Pal' Alma Café y Cardamomo Destilado de Agave – 136 Proof (68% ABV) | 750ml

Exceptionally powerful, highly artisanal, and produced on an extraordinarily small scale, Pal' Alma Café y Cardamomo Destilado de Agave is made in Puebla, Mexico, by Maestro Asunción Matilde Vargas from Espadilla agave. This distinctive expression incorporates café (coffee) and cardamomo (cardamom) during distillation, adding aromatic roasted and botanical elements to the traditional agave distillate. Bottled at an extraordinary 68% ABV (136 proof), this release comes from a batch of only 36 bottles.

Process & Production

Pal' Alma Café y Cardamomo is produced in the state of Puebla, Mexico, by Maestro Asunción Matilde Vargas using Espadilla agave.

The agave is traditionally cooked in a conical earthen pit oven built into the ground, translated from “horno cónico de tierra al piso.”

After cooking, the agave is processed using a ground-level canoe-style trough and an axe (“canoa de tierra y hacha”), maintaining a highly manual approach to preparing the cooked agave for fermentation.

Fermentation occurs naturally with wild yeasts in a ground-level stone fermentation vessel, translated from “levaduras silvestres en pila de piedra al piso.” The production process uses both natural spring water (manantial) and well water (pozo).

The fermented agave then undergoes double distillation in a traditional clay pot still fitted with a palo blanco wood component. For this expression, coffee and cardamom are incorporated during the distillation process, giving the spirit its distinctive aromatic identity.

The finished destilado is bottled at an exceptionally high 68% ABV (136 proof).

Appearance

Crystal clear and brilliant, with its unaged presentation keeping the focus on the Espadilla agave, wild fermentation, clay-pot distillation, and the coffee and cardamom incorporated during production.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Concentrated cooked agave accompanied by roasted, earthy, and aromatic character, with herbal spice, minerals, and fermentation-driven complexity.

Palate: Powerful and intensely structured, with roasted agave, earth, minerals, and spice complemented by the distinctive character of coffee and cardamom. The exceptionally high 136-proof bottling strength provides considerable warmth and concentration.

Finish: Exceptionally long and warming, with lingering cooked agave, roasted character, earth, minerals, and aromatic spice.

What Makes It Special

The defining feature of Pal' Alma Café y Cardamomo is the incorporation of coffee and cardamom during double distillation.

Café translates directly to coffee, while cardamomo translates to cardamom, an intensely aromatic spice. Rather than simply flavoring the finished spirit, these ingredients are incorporated as part of the distillation process.

The underlying production is equally distinctive. Espadilla agave is cooked underground in a conical earthen oven, manually processed using an axe and canoe-style trough, naturally fermented with wild yeasts in stone, and double distilled in a clay pot still with palo blanco wood.

Its bottling strength is particularly remarkable. At 68% ABV (136 proof), this is an exceptionally high-proof agave distillate, preserving tremendous concentration and intensity.

Production is also extraordinarily small, with this particular batch consisting of only 36 bottles.

How to Enjoy

Best approached neat in a copita or traditional agave-spirit tasting glass and in small pours. At 136 proof, allowing the spirit ample time to rest after pouring can help its aromas open before tasting.

Slow tasting allows the Espadilla agave, wild-fermentation character, minerals, roasted coffee influence, and aromatic cardamom to develop gradually.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the alcohol content of Pal' Alma Café y Cardamomo?
It is bottled at 68% ABV (136 proof).

What type of agave is used?
This expression is produced from Espadilla agave.

Who is the master distiller?
The master distiller is Asunción Matilde Vargas.

Where is Pal' Alma Café y Cardamomo produced?
It is produced in the state of Puebla, Mexico.

What does “Café y Cardamomo” mean?
It translates to “Coffee and Cardamom.” These ingredients are incorporated during the distillation process.

How is the agave cooked?
The production information describes a conical earthen pit oven built into the ground.

How is the cooked agave processed?
It is processed using a canoe-style trough and axe.

How is it fermented?
It undergoes natural fermentation with wild yeasts in a ground-level stone vessel.

What type of water is used?
The production process uses both natural spring water and well water.

How is Pal' Alma Café y Cardamomo distilled?
It undergoes double distillation in a clay pot still with a palo blanco wood component, with coffee and cardamom incorporated during the process.

How limited is this release?
This particular batch consists of only 36 bottles.

What is the bottle size?
This expression comes in a 750ml bottle.

Pricing & Availability

This listing includes one 750ml bottle of Pal' Alma Café y Cardamomo Destilado de Agave, produced from Espadilla agave by Maestro Asunción Matilde Vargas in Puebla and bottled at an extraordinary 136 proof (68% ABV) as part of a batch of only 36 bottles. Available now on our website while supplies last.

Brand Story

Pal' Alma focuses on traditional Mexican agave distillates that preserve the identities of individual maestros, regional agaves, ingredients, and highly localized production techniques. Each small-batch release documents a particular production and the methods behind it rather than attempting to create a standardized house style.

Café y Cardamomo is a particularly distinctive example of that philosophy. Maestro Asunción Matilde Vargas combines Espadilla agave with underground earthen cooking, manual axe processing, wild fermentation in stone, and traditional clay-pot distillation in Puebla. The incorporation of coffee and cardamom during distillation, combined with its extraordinary 136-proof strength and a production of just 36 bottles, gives this release a highly individual identity.