Experiences · Food & Drink

Tej, tella & areki

Honey wine, home-brewed beer and a clear highland spirit — with azmari musicians improvising as you drink.

Ethiopia has brewed its own drinks for a very long time. On this evening you taste the three traditional ones — tej, tella and areki — and learn how each is made, ending in a traditional house where azmari musicians play.

Tej is Ethiopia's honey wine: honey and water fermented with gesho, a native buckthorn whose bitter leaves balance the sweetness, much as hops do in beer. It usually ferments for a couple of weeks and is served in a round-bottomed flask called a berele, typically at 7 to 11 per cent alcohol.

Tella is the everyday home brew — a cloudy beer made from grain such as barley and the same gesho, fermented for a few days. Areki is its strong cousin: a clear spirit distilled from a fermented grain mash, often between 30 and 50 per cent alcohol, and best treated with respect.

The evening ends in a tej house with azmari — poet-musicians who improvise verses on the one-stringed masenqo, often teasing the audience in rhyme. It is one of the liveliest nights out in the capital.

For guests aged 18 and over. Non-alcoholic tastings — including fresh fruit juices and spiced tea — are always available.

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