TEA

With a history that date back well over 200 years, it is no surprise that drinking tea in Vietnam is a national pastime. At any time of the day you will see group of men and women sitting outside discussing the news of the day over a tiny cup of tea. For Northern students, meeting your friends at the most popular tear joint, playing cards, chatting and people watching whilst slowly cracking into a bowl of sunflower seeds is de riqueur. To the Vietnamese, tea is not just a drink - it is a refresher when working in the field, a welcome for house guest, an offering to ancestors, or protection from region to region, as does its type and flavor. Green tea is by far the most popular, although black, oolong and yellow tea also available.

RICE AND FRUIT WINE

It is the rosy red faces that give it away. Rice wine is the second go – to beverage after tea in Vietnam and is used as an offering, to cure ailments, and to celebrate or commiserate at special occasions. Particularly popular in Vietnam’s mountainous north, rice and fruit wines are consumed in large quantities. Ruou Gao (rice wine) is made from rice, ruou nep is made from sticky rice and comes in different colors, purple and white, resulting from the different types of rice used to make it. In some ethnic minority cultures ruou nep is drunk communally from a ceramic jar with a straw. Fruit wines are made from just about all upland fruits including plum, strawberry, apple and, of course, grapes. Another type of rice wine, ruou ran (snake wine), is said to cure everything from night blindness to impotence. Fiery and warm, strong and, in cool weather the perfect winter blanket, sampling some rice wine in Vietnam is an experience not to be missed.