Seeing things in full color

Growing up in the US in an immigrant household was unique to say the least. My parents brought me here when I was 1 so I grew up only knowing Mexico through photos. Most of those photos were in black and white. I knew of Mexico and my family only through these photos and through stories for the first 6 years of my life. 

There are a lot of Mexican influences in San Antonio though. Fiesta in April was always fun - going to Market Square and hearing the music. Accordions and trumpets, gorditas and tacos flowing, and various colors of papel picado adorning the skies above me. Those memories are so vivid of the beauty of the city I considered home. But I knew that there was another place that my family also considered home. 

My parents didn't really tell me the first time we were going to Mexico. I just remember loading our car and starting to drive. We left home in the evening and met up with my uncle in Laredo. I fell asleep with the mountains and dark sky above me and thinking "Where are we?" I still saw Mexico in black and white mostly because it was night time.

When I woke up, we were heading through small towns that are just north of Mexico City. I started to see the vibrancy of the people carrying their groceries, eating food from corner vendors. And then all of a sudden, we were in traffic coming into one of the largest cities in the world. 

We arrived with my family and they were instantly emotional. My great aunt, who raised my mom, fell to her knees crying. They had not seen us in 5 years but I was really just taking this all in for the first time. These people who were mythical in my mind and only black and white suddenly had color. They suddenly were real.

I remember our first priority was to go to "el mercado" for food. We were going to celebrate. My dad saw a stand and his eyes lit up. He exclaimed "TEPACHE!!"

"What is Tepache" I remember thinking. They sold it by the "litro" and in a bag with a straw. My dad asked me if I wanted some. I never hesitated to try something as a kid (except beans - I wasn't a fan of beans back then). I took a sip and remembered my mouth loving the taste I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was but it was sweet, had a slight carbonation, and a spice flavor that was amazing. Going through the market, visiting the basilica, the pyramids of Teotihuacan, I now saw Mexico in its full vibrancy and "in color"

Tepache was something that I looked forward to everytime we visited Mexico. My dad loved it and I loved it. However, I would tell people about it here and no one know what it was. Thats part of the reason we started Puro Tepache. We want to introduce people to a beautiful product and we want Mexican-Americans who haven't tried Tepache to know that there are products that they can connect with and discover on their own. We hope you love our product and know that it is made with the full passion and love that I felt when I first visited Mexico. 

Salud!!

-Emmanuel Casasola