It’s one thing to crush grapes to make wine. But what about making banana wine? Contributing writer Rachel Weil recently traveled to Rwanda, where bananas are traditionally used to make wine. Find out how she discovered this native drink, and how she came across the recipe.

Like many visitors to Rwanda, I was excited to explore the chimp and gorilla treks and experience local cuisine and specialty drinks. I have traveled to Africa before, and found good food was always in abundance. Getting drunk in Rwanda was not part of the plan, but that was before I discovered what the Rwandans do with….bananas.

As a staple in East Africa, bananas are grown in over 85 percent of households. Steamed green bananas with peas are a staple in Rwanda (and are quite delicious), but the majority of the crop is used for wine production. Surprisingly, the Rwandans’ traditional drink of choice is none other than banana wine.

Where do you come face to face with that wine? Start in Nyungwe National Park, in the southern part of Rwanda. It’s a prime ecotourism destination, and home to the largest protected mountain rainforest in Africa. In addition to chimpanzee trekking, birdwatching, and a canopy walk, there’s also banana wine brewing and tasting.

“Since I was a kid there was always banana wine at my grandfather’s house,” states Amani Egide, owner of Susa Tours in Rwanda. “Every gentleman’s conversation was around banana wine. I’ve seen it bring people together, especially when there was a conflict between them. They drink till they are drunk and start to dance all together, however, it was not allowed to children and women.”

The banana wine I drank in Rwanda had a light brown, cloudy color. I thought the taste was a bit unusual at first. However, as I took a few sips it grew on me, and I really liked it. The wine tasted a lot like bananas… it was sweet, almost like a heavier banana juice.

Egide shared his recipe of banana winemaking with me on my trip. The recipe makes approximately one gallon of banana wine:

Ingredients

7 large ripe Imbire bananas (from tall banana tree called Inshinge /1 banana can weigh up to 25 kilograms)
1 umuvure (a small wooden boat, looks like a canoe)
1 jerrycan (weighing 20 litres)
2 kilograms fermented sorghum flour
2 Inshinge (buckets of grass)
1 matchstick

Directions

1. Peel ripe Imbire bananas, then squeeze them by hand over an umuvure to get the juice out
2. Slowly add about 7 litres of water to umuvure to help mash bananas and retrieve juice
3. Add inshinge
4. Pour banana juice into a jerrycan
5. Add sorghum flour
6. Dig a hole in the ground
7. Light a fire inside the hole and let burn
8. Once the fire is out, partially fill hole with grass while still hot
9. Place jerrycan in hole and fill in with remaining grass
10. Leave for  three days
11. Remove jerrycan

You can easily tweak the recipe by using regular bananas in place of Imbire bananas, and hay—yes, hay—instead of inshinge. Since digging a hole and lighting it on fire violates all sorts of common sense (not to mention local ordinances) just try putting a large blanket around the can and keeping it indoors at room temperature for three days.

For more information about unique wine and culinary treats, check out:

• Celebrating Harvest Season With Green Vineyard Experiences
• The Best Places Where You Can Try Street Food
• Hawaiian Cuisine: Once Fussy & Fried, Now Fresh & Flavorful
• A Food Critic’s Favorite New York Neighborhood Restaurants

Text and Images by Rachel Weil for PeterGreenberg.com