Hacienda Xochuca

Hacienda San Diego Xochuca sits among maguey fields about 9 kilometers west of Tlaxco, at the foot of the rocky Peña del Rosario. For centuries the economy of northern Tlaxcala ran on pulque: the haciendas of these plains planted maguey by the thousands, fermented its sap and shipped the drink in barrels to Mexico City. Most of them stopped long ago. Xochuca is the one in Tlaxco municipality that still grows and works its own maguey using the traditional methods.

A visit is a lesson in how pulque is made. The tlachiqueros scrape the heart of each mature maguey and draw out the aguamiel, the sweet sap, which is carried to the tinacal, the fermentation hall, and left to work in large vats until it becomes pulque. Here you can see the whole process, from the fields to the vats, and then taste the result, plain or as a curado blended with fruit.

The main house, the tinacal and the surrounding fields give a good sense of what a pulque hacienda looked like when it was still running at full scale. The hacienda also hosts group meals and events and has offered lodging, so it pairs well with a day in Tlaxco or a hike on the Peña del Rosario.