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Alcoholic drinks from Northern and north-western Ethiopia

Korefe (Ethiopian barley beer with gesho)korefe

Korefe is a foamy, low-alcohol barley beer from northern Ethiopia, flavoured and made bitter with gesho leaves. Gesho is steeped in water for three days, then an unleavened barley bread and roasted barley flour are fermented in the gesho liquid in stages. Water is then added in a ratio of 1:3, and the korefe is ready 2 to 3 hours later.

Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks8.1 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHousehold process with no fixed amounts. The only ratio the sources give is the water added at the end, "1:3", without saying which part is water.
Gesho (Rhamnus prinoides)Steeped in water; gives flavour, aroma, bitterness and microbes[fentie2020]
Unmalted barley flourBaked into an unleavened bread (kitta)[fentie2020]
Roasted unmalted barley flour (derekot)[fentie2020]
Malted barleyListed among the main ingredients, though the step-by-step account uses only unmalted barley[fentie2020]
WaterRatio of 1:3Added at the end; the source does not say whether the ratio is water to mash or mash to water[fentie2020]
Starterspontaneous; the gesho steep brings the fermenting microbes

Total time across the recorded steps: 8.1 days

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a grain

What changes: Gesho leaves steep in a container called gan, giving up bitterness, aroma and microbes

Step 1 of 5
Steep gesho in water (tijit)
Time
3 days
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts

Output: tijit.

Flavour
bitter
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the steep picks up fermenting microbes from the gesho

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Korefe is a foamy, low-alcohol barley beer from northern Ethiopia, flavoured and made bitter with gesho leaves. Gesho is steeped in water for three days, then an unleavened barley bread and roasted barley flour are fermented in the gesho liquid in stages. Water is then added in a ratio of 1:3, and the korefe is ready 2 to 3 hours later. Made in 5 steps over 8.1 days. The longest step, steep gesho in water (tijit), takes 3 days (Fentie E.G 2020). Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, both above 10^9 CFU/mL after 72 h of fermentation does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 daysReported[fentie2020]Steep gesho in water (tijit)
AciditypH 3.7Measured[tadesse2017]Thin with water and ferment briefly

What makes this one different

Korefe uses mostly unmalted barley, as a baked bread and as roasted flour, fed in stages to a gesho steep. Tella, the better-known Ethiopian beer, is built on malt. Water is added at the end, and the korefe is drunk after only 2 to 3 hours.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Long-kept korefie (Qemant, Begemder)Dehusked barley is soaked overnight, roasted and milled, then mixed with dried gesho leaves and water and kept in a clay pot for 2–3 months. A small amount is taken out, thinned with more water and fermented for one day before drinking. Lemi 2020 gives 2–3 months in a clay container.

Safety

In one field study the lactic bacteria pushed Enterobacteriaceae below detection after 72 hours, and market korefie measured pH 3.70.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Lemi (2020) records korefe as the traditional drink of the Koumant people of the former Begemder province.

  1. [fentie2020] Fentie E.G., Emire S.A., Demsash H.D., Dadi D.W., Shin J.H. 2020, Cereal- and fruit-based Ethiopian traditional fermented alcoholic beverages, Foods 9(12):1781 (korefe section, citing Getnet B., Berhanu A. 2016, Biotechnology International 9)paper
  2. [tadesse2017] Tadesse S., Chandravanshi B.S., Ele E., Zewge F. 2017, Ethanol, methanol, acid content and other quality parameters of Ethiopian traditional fermented, distilled and factory produced alcoholic beverages, SINET Ethiopian Journal of Science 40(1):16–35paper
  3. [lemi2020] Lemi B.W. 2020, Microbiology of Ethiopian traditionally fermented beverages and condiments, International Journal of Microbiology 2020:1478536 (korefe section)paper