Mountain High

Man

y cultures make singular contributions to humanity, and in the case of the Limbu people of eastern Nepal, it is the drink known as tongba. Outsiders rarely get to savor this heady millet brew, which would have remained virtually unknown outside this remote area if it wasn't for the occasional mention in guidebooks. But tongba is like Guinness to the Irish or whisky to the Scots: it's something to celebrate and revel in, and to stumble and sing under its influence.

Upland Nepalis are avid home brewers, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the shadow of Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain. Any self-respecting village north of Dharan brews tongba, and the thirsty are welcome here. "One time I had tongba: after only two I tried to get up and walk and I couldn't," warns security guard K.C. Prakash Kumar. "It's very strong."

Tongba is made in a cylindrical wooden pot with polished brass banding (the tongba, from which the drink gets its name). This is filled with fermented millet seeds. Your host then adds hot water in a ritual reminiscent of a Japanese tea ceremony. Drinkers suck the alcoholic mixture through a bamboo straw with tiny filters to keep the seeds out, and it's a never-ending affair. You sit around the fire with a thermos flask topping up the pot for hours, and snack on spiced cucumber and mutton pieces known as sekura or sukuli. The locals will assure you that tongba never leads to hangovers—but it certainly makes sleep come more quickly.

After 20 days on the stuff (for research purposes, you understand), it becomes clear that tongba has varying degrees of smoothness akin to single malt or blended whiskies. Sampling it from village to village has the feel of a tour of Scottish distilleries. Maoist rebels may have enforced restrictions and even bans on drink in areas under their control, but many households still have a wee dram ready for a friendly foreigner with a few words of Nepali. Tongba's heartwarming kick is especially welcome during the winter, which incidentally is the best time for visiting the country: fewer tourists, no leeches, no rain, just pristine days made for glorious trekking and sightseeing.

Tongba is slowly gaining in popularity outside eastern Nepal. It's now available in Putali Sadak district in Kathmandu. You can also find it in Nepalese restaurants around Hong Kong's notorious Temple Street. Other tongba devotees as far away as Sydney solicit brewing tips via the Internet.

If you do get a taste for tongba, you might like to move on to the other mainstays of the Himalayan liquor cabinet, such as chang—a deceptively strong sour rice or millet brew with the texture of thin porridge. Then there's raksi, a distilled version of chang that resembles tequila. Order this with a tongba chaser, and you might have to forget about sightseeing for a while.