Tej

One part honey to five parts water, and gesho does the bittering.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains honey.

Ingredients

• 800 g honey
• 4 litres water
• 40 g dried gesho leaves and twigs, or 25 g dried hops as the nearest substitute

Method

1. ONE PART HONEY TO FIVE PARTS WATER, AND GESHO DOES THE BITTERING. Its article gives the ratio outright -- it is MOST FREQUENTLY MADE FROM A MIXTURE OF ONE PART HONEY TO FIVE PARTS WATER -- and names THREE MAIN INGREDIENTS: HONEY, WATER AND A MEDICINAL SHRUB CALLED GESHO, RHAMNUS PRINOIDES. Three things, and one of them is a hedge.
2. NO YEAST IS ADDED, AND THAT IS DELIBERATE. The article puts the fermentation down to THE DIFFERENT MICRO-ORGANISMS THAT ARE PRESENT IN THE INGREDIENTS, and adds that THE MICROORGANISMS PRESENT ON THE EQUIPMENT AND FERMENTATION VATS ALSO CAUSE VARIATIONS. A jar that has made it before makes it better.
3. DISSOLVE THE HONEY IN WARM, NOT HOT, WATER. Boiling drives off the aromatics that the article says decide the flavour: THE SPECIFIC FLAVOUR LARGELY DEPENDS ON WHERE BEES ARE SOURCING NECTAR.
4. THE GESHO GOES IN DRY AND WHOLE. Leaves and twigs, not powder, so they can be strained out. They are a catalyst and a bittering agent, not a flavouring to be extracted fully.
5. COVER IT LOOSELY AND LEAVE IT SOMEWHERE WARM. The article gives A WEEK OR LONGER IN WARMER WEATHER, and 15 TO 20 DAYS IN COOLER CLIMATES. Loosely, because a sealed jar of fermenting honey water will push its lid off.
6. STIR IT DAILY FOR THE FIRST WEEK. It will foam, then the foam will fall, and the smell goes from sweet to winey.
7. STRAIN OUT THE GESHO WHEN THE SWEETNESS HAS DROPPED FAR ENOUGH. Taste it rather than timing it. The article puts the finished drink at 7 TO 11% ALCOHOL and describes it as CLOUDY, AND YELLOWISH IN COLOUR, SWEET AND EFFERVESCENT -- so it is not meant to go dry.
8. SMOKING THE POT IS ONE OF THE VARIATIONS IT LISTS, along with ginger or tamarind, and using crude rather than refined honey. The cheap version replaces some honey with sugar and puts the yellow back with colouring, which the article notes and which is worth not doing.
9. BERZ IS THE SAME THING WITHOUT THE FERMENT. The article names it as Ethiopian honey water, a different drink that shares two of the three ingredients.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Ethiopia · All recipes