Uganda
The nightclub capital of East Africa– and the alcohol consumption capital of the world. It’s hard to come here and not have a good time. You might consult a couple of resources for help with some of the more colourful expressions, but it’s pretty easy to get along, pretty safe (except for taking Boda bodas at night or, indeed, even during the day).
Wine is South African and heavily overpriced. Go for it if you must, but the locals drink gin/waragi, whiskey, or beer.
Warning: You may have to specify that you want your beer cold. And “cold” may end up being a bit of a relative term.
What to drink
Waragi
The local (Ugandan) equivalent of gin. It’s not bad– especially with tonic– although apparently gives a massive headache to some. Conveniently sold in bottles or in 200ml sachets. Awesome for sneaking into clubs. Take some home with you and impress your friends.
There’s also a gold version…
Club
Cool Ladies Understand Brothers, apparently. This is your bog-standard lager. All the beers in Uganda come in 500ml bottles. Club’s 5% or so, and pretty decent, though without huge flavour.
Moonberg Lager
AKA Moonbaga Laga (in the local dialect). This is a new brew made according to the German Beer Purity Law. I don’t know what the style is but it’s not my personal favourite, but it’s definitely one of the better beers. If you’re into that sort of thing. It just has a certain arse flavour that I don’t particularly like.
OK but not preferred
Bell
Named for Port Bell, where the rail barges load to cross Lake Victoria. This is an old local brew, and very similar to Club. Safe to drink, if nothing special.
Castle
Blah blah, available all over Africa, they do have a milk stout as well, kind of expensive but OK and comes in cans so there’s no hassle about bottle returns if it’s a home party. Made in and imported from South Africa at god knows what carbon footprint…
Pilsner
Exclusively in cans, looks kind of sketchy, tastes a little worse. It won’t kill you but I never really liked it.
What not to drink… ever
Nile Special
I personally believe this beer is made with poison and methanol and, maybe, antifreeze. It has this flavour that reminds me of the worst warmed over Colt .45 I ever drank, but worse. Kind of what I imagine licking a sweaty man’s genitals would taste like. It is strong, though, at 6.5% or stronger, but I wouldn’t drink it.
Plus, the hangover from it (hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do) is eminently miserable.
Tusker Malt Liquor
This is not your tasty Kenyan Tusker lager which is OK, this is some odd malt liquor. also a strong beer, with some strange additives, not quite as foul as Nile Special, but you do get the sense that they’ve put something really cheap in it. Best avoided.
Technorati : beer, beer review, east africa, poison, review, uganda, what not to drink, what to drink
Del.icio.us : beer, beer review, east africa, poison, review, uganda, what not to drink, what to drink
Ice Rocket : beer, beer review, east africa, poison, review, uganda, what not to drink, what to drink
Flickr : beer, beer review, east africa, poison, review, uganda, what not to drink, what to drink
Zooomr : beer, beer review, east africa, poison, review, uganda, what not to drink, what to drink
Buzznet : beer, beer review, east africa, poison, review, uganda, what not to drink, what to drink
Riya : beer, beer review, east africa, poison, review, uganda, what not to drink, what to drink
43 Things : beer, beer review, east africa, poison, review, uganda, what not to drink, what to drink