Ethiopia's rustic homebrewed beer, cloudy and brown, made from roasted grains and bittered with gesho. Lightly alcoholic and faintly smoky, it is the everyday celebratory drink of villages and the workhorse beverage of weddings and holidays. Served in a hollow gourd or simple glass.
Tella is the most widely brewed traditional beer in Ethiopia, a homestead craft passed down through generations of women who roast the grains and tend the fermentation. Long the drink of the common people in contrast to the royal tej, it remains central to rural hospitality, with every household and tella house guarding its own recipe.
Earthy and tart, with a toasted-grain depth and a faint campfire smokiness from the roasted bread. It is mildly sour, lightly fizzy, and refreshingly low in alcohol, leaving a dry, grainy finish. Rougher and more rustic than commercial lager, in the best way.
Roasting the grain and bread creates Maillard browning compounds that give tella its color and toasty flavor, while gesho bitters and helps protect the brew. Wild fermentation by yeasts and lactic bacteria produces both alcohol and the characteristic tang.
Variations
Strong filtered tella (korefe/keribo distinctions), nef'ro grain-forward versions, holiday tella brewed extra-strong, regional recipes varying the grain blend
On the Palate
Where Tella sits in the Ethiopian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 10How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour
- 130 min
Roast barley or other grains until browned to develop color and a smoky note.
Watch outRoast the grain to a deep brown with a toasty smell — this is where tella's color and roasted flavor come from; stop short of burnt-bitter.
- 220 min
Coarsely grind the roasted grain and mix with powdered, dried gesho leaves.
- 315 min
Combine with water and a starter portion to begin the primary fermentation in a clay pot.
- 410 min
Add roasted, darkened bread or kita made from the grain to deepen color and body.
- 55 min
Cover and ferment in a warm, dark place, stirring periodically.
Watch outKeep it warm and covered while it works — a warm dark spot lets the wild yeasts get going; too cold and the ferment stalls.
- 65 min
Allow the brew to work for one to two weeks until pleasantly sour and lightly alcoholic.
Watch outIt's ready when it smells and tastes pleasantly sour with a light fizz of alcohol — flat or harshly sour means it's not there yet.
- 75 min
Strain off the thick sediment to draw the drinkable liquid.
- 85 min
Serve cool in a gourd or glass, ideally within a few days.
