Tella (Ethiopian barley beer)

Ethiopian home-brewed barley beer

Origin: Ethiopian Highlands, Ethiopia

From the journey of Barley.

Tella is Ethiopia's ancient home-brewed beer, fermented from barley or sorghum with gesho (Rhamnus prinoides) (a native buckthorn plant that gives it a distinctive bitter, hoppy character. Ethiopia is one of the world's secondary centres of barley diversity, and tella has been brewed in the highlands for at least five thousand years. It is not a commercial product but a domestic one: made by women for their households, served at weddings, funerals, baptisms, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian fasts. Tella is present at every rite of passage. In rural Ethiopia, a home without tella is considered inhospitable. The brewing process) roasting barley, making a starter with gesho, and fermenting for several days: is passed from mother to daughter and carries deep social significance. Tella has a low alcohol content, a slightly cloudy appearance, and a sour, earthy, faintly bitter flavour unlike any commercial beer.

Ingredients

500 g barley, whole grain
50 g gesho leaves and stems (dried, from Ethiopian grocers), or 2 tbsp dried hops as a substitute
2 tbsp teff flour or sorghum flour (for the starter)
2 litres water, previously boiled and cooled
1 tsp active dry yeast (for a shortcut, traditional tella uses wild fermentation)

Method

Roast half the barley in a dry heavy pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 10–12 minutes until deeply golden-brown and smelling of toast. Set aside to cool. Leave the remaining barley unroasted.
Make the gesho infusion: boil gesho leaves and stems in 500ml of water for 15 minutes. Strain and leave to cool. This bitter liquid is tella's defining flavour: it acts like hops in conventional beer.
Grind or coarsely crack the barley (both roasted and raw): not to a fine flour but to a rough meal. Mix with the teff flour and enough warm water to form a thick paste. Add yeast, cover with a cloth, and leave in a warm place for 24 hours to begin fermenting.
After 24 hours, combine the fermented barley paste, the gesho infusion, and the remaining 1.5 litres of cooled boiled water in a large clay pot or food-grade bucket. Stir well. Cover loosely with a cloth (not airtight) and leave to ferment for 3–4 days at room temperature, stirring once daily.
Strain the tella through a fine cloth or cheesecloth into a clean vessel, pressing to extract all liquid. Discard the solids. The tella is ready to drink: slightly cloudy, earthy, and gently effervescent.

Notes

Tella should be served in a traditional clay cup (birchiko) or a round glass at room temperature. It pairs naturally with injera, kitfo, and the rich stews of Ethiopian cuisine. A stronger version called tej (honey wine) is made with honey instead of barley and is served at formal occasions. Tella's low alcohol content (1–3% ABV) means it was consumed freely by all ages and at all times of day in traditional Ethiopian households.

The Gastrographer

Name: Tella (Ethiopian barley beer)
Prep time: 30 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Ethiopia
Ingredients: 500 g barley, whole grain; 50 g gesho leaves and stems (dried, from Ethiopian grocers), or 2 tbsp dried hops as a substitute; 2 tbsp teff flour or sorghum flour (for the starter); 2 litres water, previously boiled and cooled; 1 tsp active dry yeast (for a shortcut, traditional tella uses wild fermentation)

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

To explore — select an ingredient below · click any location dot on the map for recipes and stories · browse the information panel on the right · trace the full journey on the timeline.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control