What People Drink in Nairobi: 5 Traditional Alcoholic Beverages

At 1,795 meters on the East African plateau, Nairobi draws people and flavors from all over Kenya. Its drinking culture blends highland grains, coastal palms, and community rites into a citywide spectrum of brews.

From Kikuyu ceremonies to Luhya-style beer halls and coastal mnazi joints, traditions adapt to urban life. Maize, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, and coconut meet in informal taverns, cultural eateries, and weekend gatherings.

Busaa is Kenya’s classic grain beer, widely brewed by Luhya and Kalenjin communities and embraced across Nairobi. It is made from malted sorghum or millet, often blended with maize meal. The grain is sprouted to activate enzymes, sun-dried, milled, and mixed into a porridge-like mash. Fermentation is spontaneous, driven by native yeasts and lactic acid bacteria, and typically lasts 24–72 hours, yielding a cloudy, straw-to-amber drink.

The taste is lightly sour, cereal-forward, and refreshing; aromas suggest wet grain, yogurt, and faint banana esters. Alcohol by volume (ABV) usually ranges from 2–6%, depending on dilution and fermentation time. Traditionally served in calabashes, busaa today is poured into plastic cups at “mama pima” taverns and backyard beer dens across estates. It’s a social, afternoon-to-evening drink, paired with conversation and simple snacks. Busaa’s roots lie in communal labor and rites of passage, but in Nairobi it has become a neighborhood staple—informal yet deeply tied to grain agriculture from Western Kenya and the Rift Valley.

Chang’aa—colloquially “kill-me-quick”—is a potent spirit distilled from fermented maize, sorghum, or sugarcane. In Nairobi, small-scale producers typically use improvised pot stills made from metal drums and coils, with the mash fermented for a few days before distillation. Done carefully, the result is a clear spirit with cereal sweetness and a peppery heat; poorly made versions can be harsh and solvent-like.

ABV commonly falls between 30–50%, though it can be higher. The drink has a fraught history: periodic crackdowns followed incidences of adulteration, and Kenya’s Alcoholic Drinks Control Act (2010) sought to regulate production standards. Despite risks in unregulated settings, chang’aa remains part of Nairobi’s working-class nightlife and is sold in backstreet bars and informal settlements, typically consumed in small shots late into the night. Its persistence speaks to urban economics and the adaptability of grain-based distilling traditions, even as public health campaigns continue to push for safer, licensed production.

Muratina is a Kikuyu ceremonial brew whose identity centers on the sausage tree fruit (Kigelia africana), locally called muratina. The dried, lightly charred fruit acts as a fermenting aid and flavor component when soaked in sugarcane juice or a honey-sweetened solution. Traditional batches ferment in gourds over one to three days, using native yeasts carried by the fruit and environment. The result is a lightly effervescent, amber-hued drink.

Expect a semi-sweet, gently tart profile with notes of ripe banana, cane, and subtle wood smoke from the treated fruit. ABV varies by household recipe, typically around 8–12%. While muratina anchors weddings (ruracio), initiations, and reconciliation rituals in Central Kenya, Nairobi’s Kikuyu community keeps the tradition alive in cultural eateries and weekend functions across the city. You’ll encounter it at family celebrations and community halls, often poured from gourds and shared to affirm kinship and hospitality—a rural rite translated to the capital’s social calendar.

Mnazi is coconut palm wine, tapped from the inflorescence of the coconut (Cocos nucifera) and long associated with Kenya’s coastal Mijikenda and Swahili communities. Tappers slice the flower stalk and collect sap in gourds; natural yeasts begin fermentation immediately. Fresh mnazi is milky-white, lightly sweet, and softly sparkling. As hours pass, lactic tang builds and sweetness fades, increasing alcohol and acidity.

In Nairobi, mnazi travels inland via traders and coastal-run taverns; it’s also served at coastal restaurants and community joints that cater to Mombasa expatriates. ABV ranges from about 2–6% when fresh to roughly 5–8% after a day, depending on temperature and handling. Aromas suggest coconut water, fresh dough, and a yogurt-like edge. Mnazi is a daytime social drink, poured from jerrycans into simple cups and sipped with friends. It anchors coastal rites—weddings, clan meetings—and, in the capital, it serves as a cultural link to the Indian Ocean littoral despite Nairobi’s cool highland climate.

Marwa is a communal sorghum beer from the Kuria people (southwestern Kenya) that has found a niche in Nairobi’s diaspora taverns. Malted red sorghum (sometimes with finger millet or cassava) is sprouted, dried, and milled, then mixed with warm water to ferment in clay or plastic pots. The brew is served in a central pot, and drinkers sip through long straws while periodically adding water to extend the session—an interactive practice that stretches from afternoon into evening.

Marwa pours opaque and earthy, with a soft, porridge-like mouthfeel. Flavors are malty and gently sour, accented by husky grain and a faint smokiness from traditional roasting. ABV tends to be modest—around 2–5%—because the drink is diluted over time as it’s shared. In Nairobi, you’ll find marwa during community fundraisers, weekend get-togethers, and cultural events, especially in venues frequented by migrants from the southwest. Beyond conviviality, marwa encodes agricultural knowledge: it celebrates drought-tolerant sorghum and millet that have sustained households across semi-arid landscapes.