What Is Tej? The Ethiopian Honey Wine Explained
Tej is a traditional Ethiopian honey wine, a spiced mead fermented with honey, water and gesho. An alcoholic drink for adults over 18.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
Tej is a traditional Ethiopian honey wine, an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey and water with gesho, a hops like plant that gives it a gentle bitterness. Golden and lightly sparkling, it ranges from sweet to dry and is served in a rounded flask called a berele. As an alcoholic honey wine it is for adults over 18, so please drink responsibly. In the UK it is stocked by African food stores, which you can find near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Tej is a traditional Ethiopian honey wine, a spiced mead made from honey, water and gesho.
- Gesho, a hops like plant, gives tej its characteristic gentle bitterness and helps it ferment.
- It ranges from sweet to dry and is served in a rounded flask called a berele.
- It is enjoyed at celebrations, weddings and in dedicated tej houses known as tej bet.
- Tej is an alcoholic drink for adults over 18, so please always drink responsibly.
A poured glass of golden tej, cloudy and faintly fizzing, carries a whole world of celebration for Ethiopians and Eritreans in Britain. It is the honey wine of the wedding and the holiday feast, the round berele passed around the table, the tej house full of music and laughter, the warm, floral pour that says a gathering has truly begun. Sharing it far from home brings back the celebrations and the crowded tej bet and the taste of honey and gesho that no other drink quite matches.
There is deep heritage in it too, in a honey wine brewed the same way for generations and poured whenever people come together to mark something special. Offering a friend their first taste of tej, or raising a berele with family who grew up on it, is a small act of welcome and pride. Enjoyed responsibly by adults, that warm, honeyed pour is a genuine taste of home.
What Tej Is
Tej is the traditional honey wine of Ethiopia and Eritrea, a golden, lightly sparkling alcoholic drink that sits somewhere close to a spiced mead. It is made by fermenting honey and water, flavoured with gesho, a hops like plant whose leaves and twigs lend a soft, herbal bitterness that balances the natural sweetness of the honey. The result is warm and amber in colour, cloudy rather than clear, and can taste anywhere from lightly sweet and floral to notably dry, depending on how it is made and how long it ferments. Because it is brewed from honey it carries a distinctive mellow, floral character quite unlike grape wine or beer.
Tej holds a treasured place in Ethiopian and Eritrean food and drink, the celebratory pour that so often sits alongside a shared platter. It belongs to the wider world of injera, spiced stews and communal eating that we cover in our guide to Ethiopian food. As with any alcoholic drink, tej is meant for adults over 18, and it is always best enjoyed in moderation.
How Tej Is Traditionally Made
Tej is traditionally made at home and in tej houses with just a few ingredients, honey, water and gesho. Honey is mixed with water and left to ferment naturally, while gesho, the dried stems and leaves of a shrub used much as hops are used in beer, is added to give a gentle bitterness and to help the brew along. The mixture is left in a covered vessel for anywhere from several days to a few weeks, and it is skimmed and tended as it ferments and slowly turns from sweet honey water into a lightly fizzy, mildly alcoholic wine. The longer it ferments, the drier and stronger it tends to become.
The quality of the honey shapes the flavour, and the amount of gesho and the length of fermentation decide whether the finished tej is sweet or dry. Once it is ready it is strained and served, traditionally poured into a berele, the distinctive rounded, round bottomed flask with a narrow neck that is closely associated with drinking tej. This is a description of how tej is traditionally made rather than a recipe to follow, and since the finished drink contains alcohol it is intended for adults over 18.
How Tej Is Enjoyed
Tej is above all a drink of hospitality and celebration. It is poured at weddings, religious feasts, holidays and family gatherings, and it is the signature drink of the tej bet, or tej house, a lively social spot where people gather to drink tej, share food and enjoy music together. It is typically served in the rounded berele flask and sipped rather than rushed, often accompanying a shared meal of injera and spiced stews, its mellow sweetness and gentle bitterness sitting beautifully against rich, spiced food.
Styles vary from sweet to dry, so there is a tej for most tastes, from a soft, honeyed pour to a drier, more bracing one. Whichever style is served, tej is an adult drink, an alcoholic honey wine whose strength can vary quite a lot from batch to batch, so it is one to enjoy slowly and responsibly. For anyone over 18 curious to try it, tej offers a warm, distinctive taste of Ethiopian and Eritrean celebration, best enjoyed in good company and in moderation.
Where to Buy Tej and Its Ingredients in the UK
Buying tej in Britain is done mainly through African food shops, especially Ethiopian and Eritrean grocers and the shops attached to Ethiopian restaurants, where bottled tej is sometimes sold, and some Ethiopian restaurants and tej houses serve it by the glass. Because tej is an alcoholic drink, it is sold only to adults over 18. If you would rather make your own, the same shops are the place to look for the honey and, crucially, the gesho that gives tej its character, as gesho is the one ingredient that is hard to substitute.
If you want to buy tej or track down the honey and gesho to make it, an Ethiopian or Eritrean grocer is the natural place to start. You can find African food stores near you that stock Ethiopian and Eritrean ingredients, including gesho, in your area. Remember that tej is an alcoholic honey wine for adults over 18, so please enjoy it responsibly.
Frequently asked questions
What is tej?
Tej is a traditional Ethiopian honey wine, an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey and water with gesho, a hops like plant that gives it a gentle bitterness. Golden and lightly sparkling, it ranges from sweet to dry and is closely associated with Ethiopia and Eritrea, where it is served in a rounded flask called a berele. As it contains alcohol, it is a drink for adults over 18.
What is tej made of?
Tej is made of just three main ingredients, honey, water and gesho, a hops like plant whose dried stems and leaves add a gentle bitterness and help the brew ferment. The honey and water are left to ferment naturally with the gesho over days or weeks, turning into a lightly fizzy, mildly alcoholic honey wine. The honey and the amount of gesho shape whether the finished tej is sweet or dry.
Is tej alcoholic?
Yes, tej is an alcoholic honey wine for adults, made by fermenting honey and water with gesho until it becomes a mildly alcoholic drink. Its strength can vary quite a lot from batch to batch, as it is often brewed traditionally rather than to a fixed measure. Because it contains alcohol it is intended only for adults over 18, so please drink responsibly.
How is tej served?
Tej is traditionally served in a berele, a distinctive rounded, round bottomed flask with a narrow neck, and it is sipped slowly rather than rushed. It is poured at weddings, holidays and family gatherings and in tej houses known as tej bet, often alongside a shared meal of injera and spiced stews. Styles range from sweet to dry, and as an adult drink it is best enjoyed in moderation.
Where can I buy tej in the UK?
Bottled tej is sold by some Ethiopian and Eritrean grocers and the shops attached to Ethiopian restaurants, and some restaurants and tej houses serve it by the glass to adults over 18. African Stores lists African food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks tej or the honey and gesho to make it. As tej is an alcoholic drink, please buy and enjoy it responsibly.
