Nylsx: I recently wrote a longer version of the text below for another website, so I edited it slightly for here, hopefully it will be helpful for you:
The 1977
Harvard University Botanical Museum leaflet I mentioned previously identified the village of
San Andrés Huayapam [
Google Maps link], just outside of the city of
Oaxaca as being "unusual" due to having "some two dozen" trees of
Q.funebris growing in or near it, suggesting that this was an unusually high density of the species. A few pages later it mentioned that this was due to cultivation - and it seems done by individual homeowners/families in the area rather than a single commercial interest/organization. In fact, it said that
at that time there was no commercial growing of the species.
It stands to reason that most of the flowers harvested today are likely sold in larger quantities to the local
tejate vendors -
tejate being a frothy drink that's been drank in the area since ancient
Zapotec times, long before the Europeans arrived. It's made from water, roasted cocoa beans, milled corn, a local almond-like seed from the mamey sapote fruit, and of course the dried
rosita de cacao flower. The
rosita flowers are a key ingredient as the
mucilage in them is needed to create the froth, and it's this and its flavour (though apparently quite subtle) that sets
tejate apart from other cacao and corn-based drinks produced regionally elsewhere in Mexico.
Since 1999,
San Andrés Huayapam has held an annual
Tejate Fair ("
Feria del tejate"). Usually taking place in late March/early April, it brings together up to 120
tejate makers from neighbouring communities --all women-- to celebrate the drink and share it with locals and tourists alike. Some 12,000 litres of the drink are produced for the fair's 20-25,000 visitors. To make that much
tejate, a staggering 120 kilos of dried
rosita flowers are required!
Thanks to the popularity and growth of the fair, demand for
tejate has increased in recent times and is coming from further afield. To capitalize, after considering that the prepared drink doesn't keep well, that
rosita has limited availability, that the preparation of the drink from raw ingredients is a lengthy and rather involved process -
a group of local indigenous Zapotec women formed a company so that they could produce a packaged, dehydrated
tejate product that can be drank anywhere, any time. Production of the packaged product [
pictured here] started in 2009, and they were/are considering producing spin-off products such as
tejate cookies and nicuatole desert. I suppose that means there's even fewer dried
rosita flowers left to be taken outside of the area, but
the good news that comes of this is that there are now efforts underway by the company to preserve existing rosita trees in the area and to actually increase the number of trees through the start of nurseries owned/funded/operated by them.As there's no tejate without
rosita, and as San Andrés Huayapam is the self-appointed home of
tejate, if I was looking for
rosita I would look there first!
By the way, the most productive tree in the village in 1977 was a 50ft tall, 50ft wide tree said to be 120 years old, abundant in flower all year but especially productive from May-August (during their rainy season). The family who owned it made a modest living off it selling its flowers at the Oaxaca market every weekend.