Sorghum and maize beer brewed for ceremonies in Eswatini and offered to the ancestors. Brewing it is the work and the right of women, and it is drunk from a shared clay pot while it is still fermenting.
Home brewing of alcohol is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, and the sour stage depends on the resident culture of pots used repeatedly.
What goes into it
- sorghum malt
- maize meal
- water
How it is made
Sorghum is sprouted and dried to malt, then mixed with water and left to sour overnight with lactic bacteria. The soured mash is cooked into a porridge, cooled, and more malt stirred in for the yeast fermentation. It is served within a day or two, thick and cloudy and still working.
How long it takes: three to five days from grain to pot
How it is eaten
From a shared clay pot at ceremonies, weddings and offerings to the ancestors.
History
Sorghum and maize beer brewed for ceremonies and offered to ancestors; brewing is the work and the right of women.
Frequently asked questions
What is Umcombotsi?
Umcombotsi is a wine & spirit from Eswatini: traditional sorghum beer brewed for ceremonies. Sorghum and maize beer brewed for ceremonies and offered to ancestors; brewing is the work and the right of women.
How is Umcombotsi made?
Sorghum is sprouted and dried to malt, then mixed with water and left to sour overnight with lactic bacteria. The soured mash is cooked into a porridge, cooled, and more malt stirred in for the yeast fermentation. It is served within a day or two, thick and cloudy and still working. It takes three to five days from grain to pot.
Can I make Umcombotsi 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 sour stage depends on the resident culture of pots used repeatedly.
What goes into Umcombotsi?
Sorghum malt, maize meal, water.
How is Umcombotsi eaten?
From a shared clay pot at ceremonies, weddings and offerings to the ancestors.
