Yeast & Fermentation

Tella ferments without any purchased yeast. Instead of a pure cultured strain, a mix of wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria does the work, originating from the grain, the vessel and the surrounding environment. Experts call this mixed fermentation, and it's what gives the drink the light sourness many people taste.

The process has several stages. First, malt and gesho are added to boiled, cooled water, then the mash sits for a few days. Finally it's strained, and depending on taste, diluted with water. The finished Tella is low in alcohol and barely carbonated.

How much alcohol does Tella have? Studies usually cite roughly two to eight percent, depending on the recipe and fermentation time. The range is wide because no two households brew alike. The pH falls in the acidic range, typically between three and five.

There's practically no aging involved. At room temperature Tella keeps for about five to seven days; experiments with pasteurizing and filtering could extend this to around fourteen days. That's why it's brewed in small batches and drunk quickly, often in a Tella bet, the houses that serve Tella.

Tej also ferments spontaneously or with gesho, just from honey instead of grain. The result is a wine-like drink reaching up to eleven percent alcohol. The big breweries of St. George and Bedele, meanwhile, rely on controlled fermentation with cultured yeast in tanks, so flavor and alcohol content stay consistent.