Thick sour maize beer drunk warm through a shared straw from a communal pot. Western Kenya’s Luhya and Luo brew it from fermented, roasted maize, and drinking clubs gather around one pot with long reed straws.
Home brewing of alcohol is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, and the ferment relies on a culture carried forward in the brewer’s own pots.
What goes into it
- maize, germinated and roasted
- water
- a portion of a previous brew
How it is made
Maize is soaked and germinated, dried, roasted dark, and ground. The meal is mixed with warm water and left to ferment for one to three days with a starter carried over from a previous batch. It is served warm, thick and unstrained, and it sours within a day.
How long it takes: two to four days from grain to pot
How it is eaten
Warm from a shared pot through long reed straws, at a drinking club.
History
Western Kenya’s Luhya and Luo brew it from fermented, roasted maize; drinking clubs share one pot through long reed straws.
Frequently asked questions
What is Busaa?
Busaa is a wine & spirit from Kenya: thick sour maize beer drunk warm through a shared straw from a pot. Western Kenya’s Luhya and Luo brew it from fermented, roasted maize; drinking clubs share one pot through long reed straws.
How is Busaa made?
Maize is soaked and germinated, dried, roasted dark, and ground. The meal is mixed with warm water and left to ferment for one to three days with a starter carried over from a previous batch. It is served warm, thick and unstrained, and it sours within a day. It takes two to four days from grain to pot.
Can I make Busaa at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Home brewing of alcohol is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, and the ferment relies on a culture carried forward in the brewer’s own pots.
What goes into Busaa?
Maize, germinated and roasted, water, a portion of a previous brew.
How is Busaa eaten?
Warm from a shared pot through long reed straws, at a drinking club.
