NOCHTLI (prickly pear golden ale - 5% abv): water, barley malt, prickly pear, lemon balm, hops, yeast.
The name of this beer, Nochtli, is the word in Nahuatl for prickly pear. It is the fruit of Nopal, a cactus that Mexico has adopted as a national symbol. The legend says that the god of the sun, Huitzilopochtli, ordered the Aztecs to settle and build their empire wherever they found an eagle poised on a nopal devouring a rattlesnake. Thus it was that on a little island in the middle of the ancient lake that now sits beneath Mexico City where the ancient Great Tenochtitlan was founded.
Prickly pear provides about a quarter of the fermentable sugars in this beer. It is grown in Morelos, a state with tropical climate contiguous to Mexico City. It provides the beer with a refreshing cucumber like aftertaste that is distinctive of this ingredient. Since prehispanic times, a form of prickly pear wine called Caloncho has been prepared by crushing and fermenting the fruit mixed with herbs and spices. Just as our Nochtli, it is a seasonal drink since prickly pear is only available from the months of July to October.
Lemon balm provides a subtle sweet minty citrus hint that together with the prickly pear aftertaste gives the beer a thoroughly thirst quenching quality. It is grown in Xochimilco, a region of Mexico City which holds the little that is left off the Texcoco lake system that used to surround the Great Tenochtitlan.
