Ghanaian drinks and beverages

The drinks worth crossing the road for

Ghana's most interesting drinks are not on the supermarket shelf. They are in a cooler on a bench, poured from a repurposed bottle, or hacked open in front of you. Top of the list is sobolo, called bissap elsewhere in West Africa: dried hibiscus flowers steeped into a deep-red, tart drink, sweetened and usually spiked with ginger, sometimes pineapple or cloves. Served ice-cold, it is sharp and refreshing, a bit like unsweetened cranberry with a ginger kick.

You see it everywhere, from Makola traders to hotel menus, and it is a good introduction to how Ghanaians drink: cold, sweet and often built around ginger. Our food guide and street food guide cover the plates these drinks go with.

Palm wine, pito and the fermented family

Palm wine is the classic. Tapped straight from palms, the fresh sap is milky, faintly sweet and only lightly alcoholic in the morning; leave it a few hours and natural fermentation turns it sourer and stronger. In the forest and coastal south you can sometimes drink it the same day it is tapped. Distil it and you get akpeteshie, a fierce local spirit that deserves respect.

From the north comes pito, a brownish beer brewed from fermented millet or sorghum and traditionally drunk warm from a calabash, often at a pito bar where the whole pot is shared. It is tangy, low in alcohol and deeply social. Brukina (also called burkina) blends cooked millet grains with fermented milk into a thick, spoonable-then-drinkable snack you will see sold from insulated flasks. Asaana is a dark, sweet-sour drink made from caramelised fermented corn, and aliha is another corn brew you may be offered further north. If Kumasi and the Ashanti region are on your route, our Kumasi guide is worth a look.

Coconut, juice and non-alcoholic favourites

For pure refreshment, flag down a coconut seller. Fresh coconut water drunk straight from the shell is cheap, safe and everywhere, and when you finish, the vendor will split the nut so you can scoop the jelly. Roadside sugarcane and freshly blended pineapple, mango and watermelon juices are easy to find, though check the water and ice if the juice is diluted. A cold drink on the sand is one of Ghana's simple pleasures; our beaches guide shows where.

Non-alcoholic staples include lamugin, a spicy ginger drink, malt drinks such as Malta Guinness, and Alvaro, a popular malt-and-fruit soft drink. And yes, 'tea' usually means hot Milo or Lipton with evaporated milk.

Beer, spirits and a night out

Ghanaian lager is good and cold. Club and Star are the everyday beers, Gulder and Stone are stronger, and you will spot herbal bitters like Alomo at the bar, sipped in small measures. The neighbourhood bar here is called a 'spot', usually an open-air place with plastic chairs, loud highlife and grilled tilapia or khebab (spiced meat skewers) to go with the beer. Bottled beer is a safe, consistent choice anywhere, from a spot in Kasoa to a rooftop in Osu.

Accra's nightlife runs late and lively, with live highlife and afrobeats, outdoor bars and pumping clubs. Our Accra nightlife guide lays out where to go and how to get home safely. If you would rather keep it relaxed, a cold Club by the sea does the job just as well.

Drink well, stay well

Two things matter: water and strength. Many local drinks, sobolo and diluted juices included, are made with tap water and served over ice, so if your stomach is still settling, stick to sealed bottled or canned versions, factory-bottled sobolo, or coconut water straight from the shell. Sachet 'pure water' and bottled brands like Voltic are widely sold and safer than the tap.

On alcohol, palm wine and pito are stronger and less predictable than they taste, and akpeteshie is very strong, so go slowly. Full guidance is in our water and what to drink guide. Never drink and drive on Ghana's roads, which is exactly why many visitors book a driver-guide for evenings out.

Let us handle the good stuff

As a Kasoa team running tours across the country every week, we make sure clients taste the drinks worth tasting without the dodgy ice. On a private day we carry cold water and drinks in an air-conditioned car, stop at coconut and sobolo sellers we trust, and can end an evening at a proper highlife spot with a driver who gets you back to the hotel.

Send your dates and group size on WhatsApp for a tailored quote. What you pay depends on group size, distance and season, so we price each trip on its own rather than quoting a headline figure. See our private tours to start planning.

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