tahona is a type of Mexican roller mill consisting of a large stone wheel fixed on a horizontal axle that is then pulled to rotate the wheel on a circular stone base. Mills similar to the tahona were used in ancient Greek and Roman times for the purpose of grinding grains, as well as in second century ce China for crushing the cinnabar used in vermillion pigment. This style of mill most likely did not come into use in Mexico until the seventeenth century with the arrival of the Spanish, who introduced beasts of burden and a type of mining procedure known as the patio process. The patio process increased silver extraction through fine grinding of ore in an arrastra, or drag mill, which consisted of a large irregular stone pulled around a fixed circular surface. Relatively primitive arrastras gave way to the more efficient wide-rimmed tahona.
Today the tahona is most familiar through its use in the production of tequila, mezcal, and other agave distillates. Many producers adopted tahonas to replace the labor-intensive process of crushing roasted agave by hand using large wooden mallets (although this procedure is still used to make a number of mezcals). Further technological advances led to even more efficient mechanical crushing methods; today very few horse- or tractor-drawn tahonas are used in tequila production. Tahonas are still common, however, throughout Oaxaca (where it is commonly known as a See agave; mezcal; and tequila. Lynch, A. J., and Chester A. Rowland. The History of Grinding. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, 2005. By: Misty Kalkofen A tahona (or a “molino,” as it is known in Oaxaca) at the palenque of Rogelio Martinez Cruz in Santa Maria Albarradas, Oaxaca. Courtesy of Del Maguey.
A tahona (or a “molino,” as it is known in Oaxaca) at the palenque of Rogelio Martinez Cruz in Santa Maria Albarradas, Oaxaca. Source: Courtesy of Del Maguey.