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Best Tejuino in San Francisco

“A cold, fermented corn drink thickened with unrefined cane sugar and finished with lime, salt, and ice.”

What the real thing tastes like

Tejuino is a cold, sugary fermented beverage made from corn and popularly consumed in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima, and Nayarit. Tejuino is usually made from corn dough, the same kind used for tortillas and tamales. The dough is mixed with water and piloncillo (cone-shaped unrefined cane sugar) and boiled until the liquid is very thick. The liquid is then allowed to ferment very slightly. The resulting drink is generally served cold, with lime juice, a pinch of salt and a scoop of shaved ice or lime sorbet. Although the drink is strongly associated with the state of Jalisco, it is also commonly found in other parts of Mexico and more recently in Mexican American communities across the Southwestern United States. In Mexico it is usually sold by street vendors in small plastic cups or in plastic bags tied around a straw. In the United States it can be found in Mexican juice bars.

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Tejuino arrives ice-cold and clouded with corn, a beverage that tastes like fermentation caught mid-whisper. Born from the same corn dough that becomes tortillas, it's thickened with piloncillo until syrupy, then left to sour just slightly—enough to add depth without sharpness. A squeeze of lime, a pinch of salt, a crown of shaved ice or lime sorbet: each element sharpens what the corn began.

Order it here when it has

strongly regional identity
cold and refreshing
simple ingredient base

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