Umqombothi

Umqombothi is made from maize meal, sorghum malt, yeast and water, fermented for a few days and then strained but not filtered, which leaves it thick, cloudy, pinkish-brown and slightly gritty, with a sour taste closer to a grain porridge than to lager. It is low in alcohol, usually around three percent, and it is nutritious enough to have functioned as food as much as drink. Brewing is traditionally done by women, and the beer belongs to occasions rather than to casual drinking: it is brewed for ancestral ceremonies, weddings, funerals, homecomings and the welcoming of guests, and it is served in a large clay pot, ukhamba, passed around a seated group with the eldest drinking first. That protocol is the substance of it. Commercial sorghum beers sold in cartons are a distant industrial relative rather than the same drink.

What you actually see

• Thick and cloudy - strained but not filtered, closer to porridge than lager.
• Low alcohol - around three percent, historically nutrition as much as drink.
• The shared pot - an ukhamba passed round, the eldest drinking first.
• Ceremonial use - brewed for ancestral rites, weddings, funerals and homecomings.

When to go

All year. An hour. Cultural villages serve it; a home invitation is the real thing.

Honest expectations

The sour taste and gritty texture put many visitors off. It is not generally sold in restaurants or bars. Drinking it properly means joining a group and following the protocol - ask rather than assume. Carton sorghum beer is not the same drink.

Nearby

Townships and rural homesteads nationwide; cultural villages in most provinces.