Chef Lupita
Agua de Alfalfa
Ciudad de México's highland market agua fresca, fresh alfalfa blended with pineapple and lime until bright green, strained clean, and poured cold from the vitrolero.
Culinary Explorer
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Mezcal Cupreata Michoacano
Created by
Michoacán's Agave cupreata mezcal, the maguey papalote of the sierra, sharpened with lime, softened with nurite and piloncillo, and finished with chile perón salt.
Beverages
Mexican
Special Occasion
Date Night
Celebration
20 min
Active Time
8 min cook•28 min total
Yield2 cocktails
Michoacán, from the highland sierra around Etúcuaro, Tzitzio, and the P'urhépecha lands near the Meseta, gives this drink its backbone: mezcal from Agave cupreata, called maguey papalote. This is not a neutral spirit hiding under fruit juice. Cupreata tastes of cooked agave, wet earth, green herbs, and smoke from the pit where the piñas were roasted. Respect that or make something else.
The syrup here uses piloncillo and nurite, a P'urhépecha herb with a minty, anise-like edge that grows in Michoacán's highlands. You do not drown the mezcal. You season it. Lime brings the line of acid, piloncillo rounds the heat, and chile perón salt on the rim gives the state its own voice. Cada estado, su propia cocina, even in the copita.
I learned to drink cupreata in small clay cups, not in tall glasses full of soda. The women serving food at the table would set out corundas, salsa, and a bottle from a local maestro mezcalero, and nobody made a performance of it. This cocktail keeps that discipline. No martini glass. No bar theater. Clay, agave, lime, chile, and enough restraint to let Michoacán speak.
Michoacán received Denominación de Origen recognition for mezcal in 2012, later than Oaxaca, even though distillation traditions in the state are centuries old and tied to rural communities in the central and southern highlands. Agave cupreata, known locally as maguey papalote, grows wild and semi-cultivated in parts of Michoacán and Guerrero, and its broad leaves give the plant the butterfly name. Traditional Michoacán mezcal is often cooked in earthen pits and may be distilled in wood and copper or clay systems depending on the community, a regional practice that separates it from the commercial image of mezcal as only Oaxacan.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Michoacán mezcal cupreata
Quantity
4 ounces
fresh lime juice
Quantity
1 ounce
nurite piloncillo syrup
Quantity
1 ounce
orange peel
Quantity
1 small strip
for expressing over the drinks
chile perón salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
for the rim
lime wedge
Quantity
1
for moistening the rim
ice
Quantity
as needed
for shaking
fresh chile perón slices (optional)
Quantity
2 thin slices
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Michoacán mezcal cupreata | 4 ounces |
| fresh lime juice | 1 ounce |
| nurite piloncillo syrup | 1 ounce |
| orange peelfor expressing over the drinks | 1 small strip |
| chile perón saltfor the rim | 1 teaspoon |
| lime wedgefor moistening the rim | 1 |
| icefor shaking | as needed |
| fresh chile perón slices (optional) | 2 thin slices |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan for the piloncillo syrup
- •Fine-mesh strainer
- •Cocktail shaker
- •Clay copitas, small jícaras, or Capula glazed earthenware cups
Instructions
- 1
Make the syrup
Combine 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup grated piloncillo, and 6 fresh nurite leaves in a small saucepan. Warm over low heat until the piloncillo dissolves, about 6 to 8 minutes. Do not boil it hard. Nurite turns harsh when bullied. Remove from the heat, cover, and steep 10 minutes. Strain and cool completely.
- 2
Prepare the salt
Mix 1 teaspoon fine sea salt with 1/2 teaspoon ground dried chile perón. If your chile perón is fresh, char one on a comal, dry it in a low oven, then grind it. That is work, yes. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo. Spread the salt on a small plate.
- 3
Rim the copitas
Run the lime wedge along only half the rim of two clay copitas or small jícaras. Dip the moistened side into the chile perón salt. Half the rim is enough. The drinker should decide when the chile enters the sip.
- 4
Shake the cocktail
Add the mezcal cupreata, lime juice, and cooled nurite piloncillo syrup to a shaker with ice. Shake hard for 8 to 10 seconds, just until the metal feels cold. You are chilling and tightening the drink, not beating the agave into silence.
- 5
Strain and finish
Strain into the prepared copitas. Express the orange peel over the surface and discard it. Add a thin slice of fresh chile perón only if it is in season and good. If the market does not have good chile perón today, leave it out. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
Chef Tips
- •Buy mezcal that says Michoacán and Agave cupreata or maguey papalote on the label. If the bottle hides the agave and the producer, leave it on the shelf.
- •Nurite is not peppermint. If you cannot find it, use a very small amount of fresh yerbabuena with one hoja santa leaf. That is a compromise, not the same drink.
- •Do not add orange soda, pineapple juice, or a pile of sugar. Cupreata has its own character. You paid for that character. Let it speak.
- •Serve this with corundas, uchepos, or a small plate of queso Cotija and toasted pumpkin seeds. Michoacán knows how to drink with food.
Advance Preparation
- •The nurite piloncillo syrup can be made 5 days ahead and kept refrigerated in a clean jar.
- •The chile perón salt can be made 1 week ahead and stored dry at room temperature.
- •Juice the lime right before shaking. Bottled lime juice is dead on arrival. Así se hace y punto.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 95g)
Calories
190 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
11 g
Protein
0 g
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