TEJUINO: Most Unique Fermented Drink You’ve Never Heard Of

This is the most interesting drink you've likely never heard of. Part savory, part sweet, with a kick of fermented funkiness. Hailing from the streets of Mexico and like its cousin tapache, it only takes a few simple ingredients to go from meh to amazing. This is Tijuana, the delicious fermented corn drink. And if you enjoy unique fermentations like me, then stick around while I show you just how easy it is to make. And then stick around to the end where I put my own spin on it to make a fun cocktail that you absolutely have to try. As I hinted at, Tijuana is a lot like tapache in that it's a fermented Mexican drink commonly found at street vendors. And if you haven't seen my tapache video or tried it before, then be sure to check out my video. One of my most popular uploads and it's one of the best fermented drinks in the world. But today we're talking about Tijuana, which before the summer I'd never really heard of. But now that I've discovered it, I'm noticing it everywhere. Tijuana has a long history. The ancient Nahua people of Mexico considered it the drink of gods. The word Tijuana comes from the Nahuatl word tecuini, which roughly translates to for a fire to flare up or for one hearts to pound. Which makes sense due to this drink's ability to invigorate thanks to its ingredients and fermented quality. Speaking of which, you're probably wondering what's actually in Tijuana. Well, it can be broken down to a few main ingredients. Corn, usually in the form of masa or maize dough. You know, the same stuff that you would use to make tortillas. Piloncillo, which is a cone of pressed unrefined cane sugar, sometimes also called Mexican brown sugar or panela. And it's also one of the main ingredients in tapache. Lime to add a good zip and base acidity. And water. From there, you can always add other things to your taste, especially if you like it spicy. Toss in some tajin. But with those base ingredients and the help of our wonderful friend fermentation, you're left with a super interesting sweet and sour corn drink. Which to some may sound odd, but it's unbelievably refreshing and perfect for a hot summer day. I found a spot near me that sold some before trying it out myself. And at first, I was a bit taken back by the sourness and the savory corn flavor. But I found myself going back to it and craving more and more. There's just something about it that keeps me sipping. And typically, this drink has about one to two percent alcohol. That can be tweaked more or less depending on how much water you use. All right, enough background. Let's jump in and start making it as it takes a few days to ferment. Real quick, I want to shout out My Slice of Mexico for the recipe inspiration. I'll mainly be following the recipe, but making a few tweaks. There are many ways to make Tujino, but I found the ratios in this recipe to be to my liking. And for most Tujino recipes, it actually starts with a concentration fermentation. Sounds fun, right? And then later, you can dilute to your taste preference. The base of Tujino is masa or corn flour. You don't have to get fancy here. Whatever your grocery store has got. Today, I'm just using the cheap stuff because it's what I got and it's what I like to use for tacos. For the piloncillo, which provides the sugars that drive fermentation, if you can't find this at your store, you can totally just use brown sugar. One cone is equal to roughly one cup of brown sugar. And before you ask, no, you cannot use anything like monk fruit or sweeteners, but any real fermentable sugars will work. The batch that I'm making has about five to six servings, but feel free to scale this up or down to your preference. If you're unsure about it and just want to try a personal sample, try having the recipe for the first time. To start, bring three cups of water to a boil in a stockpot. Ideally, use bottled water or filtered water, because sometimes tap water is treated by your city and that can have things in it like chloramine, which can prevent fermentation from happening. While that heats up, add one cup of masa to four cups of water and mix. It might take a minute to come together, but keep mixing until you have a nice slurry and set it aside. Once the water is to a boil, cut the heat and add in one piloncillo to dissolve. Then slowly pour in the masa slurry. Turn back on the heat to medium and stir to prevent any scorching as it comes up to a low simmer. After about 15 minutes, it should start to thicken up, at which point you can cut the heat and let it cool down. Depending on your ingredients, your mixture might be a little darker or lighter. The last step is to add some lime juice, and don't be shy here. We need the acidity from the lime to prevent any bad bacteria from taking over. In fact, the first time I brewed this, I only added a couple tablespoons of lime and it ended up getting moldy. Yuck. If you see anything green, black, or fuzzy, toss it immediately and sterilize the container before giving it another go. The next time around, I think I used three large limes, and it's also good to use a bunch because it'll be a major flavor in the final product. Now we need something to ferment it. Traditionally, this is either a clay or ceramic pot, so if you got a fermentation crock, that would be perfect. I don't have one yet, still on the thrifting search for a good one. So I'm just going to use this glass mason jar. There was a little bit more, so I put some in a plastic takeout container. The benefit of both these options is that we can keep a close eye on fermentation. Cover the top with a cheesecloth or napkin and a rubber band. This will keep any bugs out and will allow the fermentation to breathe a bit as fermentation releases CO2 naturally. Plus, the air transfer is actually how this fermentation works. Since we cooked the ingredients, most of the microorganisms that would be left to ferment the sugars into probiotics or alcohol have been killed off. So like kvass, which I recently did a video on, it requires some access to oxygen and airborne microorganisms in order to ferment properly. So no sealing this one up. Place it somewhere with stable temperature and out of direct sunlight. The warmer your area is, the faster it will ferment. After two days, take a look. Unlike other fermentations, Tijuana doesn't really get bubbly, so it can be hard to tell visually if it's fermented. But that's where the sniff test comes into play. It should have a slight funky scent, but the top should also become more solid, almost gel-like. Give it a shake and it should jiggle a bit. At this point, it might be good to go. But if you like it more funky, then let it ferment another two days. If for some reason you're noticing no fermentation activity, you can always try inoculating the batch with some splash of other lactobacillus fermentation, like sauerkraut juice, kvass, or even homemade kombucha. That should give it the kick in the pants it needs. All right, but now that it's fermented, let's make the drinkable version of Tijuana. And for that, you just need to take one cup of the concentrate and mix it with a half cup of cold water. Then add some ice, the juice of a lime, and a pinch of salt. The street vendors near me actually keep the concentration in milk jugs and make it fresh for you, shaking the mixture between two cups. But a cocktail shaker works great for this. Lastly, pour into a glass with some fresh ice and enjoy. If you find the taste to be too strong, you can always use less concentrate. Or not strong enough, use more. Toss a loose lid on the unused concentrate and then put it in your fridge, and it should stay good for about a week. And if you're looking for a spicy kick, go ahead and add a rim of tajin to that glass. Some places I went to would sub out the fresh lime juice for lime sorbet, which is a phenomenal idea. Although it can be kind of hard to find lime sorbet, I know I had issues finding it, but these lime ice pops work as a good replacement. Really cools you down if you're in those dog days of summer. And here it is. Let's give it a taste and see what it's like. To me, this is like the perfect triangle of savory, sweet, and sour. And it just, like, works. The immediate flavor I'm getting is lime. It has this great zest and brightness that really makes this super thirst-quenching. And the corn adds a nice mouthfeel, almost creaminess to this, which just perfectly pairs with that lime, and it makes it just so drinkable. This really is, like, one of the most unique drinks I've ever had, and I'm super glad that I finally tried it and now I've made it. And by the way, the tajin with the lime popsicle is absolutely the way to go. It's so good. So if you're looking for something super different and interesting to make as the summer is coming to an end, give Tohino a try. But if you want to turn it up a notch and make it boozy, let's turn it into a cocktail. Nice. How about a frozen Tohino margarita? Grab a blender and drop in two ounces of tequila, four ounces of that Tohino concentrate, one lime icicle, Sam's wooden stick, and a handful of ice. Blend until smooth, then prep the rim of your glass with some lime and dip it into salt or tajin. I personally like the heat. Pour and enjoy. The cocktail is fantastic, and it's almost like taking Tohino to another level. You gotta make this, and you gotta let me know if you make Tohino. And if you're looking for more interesting fermentations, then why not check out this playlist? I got a whole bunch of them. Cheers and happy brewing.