Local Drinks

1. Chai

   Chai (tea)

   Usage

   The most commonly drunk beverage in East Africa. Ask simply for "chai" and, depending on the place, you may be served sweet milk tea. To be specific, say "chai ya maziwa" or "chai ya rangi"

   Grammar Note

   N-class (9/10), identical in singular and plural. As an N-class noun it takes the associative "ya", as in "chai ya maziwa"

2. Chai ya maziwa

   Chai ya maziwa (milk tea)

   Usage

   Tea brewed in milk. The standard breakfast drink alongside chapati or maandazi. It usually comes sweetened, so add "bila sukari" (without sugar) if you do not want it sweet

   Grammar Note

   ⚠ "maziwa" is also the plural of "ziwa" (lake); only the drink context makes it "milk". Example: "chai ya maziwa" (milk tea).

3. Chai ya rangi

   Chai ya rangi (black tea, no milk)

   Usage

   Tea served without milk — the phrase to use if you are avoiding dairy. Tea without milk is called "chai ya mkandaa", also "chai ya rangi"

   Grammar Note

   Literally "tea of colour" — it stays the colour of tea instead of being whitened with milk. "chai ya mkandaa" is the synonym

4. Kahawa

   Kahawa (coffee)

   Usage

   Both Tanzania (Kilimanjaro, Mbeya) and Kenya grow arabica. In town, vendors carry a brass pot and sell it by the small cup. The raw material is "buni", the coffee berry

   Grammar Note

   N-class, identical in singular and plural. Borrowed from Arabic "qahwa"

5. Madafu

   Madafu (young coconut water)

   Usage

   The water inside an unripe coconut, cut open in front of you along the coast and in Zanzibar. It is also used for rehydration in cases of diarrhoea

   Grammar Note

   ji-/ma- class (5/6): singular "dafu", plural "madafu"; vendors normally use the plural. The liquid alone can also be called "maji ya dafu"

6. Maji ya matunda

   Maji ya matunda (fruit juice)

   Usage

   Freshly squeezed juice — mango, passion fruit and sugarcane are the usual ones. "Sharubati" (from Arabic) and "juisi" (from English) are equivalents, and shop signs use all three

   Grammar Note

   "maji" is a class-6 plural noun and so takes the associative "ya"; "matunda" is the ji-/ma- class plural of "tunda" (fruit)

7. Soda

   Soda (soft drink)

   Usage

   Any bottled fizzy drink. In East Africa the bottle carries a deposit, so you normally drink it at the kiosk and hand the bottle back. Add "baridi" (cold) if you want it chilled

   Grammar Note

   ⚠ Soda can also mean sodium carbonate. In a drink context it is a soft drink (vinywaji laini); kinywaji means beverage.

8. Uji

   Uji (thin drinking porridge)

   Usage

   Grain flour boiled thin and drunk from a cup — a breakfast sold at stalls and markets in the morning. It is made from maize but also sorghum, finger millet or pearl millet flour, and is favoured for children and the sick

   Grammar Note

   A u-class mass noun with no plural. Made from the same grain flour as ugali — stiff and kneaded it is "ugali", thin enough to drink it is "uji"

9. Togwa

   Togwa (lightly fermented sweet grain drink)

   Usage

   A cold drink made from grain or fruit juice. It is made the same way as beer but caught before it turns alcoholic. Found in Tanzanian villages and markets

   Grammar Note

   ⚠ Example: "Togwa ndiyo itakuwa pombe ikikaa" — left standing, it becomes beer. Fresh it is non-alcoholic; older batches are not guaranteed to be

10. Mtindi

    Mtindi (fermented sour milk)

    Usage

    Soured, thickened milk. It is curdled milk with a sour taste, used both as a drink and as an accompaniment to food. Everyday fare in pastoralist areas, and sold in cartons in town

    Grammar Note

    ⚠ Mtindi can also mean alcohol. At a dairy counter or eating house it refers to fermented milk.

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