Disclosure: we earn a commission if you buy through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Bee d'Vine is currently our only affiliate partner, and our bottle picks come from its range. How this works.
What is tej?
Tej (also written t'ej, pronounced roughly "tedj") is Ethiopian honey wine: honey and water fermented with gesho, a bitter East African shrub. It is typically 7% to 11% alcohol, golden and slightly cloudy, sweet up front with a herbal, hop-like finish. The same drink is called mes in Eritrea.
Ethiopia is one of the world's great honey countries, and by most estimates the majority of that honey ends up as tej. For centuries it was a drink of the court. Only the emperor and those he favored drank it, while everyone else made do with tella, a home-brewed beer. Today it is the national drink, brewed in homes and poured in dedicated tej houses across the country, and in Ethiopian restaurants from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles.
How tej is made
The recipe has three ingredients and no equipment more complicated than a jar.
- Honey and water are mixed at about one part honey to four or five parts water. Traditional brewers use raw, unfiltered honey, wax and all, which brings wild yeast with it.
- The mix rests for a few days, covered with cloth and stirred daily, until it starts to bubble.
- Gesho goes in, either as woody stems (gesho inchet) or dried leaves (gesho kitel). It adds bitterness and tannin-like structure, and it discourages the wrong microbes while the yeast works.
- After roughly one to three weeks, depending on the weather, the gesho is strained out and the tej is ready to drink. The longer it goes, the drier and stronger it becomes.
Some families add ginger or other spices. Berz, honey water that has not been fermented, is the non-alcoholic version.
What it tastes like
Imagine a sweet mead crossed with a farmhouse ale. The first impression is honey, orange and something floral. Then the gesho arrives: earthy, slightly medicinal, with a bitterness that dries out the finish and makes you want another sip. Fresh tej is often lightly fizzy because it is still fermenting. Restaurant tej ranges from soft and sweet to bracingly dry depending on how old the batch is.
That bitter edge divides people. If you love it, nothing else will do. If you would rather have the honey without the herb, a clean, wine-style honey wine is the better choice, which is the style Bee d'Vine makes.
The berele and the tej bet
Tej is drunk from a berele, a round glass flask with a long narrow neck that looks like it was borrowed from a chemistry lab. The shape is practical. The narrow opening keeps flies and dust out and holds the aroma in, and the flask sits comfortably in the hand when you grip the neck.
The place to drink it is a tej bet, literally a tej house: a simple bar, often with benches along the wall, where the drink is made on the premises and served by the berele. Regulars will tell you which house makes the best in town, and they will not agree.
You can buy a berele in the United States. Bee d'Vine sells a glass one embossed with ጠጅ for $10, which makes a good small gift alongside a bottle.
See the berele flask at Bee d'Vine
Where to buy Ethiopian honey wine
At an Ethiopian restaurant
The easiest way to try real tej is to order it with dinner. Many Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants in the US serve it, some house-made and some bottled. Ask which it is. House-made tej is usually cloudier, fizzier and more interesting.
Bottled tej
A handful of American wineries bottle tej. One of the easier ones to find is Sheba Te'j, made by Brotherhood Winery in New York's Hudson Valley and listed by several online wine retailers. On the West Coast, look for Enat, made in Oakland, California. Check the label if you specifically want the traditional gesho character. Availability depends heavily on your state, so a wine-search site or a call to the nearest Ethiopian market is the quickest way to find a bottle.
The refined, tej-inspired route
If you like the idea of Ethiopian honey wine but want something polished enough to pour for wine drinkers, Bee d'Vine is the one to know. It was founded by Ayele Solomon, whose family is Ethiopian, with the stated goal of refining t'ej into a natural wine. It leaves out the gesho, ferments only honey and spring water, and ages the wine for years. The Geteme bottling goes a step further and uses forest honey from Kafa, in southwest Ethiopia.
What to eat with it
Tej grew up alongside one of the world's great spicy cuisines, and the pairing logic is simple: sweetness cools chili heat. Pour it with:
- Doro wat, the slow-cooked chicken stew built on berbere and spiced butter.
- Kitfo, minced beef with mitmita and clarified butter.
- Tibs, sautéed beef or lamb with onions, peppers and rosemary.
- Misir wat and the other lentil and vegetable stews on a fasting platter, all scooped up with sour, spongy injera.
The same logic works well beyond Ethiopian food. See our honey wine food pairing guide for Thai, Sichuan, barbecue and blue cheese.
A simple tej recipe
This makes about a gallon. You can buy gesho online or at any Ethiopian market.
Home-style tej
- 3 cups (about 2.25 lb) raw honey
- 12 cups (3 quarts) non-chlorinated water
- 1 cup gesho inchet (stems), or a generous handful of gesho kitel (leaves)
- Optional but reliable: half a packet of wine yeast such as Lalvin 71B
- Sanitize a one-gallon glass jar. Stir the honey into the water until fully dissolved.
- Cover with a clean cloth and leave at room temperature for three days, stirring once a day. If you are using wine yeast, add it now and fit an airlock instead of the cloth.
- Simmer the gesho in a few cups of the honey water for 15 minutes, let it cool completely, and pour everything back into the jar.
- After five more days, strain out the gesho. Fit an airlock and let the tej ferment for another two to three weeks, tasting as you go. Stop when you like the balance of sweet and bitter.
- Strain through cloth into a clean jug or plastic (PET) bottles and refrigerate at once. The tej is still alive and still making gas, so leave the caps slightly loose or release the pressure every day, never seal it tight in glass or leave it at room temperature, and drink it within two to three weeks.
Want a clearer, stronger, longer-lived result? Use the method in our full honey wine recipe and add the gesho in secondary.
Frequently asked questions
Is tej the same as mead?
Tej is a kind of mead. All mead is fermented honey and water; tej is the Ethiopian and Eritrean version, flavored and bittered with gesho, a local buckthorn. That herbal, slightly bitter edge is what sets it apart from European-style meads.
What is gesho?
Gesho (Rhamnus prinoides) is a shrub native to East Africa. Its stems (gesho inchet) and leaves (gesho kitel) are added to tej and to tella, Ethiopian beer. It does the job hops do in beer: it adds bitterness and helps keep the ferment healthy.
How strong is Ethiopian honey wine?
Usually somewhere between 7% and 11% ABV, though homemade tej varies a lot with how long it ferments. Young tej is sweeter and weaker; older tej is drier and stronger.
Is Bee d'Vine tej?
It is tej-inspired. The founder's family is Ethiopian and the wine was conceived as a refined take on t'ej, but it contains no gesho and is aged for years like a table wine. If you want the traditional bittersweet style, order it at an Ethiopian restaurant or look for a bottled tej such as Sheba Te'j or Enat.
What is tej served in?
A berele, a round-bottomed glass flask with a narrow neck. You hold it by the neck and sip from the opening.
What is the honey wine called in Eritrea?
The same drink is called mes in Tigrinya. In Oromo it is daadhi.
Does tej need to be refrigerated?
Fresh, unfiltered tej is still alive and keeps fermenting, so yes: keep it cold, never seal it tight, and drink it within a few weeks. Commercially bottled tej is stable until opened; refrigerate it afterwards.