Eritrean household beer brewed from barley or sorghum and bittered with gesho, the leaves of Rhamnus prinoides. Women brew it for weddings, funerals and saints’ days, and it is served in a shared vessel.
Home brewing of alcohol is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, and it depends on gesho, a specific bittering leaf with no general substitute.
What goes into it
- barley or sorghum, roasted
- gesho leaves
- water
How it is made
Grain is roasted and coarsely ground, mixed with water and powdered gesho, and left in a covered clay pot to ferment for several days. Gesho does the job hops do elsewhere — it bitters the beer and holds back spoilage organisms. It is served unfiltered and cloudy.
How long it takes: three days to a week
How it is eaten
From a shared vessel at weddings, funerals and saints’ days, with injera.
History
Household beer brewed from barley or sorghum and bittered with gesho leaves, Rhamnus prinoides; women brew it for weddings, funerals and saints’ days.
Frequently asked questions
What is Suwa?
Suwa is a wine & spirit from Eritrea: homebrewed beer of roasted sorghum, barley and gesho leaves. Household beer brewed from barley or sorghum and bittered with gesho leaves, Rhamnus prinoides; women brew it for weddings, funerals and saints’ days.
How is Suwa made?
Grain is roasted and coarsely ground, mixed with water and powdered gesho, and left in a covered clay pot to ferment for several days. Gesho does the job hops do elsewhere — it bitters the beer and holds back spoilage organisms. It is served unfiltered and cloudy. It takes three days to a week.
Can I make Suwa 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 it depends on gesho, a specific bittering leaf with no general substitute.
What goes into Suwa?
Barley or sorghum, roasted, gesho leaves, water.
How is Suwa eaten?
From a shared vessel at weddings, funerals and saints’ days, with injera.
