The Indians knew how to ferment various plants to make wines or beers, but they had no knowledge of distilling stronger spirits containing more than 3 or 4 percent alcohol.
The ancient Mexicans fermented Agave and Dasylirion plants to make pulque, which was a vitamin-rich drink. The Pima and Papago Indians made a cactus wine, while other Indians in the same area made beer from mesquite, screwbeans, maize, and even the cornstalk. Tribes along the Atlantic coast of North America made persimmon wine, which later attracted a strong following among the colonists.
Indians made at least forty alcoholic drinks from various fruits and plants, including palm, plum, pineapple, mamey, and sarsaparilla wines. The most exotic of all was a type of Mayan mead called balche made from the fermented honey of a stingless bee.
Despite all these alcoholic beverages, intoxication remained rare among Indians. They used alcohol as they did other drugs, in a primarily religious context. As an indication of just how seriously the Indian cultures took the religious use of such substances, the Aztecs executed any noble, student, or priest found to be publicly drunk. A commoner would be beaten for the first offense and then executed for the second.
