Tej

The Cultural Story

Tej has been made in Ethiopia for at least two thousand years. The Aksumite Empire, which rivaled Rome and Persia at its height, traded in it. Ethiopian emperors including Haile Selassie served it to foreign dignitaries. Medieval chronicles describe elaborately carved drinking vessels called berele — wide-bottomed glass flasks — designed specifically for tej. No other beverage has the cultural depth in Ethiopian history that tej does. It is mead with memory. What makes Ethiopian tej distinct from European mead is gesho — a bitter, aromatic plant native to Africa (Rhamnus prinoides) whose leaves and twigs give tej its characteristic slightly bitter finish. Gesho acts as a preservative and a flavor balancer, preventing tej from being merely sweet. Without gesho you have honey wine; with gesho you have tej. The plant is hard to source outside Ethiopia and Eritrea, though Ethiopian grocery stores in diaspora communities often carry dried gesho. Hops make a reasonable substitute in a pinch. Home tej-making is a cherished Ethiopian domestic tradition. The fermentation takes one to two weeks, and the checking of the tej's progress — tasting it daily as it moves from very sweet to drier and more complex — is a ritual in itself. Traditional tej is served at room temperature in the berele flask, and the etiquette of offering tej to a guest is a gesture of significant hospitality. A house that offers you tej is a house where you are genuinely welcome.