The Official Drink of Carnaval

By the time we reached Luvina [Debiina'], the party had already started. There was a fenced off area that was set up in front of the agencia [yuulagwi'], and people were already there in costume, dancing:

First Day of Carnaval in Luvina 2009

We watched for a little while, and then we were invited upstairs to visit with some members of the cabildo. We were offered sodas and/or beer while we visited with them. Of course, alcohol is an important part of Carnaval with lots of beer and mezcal consumption, but the traditional drink of Carnaval is tepache [nuppi'] or [nuppi' yattsi]. It’s an alcoholic drink made from pulque [nuppi' sittsi], the liquid from the center of the maguey plant [tu'a].

After we had finished our sodas and beer, they brought in some tepache for us. It’s a brownish yellow color (hence the name nuppi’ yattsi, yattsi is the word for yellow), fairly sweet, and stronger than I had thought. It’s offered for free during Carnaval to revelers and spectators alike (and the cabildo assured us they had enough for the 5 days of Carnaval in Luvina). So with that, why not dance a little?

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