Tej

Tej (Amharic: ???, pronounced ; Tigrinya: ???, mes, Oromo: daadi) is a mead or honey wine that is brewed and consumed in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is flavored with the powdered leaves and twigs of gesho (Rhamnus prinoides), a hops-like bittering agent that is a species of buckthorn. Tej is usually homemade, but throughout Ethiopia it is available in bars called tej betoch (literally, "tej houses").

The traditional vessel for drinking tej is a rounded vase-shaped container called a berele, which looks like a Florence flask. Tej has a deceptively sweet taste that masks its high alcohol content, which varies greatly according to the length of fermentation. Berz is a sweeter, less-alcoholic version of tej, and is aged for a shorter time.