Torito Veracruzano

History & Origin

Torito veracruzano is the drink that best reflects the festive, mixed-heritage soul of the port of Veracruz, that city where Africa, Europe and Mesoamerica met over three centuries to create a culture unique in Mexico. It is a deceptively simple drink - sugarcane spirit with milk and tropical fruits - that conceals remarkable historical and cultural depth. Sugarcane spirit (known as chinguirito or refino in Veracruz) was during the colonial period the drink of enslaved Africans and the working classes of the port, banned several times by the viceregal authorities who sought to protect the Spanish wine market. However, the clandestine distillation of sugar cane continued to be part of the Veracruz economic and social landscape, especially in the municipalities of the Huasteca and Los Tuxtlas, where colonial sugar mills created a tradition of artisanal distillates. Peanut - the main ingredient of the most classic torito - is native to South America and arrived in Mexico in pre-Hispanic times, becoming a fundamental crop in the Veracruz region. The combination of ground peanut with spirit and milk seems to have emerged in the port's cantinas of the 19th century as a festive drink for the port's stevedores and sailors, who needed something more substantial than beer to sustain the long hours of loading and unloading. Today toritos are made in dozens of flavours - peanut, sesame, soursop, mamey, coconut, guava, tamarind, walnut - and sold at street stalls along Veracruz's waterfront, in the main square and at markets throughout the state. Peanut torito is the most traditional and the favourite of more conservative Veracruz natives, whilst the tropical fruit versions are especially popular with visitors.