Terminology & process
Nochoctli, also known as Colonche, is an alcoholic red colored drink created for thousands of years by Indigenous Peoples in Mexico from tuna, the fruits of the “nopal” (Opuntia cacti), particularly tuna cardona, the fruits of Opuntia streptacantha. It’s made in states where nopal is plentiful such as Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas. It’s a frothy, sweet beverage. The cactus fruits are peeled and crushed to extract the juice, which is then cooked for 2-3 hours (optional). The juice is allowed to ferment for a few days after cooling. At times, old colonche is sometimes used. “Tibicos” is another probable starter since tibicos are yeast and bacterium gelatinous masses produced in water with brown sugar.
In Mexico, “colonche” (also known as coloche and nochoctli) refers to a collection of fermented beverages made from the fruits of various cactus species, which has yet to be thoroughly documented in the literature. Colonche is a term derived from the Spanish deformation of the Indigenous Nahuatl term nochoctli, which means “licor de tuna” or “prickly pear liquor” in English. Nochtli is a phrase for cactus fruits, while octli is a term for agave sap that has been fermented. This is a traditional drink that our ancestors have consumed since before contact.
Our drink Nochoctli (colonche) listed within Alonso de Molina’s “Aqui comiença un vocabulario en la lengua Castellana y Mexicana,” (1555) dictionary along with others like matzaoctli “vino de piña” (pineapple wine) which is probably tepache.
Brief History: types of cactus
Fresh or fermented cactus fruits are widely consumed by Indigenous peoples. In particular, colonche was (and still is) produced and consumed pre-contact times by our ancestors the Chichimeca. In the northern region of Mexico, particularly villages of the Tehuacán Valley, colonche is prepared with fruits of Opuntia and several columnar cacti species:
- Pachycereus weberi (Spanish: Cardón Espinoso, Candelabro, Chico)
- Escontria chiotilla (common names: Chiotilla, Jiotilla, Quiotilla)
- Stenocereus spp., and Polaskia (found in the Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca)
Additionally, other types of fermented cacti fruit juices have been recorded in other regions and were consumed by various Indigenous people from northern to southern Mexico.
In the Sonoran Desert and northwestern California, fruits, seeds, and ferments from saguaro, Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea), and cardón (or sometimes known as “Mexican giant cardon,”Pachycereus pringlei), is said to be consumed by Indigenous People such as the Tohono Oʼodham. Fruits from these cacti are crushed and squeezed for juice, then, the fruit juice is boiled and ultimately fermented resulting in the product. Although these wines do not receive the name of colonche, this beverage has been said to be similar. Nevertheless, not much has been written about this drink, and while it is still brewed in some places of Mexico, the custom of creating it is fading.
From “Dictionary, Papago/Pima – English, O’othham – Mil-gahn ; English – Papago/Pima, Mil-gahn – O’othham,” Tucson, Ariz. : University of Arizona Press (1983)
My family keep the tradition alive by cooking it ourselves.:
The video below show a family in Mexico that creates Colonche and shows the prickly pear being harvested.
Further reading:
- Harvesting the Fruit of the Prickly Pear, By Dodie Manuel,
- Más allá del pulque y el tepache (“Beyond pulque and tepache”), Teófilo Herrera Suárez, 2003
- Traditional management of microorganisms in fermented beverages from cactus fruits in Mexico: an ethnobiological approach, César I. Ojeda-Linares, Mariana Vallejo, Patricia Lappe-Oliveras, and Alejandro Casas, 2020
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