca from cane sugar and bottles it at 36 ABV. In Latin America, this proof distinguishes Quetzalteca as aguardiente, a general term in Spanish for liquor distilled from fruit or cane sugar, which translates as agua-water and ardiente-burning. At less than 2 USD a bottle, my backpacker’s budget had familiarized me with the sharp, sweet burning and the head-swimming warmth that makes Quetzalteca famous.
We pass the bottle around the fire, swigging happily and reveling in the burning sensation that the liquor gives the throat. Soon, we are laughing at the wind and our bodies warm up to the idea of sleeping on the side of this volcano. We look from the fiery peak of Fuego to the clear bottle glimmering red in our campfire. Between the six of us, we finish two little bottles. I turn my back to the eruptions of Fuego. My head pulsating from aguardiente, fire water, I crawl into my tent.
If you ever hike Acatenango, or any mountain in Guatemala, pack a hat—and a little bottle of Quetzalteca.
In several sections of the Old Testament, a unique practice of the Israelites is mentioned-shouting accompanied the stomping of grapes. This so called “vintage-shout” is described in various ways. The shout was sometimes violent, accentuating the damage done to grapes. Usually, it was joyous, celebrating the fruit of many months of labor. In the Holy Land, the wine making process was loud.
Did Boston invent iced coffee? The city can claim credit for pushing coffee as an American drink. Also, Frederic Tudor of Boston was the first man to commercialize the ice trade on a global scale. He sold almost exclusively to coffee shops. Now more than ever, Boston identifies itself with the cold drink.
In Garifuna communities, a type of medicinal rum is produced called guifity. The beverage is produced by soaking over a dozen herbs, roots, barks, and leaves into clear spirits for weeks at a time. While the drink is traditionally a medicine in the Garifuna community, it has gained wider appreciation throughout Honduras.
Horchata is one of Mexico’s favorite refreshments. People make it at home and buy it from street vendors in any major town. The drink is traditionally made from either rice or almonds. In Oaxaca, one family has made a name for themselves selling the drink. They have been in the drinks business for over 100 years.
