“Drink” in the alcoholic beverages sense. And “they” in the sense of Mexicans, not tourists.
I know they have beer (Coronas?) and tequila and I don’t think they are big on wine. And that’s where my knowledge ends. Given previous experience, I figure an outsider’s view from exported Mexican stuff is probably not the most accurate.
(And yes everybody is different and you can’t generalize but countries do tend to have a specific drinking culture. Germans like beer and Italians like wine and such.)
Beer is very popular. Modelo seemed to be extremely popular in central Mexico (Mexico City & Puebla, the only areas I’ve been in). I was in several bars, none catering to tourists. Tequila, mezcal and rum are popular. People also just drink the same set of mixed drinks you’d see in the US.
Brandy. President brand and others of the same, nasty calibre. I’ve never, ever seen such a density of beer stores as I have in Sonora, but it’s reguarly over 100° for much of the year. Tequila is pretty universal, as is regional mezcal (bacanora in the aforementioned Sonora). Rum and coke is popular. Polomas (Squirt or Fresca and tequila) get a lot of mileage.
It really depends on the social level, too. Everyone drinks beer. Most of the poor don’t drink tequila (but will have cheap mezcals). The middle class and wealthy generally drink what we do in the States as far as “normal” or “popular” drinks.
Mexico has decidedly “upper-class” drinks and “lower-class” drinks. When we’re down there, we see a lot of the wealthier Mexicans drinking brandy and good tequilas. The poorer folks there are just like the poorer folks in the U.S.: they drink a lot of cheap beer.
Liquids, I am told. 
One of the things they drink is tamarind flavored soda.
I love the stuff.
But I have learned recently that some brands are banned in the US for having high levels of heavy metals.
Apparently it’s due to pollution near the tamarind growing areas.
Pulque is a extremely cheap alcoholic beverage that is native to Mexico and fairly popular with the natives. Pulque is the fermented “sap” or nectar of the maguey plant (agave) and is often available at special stands called Pulqerias. I hear it is fairly potent but its texture and color is hard to stomach for the uninitiated, as it is very viscous and slimy in consistency and milky white. I also understand it is considered to have aphrodisiacal properties.
‘Don’t drink the water.’ First: Why do people say that? Second: Don’t the locals drink it? Third: These people not drinking the water… Do they use ice in their drinks?
The water, due to generally less-effective or non-existant water treatment (mainly from open-water sources like rivers) may be contaminated with something like giardia (which is why you can’t drink from many open water sources in the West without treating the water first.) You can become used to them, but you’ll get rather nasty runs for a while, to the point where you’ll have to be drinking an awful lot of water to keep hydrated. So, yeah, of course the locals drink it, but they don’t have symptoms, even if they carry the parasite(s). Ice would have the same problem unless the freezing actually kills the parasite, which isn’t a given.
Generally speaking, tap water isn’t consumed. Even in cities where it is deemed safe, the delivery systems are inadequate and lead to contamination. Purified water is abundant and home delivery is quite competitive and very lucrative. Generally sold in 19 liter garafones and prices range between 8 and 23 pesos. Large soft drink companies such as Pepsi (Santorini), CocaCola (Ciel) are among the suppliers. Most ice plants making ice cubes for public consumption have their own purifying systems.
Adding to what CBEscapee said, almost any ubanized area in Mexico has chlorinated, florinated, treated, potable drinking water supplied by the municipality. However there are a lot of water shortages either due to lack of water (rationing or rotating availability) or unplanned service interruptions. Therefore it’s common to have massive water storage tanks of several hundred gallons if you’re wealty-ish and have a large home/tract, and almost universal to have a 400 to 1000 litre cistern (these are often government subsidized) called a tinaco.
*I remember watching Judge Wapner years ago where he was stupid and the defendant lost because the defendant had the nerve to put chlorine bleach in the renter’s well at the behest of a professional well-person! It wasn’t quantities that he was concerned about; it was the fact that it was this harsh substance!
Where I was, which was around Santiago de Querétaro, Tequila was common, and in nicer restaurants, you had a very good selection. Beer was common as well, and Sol seemed to be the big seller (or at least the cheapest brand). In the clubs, you could get just about any type of alcohols that you had in the US. They also had an interesting set-up for one of the nicer clubs there. If you were with friends, and you wanted a table at the main floor, you purchased a bottle of liquor (Brandy seemed popular). If you just had a glass of whatever drink, they sat you ont he periphery, away from the mainf loor.
When I was in one of the smaller towns, Tequila was served. I remember they were very surprised I liked tequila straight without any mixers (maybe they thought Americans didn’t like it by itself?) I didn’t see much beer being consumed unless you were with the guys at a local bar.
As for other drinks, since this was brought up, by far, Coca Cola was the main company which sold soft drinks. I actually drank either beer or soft drinks or bottled water since I didn’t trust the tap water (even though the town had a water processing facility). One of the best was a very nice apple flavored soft drink. There were also other flavors. Coca Cola was well known of course. Jarritos was also a commons oft drink (Pineapple is the best).
They would also make fresh fruit drinks, but these were made from fruit blended with water (in this case, melon), and since I wasn’t sure if they used bottled or tap, I’d always refuse them (politely, my hosts understood).
My only real travels in Mexico happened on a high school trip with my Spanish class, so the alcohol consuption was limited at best. We drove around the Yucatan for about 9 days. Merida, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Tulum, etc.
We eventually talked the more outgoing exchange student in the group to try and “score” some cheap American wine from a small store near the coastal villas where we were staying. I think we each got a maybe mouthfull with the quantity he brought back, but I digress…
The non-alcoholic blended fruit drinks that we favored were called “Congas”, I believe, and we would always ask that they be made with bottled water. Not sure if they were always made as requested, but no one got sick.
Sweet or savory beer cocktails are also popular in Mexico.Micheladas and Frutadas (beer with pineapple and sugar) are traditional favorites.
Also, the traditional chaser for tequila in Mexico is Sangrita; a savory, sweet and/or spicy mixer.
Reporting back after my trip to Mexico: they drink beer and tequila and Coke (coca).
Beer: Sol and Dos Equis (regular and Ambar) were everywhere and very cheap. 20 pesos a bottle, around $2. The deeper into the country, the cheaper it gets, and they sell it cold everywhere. Corona was not popular outside of the touristy areas of Cancun and Playa del Carmen. And you have to ask if you want limes (limon), although everyone has them.
Tequila: Everywhere, both as shots and as margaritas.
Coke: In a returnable glass bottle! It was so awesome. Or in a typical 20 ounce plastic bottle, but cheaper than the US.
And everything else we have in the US, like other sodas and mixed drinks and flavored water. Weird flavors of stuff though. Wine was almost non-existent though.
It’s not available in all of Mexico (more in the north than in the south), but many Mexicans find the “Bohemia” brand of beer to be among the best – and I’d agree.
Most states and regions have their special liquor. Oaxacans have their mezcal, for example. Often it’s a variation of cane liquor – “charanda” in Michoacan, for example. Then there are the regional varieties of strong, home-distilled cane liquor – for example, “chingere” in the mountains of northern Oaxaca state.
As for non-alcoholic beferages, there are regional brands of flavored fizzy water, generically called “refrescos” or just “chescos”. Many taco stands and cheap restaurants will have two or three of the following: “Jamaica”, which is a cherry-ish juice made by soaking a dry hibiscus flower; “horchata”, which is a sort of creamy sweet drink made from powdered rice, almonds, and cinnamon; and “tamarindo”, a tart, brwon drink from the leguminous tamarind tree.
A “chelada” is beer and lime juice (like a shandy, I guess), while a “michelada” is beer, lime juice, salted chili powder, and worcestershire sauce (sounds weird, but Mexicans like to combine spicy with sweet and tart).
Thank you! This was one of the mysterious flavors I couldn’t figure out. It was just weird and not particuarly pleasant.
(Although I loved the Doritos Incognita.)
AT least among the working/labor class Mexicans who make it to Denver, Tecate seems to be the over-whelming beer of choice.
Generally, as far as I could work out, alot ot Teqillia and Mescal. Ranging from posh expensive stuff like that that gets exported to the states, and the cheap bottom shelf stuff that appears to to have been brewed in a milk bottle (mmm tasty I remember it well )…
One big difference I noticed (I actually travelled a bit in Mexico before coming to the states where I now live) is in how they make Margaritas. It took me ages to work out why all Margaritas tasted so bad in the states, here they add this “sweet and sour” crap so it tastes like a frekin’ slurpy. A proper Margarita should be just Tequila, Tiple-sec, and lime.
Is Pacifico mostly for the tourist/export trade like Corona, or does anybody down there actually drink it?