Local Drinks

1. Maheu

   Maheu (fermented maize drink)

   Usage

   A thick drink made by lightly fermenting bota (thin porridge) with malt (chimera). It is not fermented far enough to intoxicate, so it is not alcoholic. Sold chilled, at roadside stalls and in eating houses alike

   Grammar Note

   A class 6 ma- noun taking a- agreement, as in the example "Ndinoda maheu anotonhora" (I want cold maheu). Variants: mahewu, mabiti, biti and magada

2. Mukaka wakakora

   Mukaka wakakora (soured, thickened milk)

   Usage

   Milk left to sour and thicken in a hodzeko, the earthenware pot kept for the purpose. Eaten with sadza or drunk on its own. The very thick kind is called mbote

   Grammar Note

   Mukaka is a class 3 mu- noun, so the qualifying relative agrees with it and begins wa-, giving wakakora; a class 6 ma- noun would take akakora instead

3. Mutuvi

   Mutuvi (whey)

   Usage

   The slightly sour liquid that separates out when milk curdles. Once the milk sets, the curd (ruwomba) sits above the mutuvi. It is drunk rather than thrown away

   Grammar Note

   A class 3 mu- noun taking u- agreement, as in the example "Mutuvi unonaka kana wanyatsotapira"

4. Muto wemichero

   Muto wemichero (fruit juice)

   Usage

   Juice pressed from fruit. In the example "fruit juice is delicious" it is in the singular, muto wemuchero. On its own muto also means broth or sap, so wemichero is added when you mean juice

   Grammar Note

   Muto is a class 3 mu- noun, so the associative "of" is we-, giving muto wemichero. Michero is the class 4 plural of muchero (fruit)

5. Tii

   Tii (tea)

   Usage

   Leaves infused in boiling water. The example "Ndinoda tii ine shuga nemukaka" (I like tea with sugar and milk) shows that sugar and milk are the default. Often taken in the morning with mbambaira (sweet potato)

   Grammar Note

   An English loan, treated as class 9 and taking i- agreement, as in "tii ine shuga". Being a loan it is not broken up internally

6. Kofi

   Kofi (coffee)

   Usage

   Ground roasted beans brewed with hot water. The seed separated from the cherry is kofi isina kubikwa (green coffee); the roasted bean is kofi yakakangwa

   Grammar Note

   A loanword treated as class 9, taking i-/ya- agreement ("kofi isina kubikwa" for green beans, "kofi yakakangwa" for roasted). The spellings khofi and koffi also occur

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