De La Calle’s Tepache came to be through a series of kismet and deep love for food, culture, and travel. Entrepreneur Alex Matthews was drawn to Mexico City through his passion for food, architecture, travel and design. After venturing away from the city’s more well known neighborhoods of Condesa, Roma, and Polanco, he found himself deep in the heart of the city’s produce and meat markets. There, his first encounter with Tepache left him nothing short of enchanted. Refreshing and flavorful, he was astonished to find there were hundreds and hundreds of variations of this ancient Mexican beverage that existed in the tepacherias and street food stalls throughout the city. Through friends and colleagues, Alex was introduced to Rafael Martin Del Campo, a native-born Mexican who had learned how to make Tepache from his grandmother, but also studied culinary arts and food science technology. Call it fate or destiny, but Rafael’s passion for fermentation and love of his cultural heritage made him the perfect partner in developing De La Calle’s proprietary large scale fermentation processes. Together, they studied every variation of Tepache they could get their hands on, working hard to adapt versions that would honor both the authenticity of this ancient drink but also celebrate the innovative nature of culinary arts. Our Tepache recipes marry together traditional and modern ingredients in a quest to create something that is deeply drinkable and happy to be healthy!