The Ethiopian honey wine traditionally used in religious ceremonies is tej. This golden, often cloudy fermented drink is made from honey, water, and gesho, a shrub native to eastern Africa whose leaves and stems provide bitterness and help regulate fermentation.
Tej has a central place in Ethiopian social life. It is served at weddings, festivals, and important religious celebrations including Enkutatash, Timkat, Fasika, and Meskel. It is commonly poured from a flask-shaped vessel called a berele and is also served in specialized establishments known as tej houses, or tejbet.
Tej is related to mead, but it is not simply another name for mead. Mead is the broad category of fermented honey drink, while tej is the distinctive Ethiopian and Eritrean style made with gesho. Melomel is mead flavored with fruit, and braggot combines honey with malted grain. The drink generally contains about 7% to 11% alcohol, although strength and sweetness vary by recipe and fermentation time.