On a typical night out in Chicago, we saw a not so typical menu offering – tepache, courtesy of Proxi. At Imbibe, we have been watching the fermentation craze for years. The list of benefits and nutrients from fermented foods like sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, miso and gochujang includes aiding with digestive health via naturally occurring probiotics, b-vitamins, and omega-3s. This beverage made from fermented pineapple rind and peel is currently talked about much less than kombucha (#tepache has almost 9k posts on Instagram, while #kombucha has almost 875k), but we predict posts to increase as interest in fermented foods grows.

Other ingredients in this traditional Mexican beverage are brown sugar (or piloncillo, an unrefined brown sugar) and cinnamon and it’s traditionally served cold. Some RTD versions are alcoholic, but the fermentation often yields a low enough ABV that it’s considered non-alcoholic. Occasionally, it’s even blended with beer to up the alcohol content.

We recommend you keep an eye out for more tepache. In the meantime, here are some of our favorite #tepache pics from Instagram: