The Serranos are a very sociable people. In the towns they keep up a continual round of evening parties, in which singing and dancing are favorite amusements; but on these occasions they indulge in brandy-drinking to a terrible excess. As soon as a party is assembled, bottles and glasses are introduced, and each individual, ladies as well as gentlemen, drinks to the health of the company. For a party of thirty or more persons, not more than three or four glasses are brought in, so that one glass is passed repeatedly from hand to hand, and from mouth to mouth. The quantity of brandy drunk at one of the evening parties called in the Sierra _Jaranas_, is almost incredible. According to my observation, I should say that a bottle to each individual, ladies included, is a fair average estimate, the bottles being of the size of those used in Europe for claret. In the year 1839, whilst I was residing for a time in one of the largest towns of the Sierra, a ball was given in honor of the Chilian General Bulnes; on that occasion the brandy flowed in such quantities, that, when morning came, some members of the company were found lying on the floor of the ball-room in a state of intoxication. These facts naturally create an impression very unfavorable to the inhabitants of the Sierra; but a due allowance must be made for the want of education and the force of habit on the part of those who fall into these excesses. These people possess so many excellent moral qualities, that it would be unjust to condemn them solely on account of these orgies. The Serrano is far from being addicted to habitual drunkenness, notwithstanding his intemperate use of strong drinks amidst the excitement of company.
But if the vice of excessive drinking be occasionally indulged in among the better class of people of the Sierra, it is much more frequent among the Indian inhabitants. Every one of their often-recurring festivals is celebrated by a drinking bout, at which enormous quantities of brandy and chicha are consumed. In some districts of the Sierra the chicha is prepared in a peculiar and very disgusting manner by the Indians. Instead of crushing the _jora_ (dried maize-grain) between two stones, which is the usual method, the Indians bruise it with their teeth. For this purpose a group of men and women range themselves in a circle round a heap of _jora_; each gathers up a handful, chews it, and then ejects it from the mouth into a vessel allotted for its reception. This mass, after being boiled in water, and left to ferment, is the much admired _chicha mascada_ (that is to say, _chewed chicha_), the flavor of which is said to surpass that of the same beverage made in any other way. But they who have been eye-witnesses of the disgusting process, and who bear in mind various other preparations of Indian cookery in which the teeth perform a part, require some fortitude ere they yield to the pressing invitation of the hospitable Serrano, and taste the proffered nectar.