Tongba, Chhyang and Raksi: Nepal's Traditional Drinks

Long before bottled beer reached Nepal, households across the hills and mountains brewed and distilled their own alcohol from millet, rice, barley and maize. They still do. These drinks are bound up with hospitality, festivals and ritual in many communities, and trying them is part of understanding the country's food culture.

Tongba: the warm one

Tongba comes from the Limbu people of the far eastern hills and is now found wherever people from the east and from Tibetan-influenced communities have settled.

What it is. Whole millet grains are cooked, mixed with a starter culture, and left to ferment for weeks or months. The fermented grain, called jaand, is then packed into a tall cylindrical vessel, traditionally of wood or bamboo with brass bands, now often aluminium.

How it is served. You are given the vessel full of grain, a flask of hot water and a thin bamboo or metal straw with a filter at the bottom. Pour hot water over the millet, wait a few minutes for it to steep, then sip. When the liquid is gone, top it up again. One serving of grain lasts three or four refills, getting weaker each time.

What it tastes like. Warm, mildly sour and yeasty, a little like a light, tart sake. The alcohol content is low, though it creeps up on you because you drink it slowly over an hour or more.

It is a cold-weather drink, ideal on a chilly evening.

Chhyang: the cloudy one

Chhyang, also written chang or chyang, is a milky-white beer made by fermenting cooked rice, millet or barley and then straining the mash with water.

How it is served. In bowls, glasses or brass cups, cool or at room temperature.

What it tastes like. Slightly fizzy, sweet-sour and refreshing, with a body like thin yoghurt drink. Strength varies widely from one batch to another.

It is the everyday brew of many hill and mountain communities, including Sherpa, Tamang, Gurung and Newar households, and is offered to deities and guests alike. In Sherpa and Tibetan homes, custom calls for the host to refill your cup at least three times.

Raksi: the strong one

Raksi is a clear spirit distilled from fermented millet or rice in a home-made still of stacked clay or metal pots.

How it is served. In small cups or bowls. At a traditional Newar feast, a server pours a thin stream from a brass vessel held high above the cup, without spilling, which aerates the spirit and shows off the pourer's skill. The Newar version is called aila.

What it tastes like. Clean and warming when well made, with a grainy, slightly smoky flavour comparable to a rustic sake or a light unaged whisky. Poorly made raksi is harsh. Strength ranges from mild to very strong, and there is no label to tell you which.

Raksi is offered at weddings, festivals and religious ceremonies, and is sometimes drunk in the mountains with a little butter or as a warm toddy.

Customs around drinking

• Alcohol plays a ritual role in many indigenous communities, while orthodox high-caste Hindu households traditionally avoid it. Do not assume everyone drinks.

• When a host offers a drink, accepting at least a taste is polite. If you do not drink alcohol, say so plainly; it will be respected.

• Cups are often refilled without asking. Leaving yours full is the signal that you have had enough.

• Drinks are received with the right hand, sometimes with the left hand touching the right elbow as a mark of respect.

A word on safety

Home-produced alcohol is unregulated. Most is perfectly sound, made by people who drink it themselves. However, there have been cases in Nepal of poisoning from illicit spirits adulterated with methanol. To keep the risk low:

1. Drink local spirits in established restaurants, homestays and lodges where the family or community produces their own.

2. Avoid unlabelled spirits sold cheaply by strangers or at roadside stalls.

3. Fermented drinks such as tongba and chhyang are lower risk than distilled ones.

4. Remember that water used to dilute chhyang or steep tongba may not always be boiled; hot water for tongba is safer.

Alcohol and altitude

On a trek, alcohol worsens dehydration and can mask or aggravate altitude symptoms. The usual advice is to avoid drinking on the way up and save the celebratory tongba for the descent.

In moderation

A tall pot of hot millet beer in a lamplit kitchen, with a host who keeps refilling the flask, is among the most convivial experiences Nepal offers. Sip slowly, eat something alongside, and let the evening stretch.