Drinks Around the World That Most People Have Never Heard Of

Tej is a fermented honey wine produced in Ethiopia and Eritrea, flavored with the leaves and bark of the gesho plant (Rhamnus prinoides), a bitter buckthorn native to East Africa. The result sits somewhere between mead and a lightly hopped ale, with a golden color and a distinct herbal bitterness that balances the natural sweetness of honey. Tej is traditionally served in a flask-shaped vessel called a berele and is central to social gatherings and celebrations. Its alcohol content varies considerably depending on fermentation time, which is controlled by individual households rather than standardized production. The role of gesho — unavailable outside the region — is a large reason tej has remained culturally specific.

Chicha is a broad family of fermented beverages produced across South and Central America, with maize-based chicha morada being one of the most widespread. In its traditional form, chicha de jora is made from sprouted, dried corn and has been documented in Andean cultures for over a thousand years, predating European contact. Some regional variants were historically prepared by chewing and spitting the grain, as human salivary enzymes (amylase) assist the fermentation process. Today, most commercial production skips this step. Chicha remains a living tradition in parts of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, where small producers called chicheras continue to make it by hand. Notably, chicha served the Inca empire as both a sacred drink and a social currency.

Kvass is a lightly fermented beverage made from stale rye bread, common throughout Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic states, and parts of Central Asia. The fermentation produces only a very small amount of alcohol — typically under 1.5% — making it more similar to a non-alcoholic drink in practice. It has a tart, slightly sour flavor with earthy, bread-like notes. Kvass has been recorded in historical documents going back to medieval Kievan Rus. It was once drunk daily by people of all social classes as a safer alternative to water when clean water supplies were unreliable. Street vendors selling kvass from barrels are still a familiar sight in Russia and Ukraine during summer months. The process also connects to the same principles of preservation described in our guide to fermentation traditions across cultures.

Salep is a warm, thick beverage made from a powder derived from the dried tubers of wild orchids, particularly species of Orchis and related genera. The powder, called salep flour, contains a starchy compound called glucomannan that gives the drink its characteristic viscous, almost pudding-like texture when dissolved in hot milk with sugar and cinnamon. Salep was popular across the Ottoman Empire and is still widely drunk in Turkey and parts of the Middle East during winter. Because producing salep requires harvesting wild orchid tubers — which damages wild populations — several countries now restrict its export, and genuine salep has become expensive and difficult to find outside Turkey.

Pulque is produced from the fermented sap of the maguey plant (a type of agave), harvested in the central highlands of Mexico. Unlike tequila or mezcal, which are distilled from cooked agave, pulque is simply the fermented raw sap, giving it a milky, viscous appearance and a slightly sour, yeasty flavor. It has been consumed in Mesoamerica for at least two millennia and was depicted in pre-Columbian codices as a drink with ceremonial significance, regulated by strict cultural rules about who was permitted to consume it. Pulque ferments rapidly and does not travel well, which is a primary reason it remains largely unknown outside Mexico despite a recent revival in artisanal pulquerías (pulque bars) in cities like Mexico City.

Bandung is a sweet pink drink made from rose-flavored syrup stirred into evaporated or condensed milk, popular in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and parts of Indonesia. Despite its simple ingredient list, it is deeply embedded in the food culture of the region — available at hawker stalls, weddings, and festive markets. The drink takes its name from the city of Bandung in Indonesia, though its exact origins are debated. Its bright pink color and sweet floral flavor make it immediately recognizable, and it is especially popular during Ramadan. Bandung represents a category of beverages that are culturally central to everyday life yet nearly invisible in Western food media.

Boza is a mildly fermented beverage made from millet, wheat, or corn, consumed across the Balkans and parts of the Middle East and Central Asia. It has a thick, slightly acidic flavor with a subtle sweetness and is typically served cold or at room temperature, garnished with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas. Like kvass, boza has a very low alcohol content, making it acceptable across different cultural and religious contexts. It has been produced in the region for centuries; historical records suggest it was sold by street vendors in Istanbul as far back as the Ottoman era. In Turkey, the drink is most closely associated with winter months and itinerant vendors who once called out through city streets at night.

Amazake is a traditional Japanese beverage made from fermented rice, produced using either a koji mold fermentation process (similar to that used in sake production) or as a byproduct of sake brewing. The koji-based version contains little to no alcohol and has a naturally sweet, porridge-like consistency from the sugars produced during fermentation, making it popular as a warming drink in winter and at Shinto shrine festivals. It is also consumed as a restorative drink and given to children and the elderly — a point where cultural tradition and nutritional context intersect. For context on how sake's production relates to this process, our article on sake's brewing traditions provides useful background. Amazake's mild flavor and low alcohol profile give it a very different cultural role from its cousin sake.