Fermented Drink · Senoufo Brew
Tchapalo
Photo: Kidoudeni / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
It is a close cousin of dolo in neighboring Burkina Faso and pito in Ghana, all sorghum beers brewed and sold mostly by women.
Sorghum or millet is soaked, germinated, sun-dried, ground and slow-boiled for hours into a tangy, low-alcohol beer, then served warm or cool from large calabashes. It's brewed and sold by women in dedicated 'tchapalodromes' across northern towns like Ferkessédougou near Korhogo.
Why it's made this way: Tchapalo's home base is Ivory Coast's northern savanna, where it's brewed and drunk by the Senoufo, Tagbana and Koulango peoples — a tradition shared with millet beers across the wider Sahel.
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