Drinking

Let's be honest, Armenian wine is not among the best - not even in the region. Nevertheless, it is still interesting to taste some Armenian cherry wine, apricot wine, peach wine, pomegranate wine, and variations of red and white wines. And with a bottle price of about 6 USD, it is okay to try a few to see which one gives you the least hangovers. Their cognac though is another story, reputed to have been a favourite of Winston Churchill, who, by personal request, received several dozen cases from Stalin.

One of the main crops on Santo Antão is suger cane. The cane sugar that is consumed on the islands is however imported from Alagoas, Brazil, because the Cape Verdeans have a better use for their sugar cane: making Grogue. This often very locally brewed alcohol is a type of rum. When hiking through the villages of Santo Antão, you are bound to run into such a small distillery. The people will happily show you the process of distilling the sugar cane and might even let you try some grogue. First, the suger cane goes through a press to extract the sugar cane juice. The dried sugar canes are eventually used as a fuel for the distillation process.

Chibuku is dirt cheap maize (and sorghum) beer cherished throughout Southern Africa. It's sold in paper cartons with easily recognisable red and blue stripes enclosing its catchy slogan "Chibuku international beer shake-shake". The fermented liquid is thick with lumpy bits, so a strong shake-shake is indeed necessary before opening. The first time you come across Chibuku is probably when you see scraps of Chibuku cartons lying around in the streets, giving a hint of where the local Chibuku joint is located. It's theoretically possible to get drunk on the stuff, but chances are your stomack will have had enough before you reach any level of intoxication. But give it a go, it will earn you street credits with the local drunks.

Very few seem to know this, but Moldova is actually semi-famous for its wine. You will however notice this right away when arriving to the country for every hill and every field seem to be covered in long rows of grapevines. The two biggest wineries are Milestii Mici and Cricova, both can be visited on a winery tour. They are both located underground in limestone mines and are very large, as in largest in the world. The wine collection at Milestii Mici alone contains more than 1.5 million bottles, which makes it the largest collection in the world. The underground network at Milestii Mici is more than 200 km long (Cricova is "only" 120 km in length), though only 55 km of those are used for storage, and every underground street has a catchy wine-name like Sauvignon street. Any wine tour ends of course with some wine sampling, which in our case was more about quantity than quality. Keep in mind that bookings are necessary with these not-so-foreign-tourist-friendly wineries.

Going to London and not visit some pubs, is... well, not something that should happen. Pubs are just such a big part of British culture and history, that they have to be experienced thoroughly. Some of these drinking holes have been around for 400 years, though the building might have burned down a couple of times throughout history. Take for example the pub on the picture, Lamb & Flag on Rose Street in Covent Garden. It was first licensed in 1625, but probably goes back to the time of Queen Elizabeth I (end of 16th-century). Rumour has it that Charles Dickens was a regular here. Can it become more Londonish?

Northern Ireland has some fantastic atmopheric pubs, and it's no more evident than in Belfast. Some of these traditional drinking holes go back to the 18th century with a crowd that almost seems equally old. Here you can get a well poured Guinness with a top foam so thick you can leave bite marks in it. It's also here you will find some great live Irish folk music. Not on a stage, but sitting at one of the tables fiddling and playing between the beer drinking. It hardly becomes more Irish than this.

At first you might wonder why anyone would want to drink Kava. A murky liquid with a strong bitter taste that leaves your lips and tongue numb. But then you feel it, a lightness that flushes to your head. You get mildly stoned, but without losing your mental clarity. And the best bit is you do not get any hangover the next day. Kava is legal throughout the South Pacific and is normally made by grinding the Kava root and adding a bit of water (though old tribe recipes demand it to be chewed by virgin boys). In Vanuatu, you can find Kava everywhere. Bigger villages have Kava bars that are signposted by a single colorful light bulb outside. When the light is turned off, there is no more Kava.