Traditional Drinks

🇰🇷South Korea

Hwachae

화채

Hwachae, fruit and rice cake floating in chilled omija or watermelon liquid, is a named traditional Korean summer punch.

🇬🇭Ghana

Ice Kenkey

Kenkey blended with water, milk, sugar and sometimes nutmeg and served ice-cold as a thick, sour drink.

🇲🇭Marshall Islands

Jekaro

Fresh sweet sap extracted from the coconut flowering stalk; known as toddy or tuba elsewhere in the Pacific; used as a natural sweetener, drunk fresh, boiled into syrup (jekmai), or fermented into alcohol (jimaun); a fundamental part of Marshallese food culture; collected daily by climbing coconut trees.

🇦🇪United Arab Emirates

Jellab

جلاب

Jellab is a sweet drink made from grape molasses, dates, and rose water, served with pine nuts and raisins during Ramadan; it has a deep burgundy color.

🇮🇳Madurai, India

Jigarthanda

ஜிகர்தண்டா

Milk, nannari syrup, almond gum, and ice cream are layered into Madurai's cooling drink-dessert.

🇹🇻Tuvalu

Kaleve

Sweet sap collected from coconut flower spathe; used as a sweetener in cooking or drunk fresh; described as tasting 'like honey'; a crucial traditional sweetener before imported sugar; collected daily by climbing coconut trees and tying a coconut shell cup to the cut flower stalk.

🇬🇲The Gambia

Kanyan Groundnut Drink

Kanyan

A creamy drink made by blending groundnuts with water, straining them, and sweetening the result; some versions include milk or spices.

🇹🇻Outer Islands (Nanumea / Nanumaga / Niutao / Nui / Vaitupu / Nukufetau / Nukulaelae / Niulakita), Tuvalu

Kao

Kao is fermented coconut toddy made by leaving fresh kaleve to ferment into a cloudy, mildly alcoholic Tuvaluan drink.

🇳🇴Norway

Karsk

Hot coffee with a shot of moonshine, a Northern Norway tradition.

🇨🇬Republic of the Congo

Kasiksi

A traditional banana beer made from fermented banana mash; a cultural symbol of peace and unity, served at ceremonies and gatherings.

🇸🇷Intérieur (Maroni / Oyapock / Bushinenge-Amerindian), Suriname

Kasiri

Cassava fermented into a cloudy, sour, mildly alcoholic beer made by Indigenous communities in the interior.

🇫🇯Pohnpei State (Capital FSM), Fiji

Kava

Suhka

Kava is a ceremonial Pacific root beverage prepared by pounding Piper methysticum roots, mixing them with water, and straining the earthy drink for communal sharing.

🇧🇼Botswana

Khadi

Traditional Botswana alcoholic drink brewed from various ingredients — the healthiest version uses wild berries; widely consumed among low-income groups; a homemade brew of the Kalahari.

🇪🇬Egypt

Kharoub (Carob)

خروب

A Egyptian cold carob pod drink with sugar, a daily and traditional classic

🇪🇪Estonia

Kihnu Fermented Rye Drink

Kihnu Hapurokk

Fermented rye drink from Kihnu island, now produced only there.

🇦🇴Angola

Kissangua

Maize flour fermented lightly with water and sometimes pineapple skin into a cloudy, sour drink used in southern ceremonies as well as drunk cold.

🇱🇹Lithuania

Kissel

Кісель

A Polish fruit dessert of fruit juice or water thickened with potato starch, served warm or cold. A rustic, sweet-tart dessert, a home-cooked classic, served with bread or alone.

🇮🇳Goa, India

Kokum Sarbat

कोकम सरबत

A refreshing Maharashtrian and Goan drink made from kokum fruit. It is sweet, sour, and deep purple.

🇵🇱Poland

Kompot

Polish fruit compote of boiled fresh or dried fruits (apples, plums, pears), served warm or cold. A traditional drink-dessert, sweet and fruity, a daily and festive staple.

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Kulau

Green coconut filled with sweet, slightly tangy coconut water — PNG's national drink, drunk fresh from the shell before the flesh hardens.

🇳🇪Kano, Niger

Kunun Zaki

Millet or sorghum soaked, ground and fermented with ginger and cloves into a pale, faintly sour drink served cold.

🇧🇾Belarus

Kvas

Gira

Kvas is a naturally fermented rye-bread drink with a lightly sour, malty flavour and gentle carbonation.

🇱🇾Libya

Lagbi

Sap tapped from a date palm and drunk the same day, sweet and cloudy, turning alcoholic within hours if left.

🇹🇳Tunisia

Laghmi

لاقمي

Sap tapped from the crown of a date palm and drunk the same day — sweet and milky in the morning, fermented and alcoholic by evening.

🇪🇭Western Sahara

Lamriss

Lamriss is a Sahrawi drink made by stirring toasted barley flour into water, often with milk, oil, or sugar for a nourishing, lightly nutty beverage.

🇬🇭Ghana

Lamugee

Lamugin

Millet flour drink spiced with ginger and cloves, sweetened and served cold in the north.

🇱🇸Lesotho

Lesotho Ginger Beer

Khemere

A homemade non-alcoholic ginger drink made by boiling fresh ginger with sugar and lemon, then lightly fermenting until slightly fizzy. Served chilled at shebeens, markets, and social gatherings.

🇹🇷Turkey

Lohusa şerbeti

Lohusa serbeti, the crimson spiced sherbet made for new mothers and shared with visitors, is a named ritual drink still commercially produced.

🇨🇴Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Lulada

Cali's signature thirst-quencher: lulo fruit hand-crushed — never blended — with ice and sugar into a frothy, tart, pulpy refreshment, thicker than juice and colder than a Valle afternoon deserves.

🇿🇦South Africa

Mageu (Mahewu)

Mageu

A traditional South African fermented maize-meal drink, sweet and tangy

🇲🇿Mozambique

Maheu

A lightly fermented maize drink enjoyed across southern Africa and in Mozambique.

🇬🇶Equatorial Guinea

Malamba

A traditional alcoholic beverage made by fermenting sugarcane juice for about two weeks; similar to Latin American guarapo; sometimes Garcinia kola bark or corn is added to accelerate fermentation.

🇦🇴Angola

Maluva

Palm sap tapped into a gourd and left to ferment through the day into a cloudy palm wine.

🇮🇳Pune, India

Mango mastani

मॅंगो मस्तानी

Pune's thick mango milkshake is topped with ice cream, nuts, and sometimes fruit.

🇨🇴Colombia

Masato

A Colombian fermented drink of rice or corn, water, and panela, lightly alcoholic. An Andean and Orinoquía beverage, served cold or at room temperature.

🇵🇪Loreto, Peru

Masato

A Loreto fermented yuca drink served in Amazonian homes and community gatherings.