Alcoholic beverages - Thailand. Thai Alcohol: wine, beer, whiskey and cognac. Thai energy drink in Thailand.

A favorite drink of the Thais - cold water («naam yen»). The broad popular coffee («kaafae»), tea («naam chaa»), various lemonades («naam adlom»), beer («bia») and all sorts of brandy («Lao»). Very popular and juices, which they drink and fresh («naam khan»), and with ice and syrup («naam pan»).

In Thai cooking there is a refreshing dessert, which actually is a good aphrodisiac. Just imagine - bazelika seeds in coconut milk! Prepare it is quite simple, but for this you need to get real coconuts (it's not quite what we sold in stores), sweet Thai basil and palm sugar ... Seeds of basil, place in water, stir and let settle for ten minutes, then drain the water and the seeds Lay the cups. Chop the sword coconut, pour liquid (it can be used to make soft drink), as part of a spoon remove the flesh and mix with basil seeds. Prepare coconut cream, dissolve them in palm sugar (to taste), pour it into cups with the seeds of basil, refrigerate and serve.

Wine. At the chic restaurant you can order wine: the emergence of mead to drink wine among the elite and middle class in Thailand began to deliver a truly high quality wines. For Thai cuisine suited Gewurztraminer, the Chinese and Japanese - Riesling (on restaurant prices - about 1000 baht per bottle) Now the good wine is served and a medium-sized restaurants, where food is usually good and the prices of food and drinks are lower than in luxury Thai bars. In the Thailand make wines as exotic palm trees, and conventional grape, and vine seedlings were exported from France. Italy and Spain. Wine consumption is growing annually by 52%, and the temples of 7.3%. But if you want to order imported wine in the restaurant, remember a very high mark-up on imports.

Beer. In other restaurants you can order a beer: Thai-Singha (B0-100 baht), Kloster (easier and more expensive) or Amarit. Almost everywhere there is beer Haynekken "and" Carlsberg ". Beer in Thailand was poured over 400 million liters per year (in 1987, was poured only 95 million liters), despite the relatively high cost of the drink because of high state taxes. This is explained by the fact that the consumption of beer corresponds to a higher social status, because wealthy Thais prefer beer to local temples. Although its price is 30 to 80 baht depending on e. where to drink. The most popular types of beer is Singha, about 90% of Thai market. It's pretty sturdy-6 degrees, so if you want to keep a clear head as long as possible and do not want to sleep ahead of time preference for lighter beers of the same class-Gold. Kloster beer brands and Amarit has a single manufacturer. These stamps are suitable to anyone who believes Singha too strong, and Carlsberg too expensive. Carlsberg beer is sweeter and easier than Singha, it is the same and the most expensive. The market appeared and new brands of beer, professionals and amateurs are praising them, it's Elephant (Chang). In Thailand, many pubs where you can also dine.

Spirits. The most prestigious drinks are expensive whiskeys and brandies. But in many restaurants, with the exception of hotel, from the drinks may be only a few varieties of beer and Thai whiskey. In Asia more than e rest of the world alcohol count as vices condemned by society, so it consumes less. In Thailand, producing local varieties of whiskey. They are cheap and quite satisfactory. Veski Mekong drink with soda water or cola, ice and green lemon. Song Thip whiskey is made from sugar cane, it is somewhat more expensive than the Mekong, but no less strong. Local jet sipping imported whiskey. If you want to deliver the Thais pleasure, give him a whiskey of 12-year exposure.

Tea culture is defined by the way tea is made and consumed, by the way the people interact with tea, and by the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking.

Tea is commonly drunk at social events, and many cultures have created intricate formal ceremonies for these events. Western examples of these are afternoon tea and the tea party. In the east, tea ceremonies differ among countries, Japan's complex, formal and serene one being the most known. Other examples are the Korean tea ceremony or some traditional ways of brewing tea in Chinese tea culture.

Unique customs also exist in Tibet, where tea is commonly brewed with salt and butter, or in the Middle East and Africa where tea plays an important role in many countries.


To the Tibetans, tea is a beverage that is just like coffee to the westerners -- a wake-up and a shake-up drink that keeps almost everyone sound and safe. In Tibet no morning can pass without drinking some tea, usually the sweet tea; and also in Tibet no meal can be complete without some tea, almost all the time the Tibetan buttered tea. The sweet tea, prepared by mixing milk and sugar with the juice from fully boiled fermented tea leaves, serves as the refreshener. Before serving, the mixture has to be further blended in a special blender. More often than not, a slim wooden cylinder is used for the blending. After the mixture is put in the cylinder, a piston is used to push and pull inside the cylinder. With the passing of the mixture through the slit between the piston and the cylinder, the mixture of butter, salt and tea is forcefully and thoroughly blended.

Town folks prefer to go to a tea house before going to work for the rest of their day. Tea houses sometimes stand as alternative places to find the ones who are otherwise expected in their workplace in the morning and in the early afternoon.

In Tibet, tea, either sweet tea or Tibetan buttered tea, is served in small or large thermo flasks, in that both are of their best smack when served hot. The local habit of drinking tea has to do with the local food composition. The Tibetans eat lots of meat of yak and goat. The strong buttered tea not only helps to keep the body warm but also helps to promote the digestion of the meat that is taken almost 3 meals a day and 365 days a year.

Butter, milk, and salt are added to brewed tea and churned to form a hot drink called Po cha (bod ja, where bod means Tibetan and ja tea) in Tibet. The concoction is also sometimes called cha su mar, mainly in Kham, or Eastern Tibet. Traditionally, the drink is made with a domestic brick tea and dri's milk (a dri is the female of the animal whose male is called yak), then mixed in a churn for several minutes. Using a generic black tea, milk and butter, and shaking or blending work well too, although the unique taste of yak milk is difficult to replicate. (see recipe)

Tibet tea drinking has many rules. One such concerns an invitation to a house for tea. The host will first pour some highland barley wine. The guest must dip his finger in the wine and flick some away. This will be done three times to represent respect for the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The cup will then be refilled two more times and on the last time it must be emptied or the host will be insulted. After this the host will present a gift of butter wine to the guest, who will accept it without touching the rim of the bowl. The guest will then pour a glass for himself, and must finish the glass or be seen as rude.

There are two main teas that go with the tea culture. The teas are butter tea and sweet milk tea. These two teas are only found in Tibet. Other teas that the Tibetans enjoy are boiled black teas. There are many tea shops in Tibet selling these teas, which travelers often take for their main hydration source.

Popular Tibetan Dishes

Tibetan cooking has been influenced by its neighbor India, but makes use of ingredients indigenous to the mountains. Tibetan cuisine is similar to that of Nepal. Travel to the Himalayas and interest in Buddhism has stimulated curiosity about Tibetan culture.

There are many restaurants in Lhasa, Shigatse, and Zetang, All restaurants of various classes are decorated and furnished in the traditional Tibetan style. Diners can enjoy delicious Tibetan  dishes while admiring paintings and murals symbolizing happiness and good luck in the restaurants. High on the menu are such flavors as sausages, barley wine, butter oil tea, beef and mutton eaten with the hands, yak tongue, steamed buns, zanba made from highland barley, pastries, sweet tea, butter tea, dried beef, and xiapuqing, or minced mutton and beef.

There are also a number of Tibetan restaurants in the United States, especially in large cities and in college towns. Novices should be warned that Tibetan cheese is usually hard enough to break teeth, and should be moistened in the mouth before chewing.

Popular and Recommended Tibetan Dishes:

• tsampa (roated barley flour);


• momo (steamed or fried dumplings);


• stir-fried meats;


• thukpa (noodle soup with meat and sometimes vegetables);


• carrot cake;


• banana porridge;


• lamb with radish;


• caramel tea;


• soja (butter tea);


• barley ale


• Sha Balep - a bread stuffed with seasoned beef.
  
  
  
  • Balep korkun - a central Tibetan flatbread that is made on a skillet rather than in an oven.
  
  
  • Momos - a type of steamed ravioli, a heavier version of the Chinese jiaozi
  
  
  • Thenthuk - a type of cold-weather soup made with noodles and various vegetables.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Tibetan cuisine, is quite distinct from that of its neighbours, since only a few crops (not including rice) grow at such high altitude. The most important crop is barley. Dough made from barley flour, called tsampa, is the staple food of Tibet. This is either rolled into noodles or made into steamed dumplings called momos. Meat dishes are likely to be yak, goat, or mutton, often dried, or cooked into a spicy stew with potatoes. Mustard seed is cultivated in Tibet, and therefore features heavily in its cuisine. Yak yoghurt, butter and cheese are frequently eaten, and well-prepared yoghurt is considered something of a prestige item.

In larger Tibetan towns and cities many restaurants now serve Sichuan-style Chinese food. Western imports and fusion dishes, such as fried yak and chips, are also popular. Nevertheless, many small restaurants serving traditional Tibetan dishes persist in both cities and the countryside.

Most Tibetans drink many cups of yak butter tea each day. Jasmine tea is also sometimes available.  Brick tea is made by methods only distantly related to those employed in China or Ceylon. When the water boils, a great handful of the stuff is crumbled into it and allowed to stew for between five and ten minutes, until the whole infusion is so opaque that it looks almost black. At this stage a pinch of salt is added; the Tibetans always put salt, never sugar, in their tea. They very seldom, on the other hand, drink tea without butter in it. If you are at home, you empty the saucepan into a big wooden churn, straining the tea through a colander made of reed or horsehair. Then you drop a large lump of butter into it, and, after being vigorously stirred,this brew is transferred to a huge copper teapot and put on a brazier to keep it hot. When you are traveling, you do not normally take a churn with you, so everyone fills his wooden bowl with tea, scoops a piece of butter out of a basket, puts it in the bowl, stirs the mixture gently with his finger, and, finally, drinks the tea.

Alcoholic beverages include:

• Chang, a beer usually made from barley


• Pinjopo, a rice wine.

The staple Tibetan food is barley flour (rtsam-pa), which is consumed daily. Other major foods include wheat flour, yak meat, mutton, and pork.

Dairy products such as butter, milk, and cheese are also popular. The people in the higher altitudes generally consume more meat than those of the lower regions, where a variety of vegetables is available. Rice is generally restricted in consumption to the well-to-do families, southern border farmers, and monks.

`Tubo', a savoury evening gruel made of lumps of wheat flour, tsamba, dried meat and a tuber called `yuangen'.