1. Tequila was first distilled as a drink called pulque by Spanish conquistadors.

2. Produced from the sap of the maguey plant, pulque advocates say the drink has medicinal qualities. But they worry that beer and other beverages are pushing it aside.

3. Mexican plant used especially for making pulque the source of the colorless Mexican liquor mescal.

4. Men and women drank pulque, and there was perhaps melon water for the children.

5. "You can drink one or two, eat three or four tortillas and you have a meal. Pulque is very nourishing, " said Pablo Flores, a stout man with a passion for pulque.

6. It was a sacred liquid to the Aztecs and consumed for centuries in Mexico, but the traditional pulque drink seems to be fading in popularity.

7. Ana Pablo, who works as a dishwasher at a restaurant, said her brother was advised to take pulque for his diabetes.