Tej facts for kids

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Tej
A berele glass containing unfiltered myes
Type	Mead
Country of origin	Ethiopia
Colour	Yellow
Ingredients	Honey, water, gesho

Tej (pronounced "tedge") is a special honey wine, much like mead. It is a popular drink in Ethiopia and Eritrea. This golden drink usually has an alcohol content between 7% and 11%.

Tej is often made at home. It uses three main ingredients: honey, water, and a plant called "gesho" (Rhamnus prinoides). You can also buy different types of Tej in stores. People often drink Tej at fun social events like festivals and weddings. It's also part of religious celebrations, such as the Ethiopian New Year (Enkutatash). Tej is very important in Ethiopian culture and is known as the national drink of Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia, Tej is often served in special flask-shaped bottles called berele. Another Ethiopian drink, berz, is a honey water that is not fermented.

The Story of Tej
- Early Travelers and Tej
How Tej is Made
- Fermentation Process
Tej in Ethiopian Culture
Health and Tej
The Science of Tej
See also

The Story of Tej

Tej has a very long history in Ethiopia. Many people believe it is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks ever made! While Tej is mostly enjoyed in Ethiopia, it is also popular in Eritrea. Other honey drinks similar to mead are made across Africa, like wanzuki in Tanzania and muratina in Kenya.

No one knows exactly when honey, water, and gesho were first mixed to create Tej. However, archaeologists have found clues in Axum. Axum was an ancient city and the capital of the Aksumite empire. They found signs that honey wine was consumed there and possibly used in special ceremonies. The Aksumite empire existed from 80 BC to 825 AD. This suggests that Tej has been around for many centuries!

Long ago, before the 1900s, only the King and people close to him drank Tej. It was also only made in the homes of the ruling families. Honey, which is key for Tej, was collected as a tax from working people. Today, Tej is made and enjoyed by many people across Ethiopia. It has truly become the country's national drink.

Early Travelers and Tej

One of the first European visitors to write about Ethiopia was Father Francisco Álvares. He was a Portuguese priest who lived in Ethiopia in the 1500s. He wrote about Ethiopian wine, saying that "wine of honey" was the best. He also described a celebration where people drank a lot of this honey wine.

Another Portuguese missionary, Jerónimo Lobo, visited Ethiopia in the 1600s. He wrote that Ethiopians commonly drank beer and mead. He noted that it was considered polite to offer guests drinks. Servants always served the Tej.

Hormuzd Rassam, an Iraqi-Assyrian scholar, wrote about his experiences with Tej in 1869. After meeting the Ethiopian emperor, Tewodros II, he was offered a large bottle of old, clear Tej. He had previously found Tej to be very sour. However, he tried this one and said he enjoyed it more than other alcoholic drinks he had tasted in Ethiopia.

How Tej is Made

Tej and other honey wines are usually cloudy, yellowish, sweet, and bubbly. The taste of Tej depends a lot on where the bees collected nectar for the honey. The climate of that area also plays a big role.

While the exact steps might be different for each person, Tej is often made by mixing one part honey with five parts water. Sometimes, to make it less expensive, some honey is replaced with sugar. In that case, a natural yellow food coloring is added.

Here are the general steps:

First, the honey and water mixture is stirred in a traditional narrow pot called a Genbo or Etro. This continues until the honey completely dissolves.
Next, the stems and leaves of the Rhamnus prinoides plant (gesho) are chopped. They are boiled in water or a small part of the honey mixture for about 45 minutes.
This boiled mixture is then added to the main honey and water mix.
The pot is sealed tightly with a cotton cloth.
The mixture is left to ferment for a few days or even months. It needs to be stirred every day.
Finally, after fermenting, the Tej is filtered through a cloth. This removes the gesho and any other bits before it's ready to drink.

People can add other ingredients to make different flavors of Tej. Some might smoke the fermentation pot for a smoky taste. Others add spices like ginger or tamarind. Some even use crude honey, believing it makes a better mead. Early Tej recipes sometimes included roasted barley to help with fermentation. The bark or wood of another plant, Rhamnus staddo (sado wood), is also sometimes added. Tej makers often keep their exact recipes secret!

Fermentation Process

Fermentation is when tiny living things called micro-organisms change sugars into alcohol. For Tej, this process usually takes a week or more in warm weather. In cooler places, it might take 15 to 20 days.

The specific taste and smell of Tej come from the chemicals made by these tiny bacteria. The types of micro-organisms found on the equipment also make each batch of Tej a little different.

Tej in Ethiopian Culture

Tej is often made at home, so it's easy for many Ethiopians to get. Because of its long history, Tej is used in many important religious and social events.

Some religious holidays where Tej is enjoyed include:

Christmas
New Year (Enkutatash)
Epiphany (Timkat)
Easter (Fasika)
The discovery of the True Cross (Meskel)

Social events include parties, weddings, and festivals. Because it's used so often in these important moments, Tej is truly Ethiopia's national drink.

Ethiopia produces the most honey in Africa, about 45,300 tonnes each year! Tanzania is the second largest, with about 8,000 tonnes. This huge amount of honey shows how important it is in Ethiopia. About 80% of all honey made in Ethiopia is used to make Tej. This means Tej also plays a big role in daily life. Honey and honey wines were even used for trading things in the past.

Tej is commonly sold and made in special Tej houses called tejbet. You can find these in villages, towns, and cities across Ethiopia. Tej is also made by companies both in Ethiopia and around the world. So, you can buy many different brands of Tej, each with its own flavor and alcohol content.

Health and Tej

Traditional drinks like Tej can provide calories and vitamin B. The vitamin B comes from the yeasts and other tiny organisms that help with fermentation.

Two ingredients in Tej, honey and Rhamnus prinoides (gesho), are also used in traditional medicine. Scientists are even studying parts of Rhamnus prinoides as a possible treatment for Alzheimer's disease. This is because it has properties that can help reduce swelling and protect cells. Another ingredient sometimes used, Rhamnus staddo, is being looked at as a possible medicine for malaria.

It's important to remember that like all alcoholic drinks, Tej should be consumed responsibly. Drinking too much can lead to health problems.

The Science of Tej

Tej gets its yellow, cloudy, and bubbly look from the yeasts inside it. These yeasts are mostly from the Saccharomyces family. These yeasts are like tiny helpers that turn sugars into ethanol (alcohol). More than 25% of the yeasts that ferment Tej are from the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Other yeasts, like Kluyveromyces bulgaricus, also help with the fermentation.

Scientists have studied Tej to understand its unique chemical and nutritional properties. They found that each batch of Tej can be a little different. This is because of the natural mix of tiny living things in the ingredients. The amount and type of yeast in each Tej also create differences. This makes every Tej unique because the fermentation happens naturally.

In the past, honey for Tej often came from wild nests. It could contain wax, pollen, bees, and broken combs. These extra bits actually helped! The wax floating on top could make the fermentation process have less oxygen. The pollen acted as food for the yeast.

Honey is mostly sugar, about 80%. So, depending on how much honey and water are used, the sugar content in Tej usually ranges from 13% to 27%. The alcohol content can also vary a lot, typically from 7% to 11%. Some studies have found Tej with alcohol levels as low as 2.7% and as high as 21.7%.

Tej is also acidic, with a pH usually between 3.02 and 4.90. This acidity also varies because of the natural fermentation process.