Balché is a mildly intoxicating beverage

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

 common among ancient and indigenous cultures in areas of what is now Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and upper Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

. Today the drink is still common among the Yucatec Maya, and is made from the bark of a leguminous tree (Lonchocarpus violaceus), which is soaked in honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...

 and water, and fermented. A closely related beverage, made from honey produced from the nectar of a species of morning glory

Morning glory

Morning glory is a common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose current taxonomy and systematics is in flux...

 (Turbina corymbosa), was called xtabentún

Xtabentún (liqueur)

Xtabentún is an anise liqueur made in Mexico's Yucatán region from anise seed, and fermented honey produced by bees from the nectar of xtabentún flowers. Rum is then added to the anise and honey mixture...

.

Manufacturing

From Katz's book: 'Ancient Mayan ceremonies involved a honey fermented called balché, which they used in enema form to maximize its inebriating effect. Perhaps because of this unfamiliar mode of consumption, their conquerors saw the devil lurking in balché, in order to "turn into snakes and worms that gnawed at the souls of the Maya." It was banned in the name of Christendom.'