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List of national drinks

Distinct beverages associated with a particular country From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of national drinks

A national drink is a distinct beverage that is strongly associated with a particular country, and can be part of their national identity and self-image. These drinks can be either alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Alcoholic national drinks might be spirits consumed straight (like vodka in Russia), but more often, they are mixed drinks (such as caipirinhas in Brazil and Singapore Slings in Singapore), beer, or wine. Non-alcoholic national drinks include Coca-Cola in the United States, boba tea in Taiwan, and Thai iced tea in Thailand.

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Characteristics of boba tea (also known as "bubble tea" or "pearl milk tea") -- the national drink of Taiwan -- are the tapioca balls that rest at the bottom of the beverage that are drunk with a wide straw.

Several factors can qualify a beverage as a national drink:

  • Regional Ingredients and Popularity: The drink is made from locally sourced ingredients and is commonly consumed, such as mango lassi in India, which uses dahi, a traditional yogurt.[1]
  • Unique Local Ingredients: The beverage contains an exotic ingredient that is unique to the region.
  • Cultural Tradition: The drink plays a significant role in festive traditions and cultural heritage.
  • Official Promotion: The country actively promotes the drink as a national symbol.

Choosing a single national drink can be challenging for some countries due to their diverse cultures and populations, such as Mexico or India. Conversely, some beverages, like pisco sour, are claimed by more than one country—both Peru and Chile, in this case.

Below is a list of national drinks categorized within geo-political regions modified from the United Nations' five "regional groups". This list generally excludes moonshines or illicitly produced alcoholic beverages.

America

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Caipirinha is the national drink of Brazil and is made from cachaça, lime, and sugar.

North

  •  Canada: A Caesar is a cocktail that originated in Calgary, and is widely drunk in all parts of Canada. Similar to a Bloody Mary, it contains vodka, a blend of tomato juice, clam broth, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, and is served with ice in a salt-rimmed glass, typically garnished with a stalk of celery and wedge of lime. What distinguishes the Caesar and Bloody Mary is that only the Caesar contains clam broth. Calgary officially celebrated an anniversary of its creation and launched a national petition for it to be recognized as the official cocktail of Canada.[2]
  •  United States: Coffee[3] was defiantly adopted as an alternative to British tea in the period leading up to the American Revolution. Coca-Cola[4] is America's iconic soft drink, with the name of the drink referring to two of its original ingredients: coca leaves and kola nuts (a source of caffeine). Bourbon (whiskey),[5] named for Bourbon County, Kentucky, is a corn whiskey aged in charred oak barrels - and was proclaimed the U.S. National Spirit by an act of Congress in 1964.
  •  Mexico: Tequila is a liquor distilled from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, of the central western Mexican state of Jalisco. In 2018, the Mexican government approved a proposal to celebrate every third Saturday of March as National Tequila Day.[6] A Margarita is a famous cocktail that is made from tequila, as well as triple sec and lime juice. In Mexico, Aguas Frescas are also quite popular, two notable ones being Jamaica and Horchata. Hot chocolate is also a very popular hot drink, having been consumed by Mayans since around 3,000 years ago.[7]

Central and South

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Mate, a traditional beverage in southern South America, especially in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the south of Brazil.

Europe

Summarize
Perspective
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Red wine is popular in many European countries, notably France and Italy.
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Coffee accessories in small shops in Baščaršija, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The "beer belt" in Europe includes Belgium, Germany, the UK, and Ireland, whereas the "wine belt" includes the Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy, and Greece. Several drinks are common and particular to Slavic countries. Vodka is a clear alcoholic beverage made most often by distilling the liquid from fermented cereal grains and potatoes. Countries where vodka is identified as a national beverage have been referred to as the "vodka belt". Kvass is a traditional fermented non-alcoholic beverage commonly made from rye bread and is drunk in many Slavic countries, as well as Latvia and Lithuania. Kompot is another drink that is traditionally popular throughout this region and made by boiling together different fruit including strawberries, apricots, peaches, apples, and raisins in large volume of water and served hot or cold, depending on tradition and season. Fruit brandies are popular in the Balkans, while Brännvin and Akvavit are popular in Scandinavia.

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Clear vodka served with pickled cucumber – the usual way of consuming vodka in Slavic[citation needed] countries of the so-called "vodka belt".
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A kvass street vendor in Belgorod, Russia, 2013.
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The espresso comes from the Italian esprimere, which means "to express," and refers to the process by which hot water is forced under pressure through ground coffee.[17]
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A Glencairn whisky glass.

Africa

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A berele glass containing tej, a honey wine brewed and consumed in Ethiopia.

Asia

East

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A classical Chinese tea set and three gaiwan.
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Bottles of Zhuyeqing (Chu Yeh Ching) baijiu produced in Shanxi, China.
  •  China: Tea has been a vital part of the Chinese culture for thousands of years, and the country is considered to have the earliest records of tea consumption, with possible records dating back to the 10th century BC.[53][54] Depending on different traditional methods in processing the tea leaves, Chinese tea can be classified into at least six distinct categories: white tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong tea, black tea and post-fermented tea (dark tea).
The Chinese national liquor, Baijiu (Chinese: 白酒; pinyin: báijiǔ; lit. 'white (clear) liquor'), is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from various types of grains - including rice, glutinous rice, wheat, barley, and millet.[55][56] - and was first made 5,000 years ago. Baijiu can be broken down into five main aroma categories: strong, light, sauce (soy, specifically), rice, and mixed.
  •  Japan: Green Tea.[59] Tea consumption became popular among the gentry during the 12th century, after the publication of Eisai's Kissa Yōjōki. Uji, with its strategic location near the capital at Kyoto, became Japan's first major tea-producing region during this period. Beginning in the 13th and 14th centuries, Japanese tea culture developed the distinctive features for which it is known today, and the Japanese tea ceremony emerged as a key component of that culture.
Sake, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran.[11][12][13]

Southeast

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Singapore Sling, a gin-based sling cocktail from the city-state Singapore.
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Thai iced tea is a popular drink in Thailand and in many parts of the world.
  •  Brunei: There is no national drink, but Air Batu Campur (ABC) is popular among citizens.
  •  Cambodia: Teuk tnaot chhouk, a palm wine
  •  Indonesia: Es teler, a sweet iced concoction created by Murniati Widjaja, who won a competition to come up with a national drink for Indonesia in 1982.[75][76]
  •  Laos: Lao-Lao (Lao: ເຫລົ້າລາວ) is a Laotian rice whisky produced in Laos.[77][78] Along with Beerlao, lao-Lao is a staple drink in Laos. The name lao-Lao is not the same word repeated twice, but two different words pronounced with different tones: the first, ເຫລົ້າ, means "alcohol" and is pronounced with a low-falling tone in the standard dialect, while the second, ລາວ, means Laotian ("Lao") and is pronounced with a high(-rising) tone.
  •  Malaysia: Teh tarik (literally "pulled tea") is a hot milk tea beverage which can be commonly found in restaurants, outdoor stalls, and kopi tiams.[79] Teh tarik's name is derived from the pouring process of "pulling" the drink during preparation, and is made from a strong brew of black tea blended with condensed milk. Teh tarik is considered Malaysia's national drink.[80]
  •  Myanmar: Lahpet yay is brewed from a mix of fermented or pickled tea, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. It is traditionally served hot in Burmese tea houses - open air, bustling, street corner places.[81][82]
  •  Philippines: Beer (San Miguel Beer).[83]
  •  Singapore: Kopi is a type of traditional highly caffeinated black coffee, sometimes served with milk and/or sugar. This drink has Hainanese roots, many of whom migrated south to Singapore during the 19th to 20th centuries. Kopi is also otherwise known as Nanyang coffee., with Nanyang meaning ‘South Sea’ in Mandarin, and usually is a reference to Southeast Asia.[84] Kopi is recognized to be culturally significant[85] and part of the everyday diet and lifestyle of many Singaporeans.[86]
  • The Singapore Sling is a gin-based sling cocktail from Singapore, and was created around 1915 by Ngiam Tong Boon (Chinese: 严崇文; pinyin: Yán Chóng-Wén), also of Hainanese descent, at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, Singapore, and is considered the national cocktail.
  • Tiger Beer is considered the national beer of Singapore.
  • The Milo dinosaur is a Singaporean chocolate malt–based beverage composed of a cup of iced Milo with undissolved Milo powder added on top of it. It is usually served cold to prevent the powder from immediately dissolving in the drink.[87] The drink originated from Indian Singaporean eateries in Singapore during the 1990s, and it is now most commonly found in mamak stalls, kopitiams, and hawker centres from all ethnic groups in Singapore.[87][88]
  •  Thailand: Thai tea is a Thai drink made from tea, milk, and sugar, and served hot or cold. It is popular in Southeast Asia and is served in many restaurants that serve Thai food.[89] When served cold it is known as Thai iced tea. Another highly popular drink is Krating Daeng, an energy drink which was first introduced in 1976. In Thai, daeng means red, and a krating is a large species of wild bovine native to South Asia. Krating Daeng inspired the creation of the Western drink Red Bull.
  •  Timor-Leste: arrak, a local alcoholic drink made from fermented palm sap or rice, the beer Bierra Leste, and the coffee Timor.
  •  Vietnam: Primarily Vietnamese iced coffee (cà phê đá), and to a lesser extent Rượu nếp, Vietnamese rice wine, made from glutinous rice that has been fermented with the aid of yeast and steamed in a banana leaf.

South

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The 7-layered tea of Bangladesh.
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The popular Indian drink mango lassi.
  •  Bangladesh: Tea (Bengali: চা, romanized: Cha) is considered to be the national drink of Bangladesh, with government bodies such as the Bangladesh Tea Board and the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute supporting the production, certification, and exportation of the tea trade in the country.[90] Recently, new types of tea, such as the seven color tea or seven-layer tea, (Bengali: সাত রং চা, romanized: Shat Rong Cha) has popped up as a well-known beverage of the country's Sylhet Division.[91][92] Romesh Ram Gour invented the seven-layer tea after discovering that different tea leaves have different densities.[93][92] Each layer contrasts in color and taste, ranging from syrupy sweet to spicy clove. The result is an alternating dark/light band pattern throughout the drink, giving the tea its name.
  •  Bhutan: Ara, or Arag, (Tibetan and Dzongkha: ཨ་རག་; Wylie: a-rag; "alcohol, liquor") is a traditional alcoholic beverage consumed in Bhutan. Ara is made from native and high-altitude tolerant barley, rice, maize, millet, or wheat, and may be either fermented or distilled. The beverage is usually a clear, creamy, or white color.[94]
  •  India: Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in India but can not be considered the national drink. Lassi or Chaas is another yogurt-based drink and can be sweet or salty. Lassi or Chaas is a blend of yogurt, water, spices and sometimes fruit like mango.[95][96] While the Masala chai is a hot, sweet tea popular throughout the subcontinent and is a combination of brewed black tea, aromatic spices, and herbs, milk and sugar.[97] In southern India, the iconic beverage is Kaapi, also known as Indian filter coffee, which is made by mixing frothed and boiled milk with coffee brewed through a metal filter.[98] Traditional alcoholic drinks like toddy and feni remain popular in various parts of the country,[99] along with western-style beers, liquors and wines, with Kingfisher beer being the most widely-recognized Indian beer brand.[100]
  •  Maldives: It can be said that the Maldives have two national drinks. Firstly, due to their history and location near the Indian Subcontinent, sai (tea) is a Maldivian favorite. Secondly, as the Maldives are truly an Island nation, raa (toddy tapped from palm trees) is also has its place in the national identity of the Maldives. Sometimes raa is left to ferment and is thus slightly alcoholic – the closest any Maldivian gets to alcohol.
  •    Nepal: Raksi[101] is a strong drink, clear like vodka or gin, tasting somewhat like Japanese sake. It is usually made from kodo millet (kodo) or rice; different grains produce different flavors.[102] The Limbus, for whom it is a traditional beverage,[103] drink an enormous amount of Tongba and raksi served with pieces of pork, water buffalo or goat meat sekuwa.[104] For the Newars, aylaa is indispensable during festivals and various religious rituals as libation, prasad or sagan.
  •  Pakistan: Sugarcane juice[105]
  •  Sri Lanka: Tea

Central

West

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Per capita, people in Turkey drink more tea than in any other nation.

Oceania

Gallery

See also

References

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