Drinking in Zambia: Local alcohol

Zambia  Drinking  Local alcohol

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Zambia
Distilling kachasu

The locals' drink of choice is masese (muh-SE-say) or ucwala (uch-WALA), also known as Chibuku after the biggest brand, made from maize, millet, or cassava and resembling sour porridge in texture and taste. If you want to try this, it's best to look out for the factory-made kind in milk-carton-like containers.

In rural areas, there are opportunities to drink local "homebrews." A wide variety of homebrews exist in Zambia, from beers made from honey (in the Southern province of the country), to wine made from tea leaves (in the Eastern portion of the country).

Finally, there is kachasu (cuh-CHA-suh) a spirit distilled from anything Zambians can get their hands on — including battery acid and fertilizer. For obvious reasons, therefore, it is better to avoid this moonshine.

On a final note, most men at bars are relaxing, while many women at bars are working. Therefore, if you are a single woman in a Zambian bar, be aware that you might be approached and offered the opportunity to do something you did not intend to do.

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Zambia: Drinking: Local alcohol is based on work by Stefan Ertmann, Hans Hillewaert, Burmesedays, ChubbyWimbus, Kopa, Tatatabot, AHeneen, iGuide, and others. Zambia Travel Guide & Zambia Interactive Map is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0. See background image credits.