Drinking Traditions of Uzbekistan: 6 Local Beverages That Tell a Story

Uzbekistan’s drinking traditions reflect Silk Road crossroads, continental climate, and deep-rooted hospitality. Hot summers and long ripening seasons favor grapes, melons, and mulberries, while steppe and desert edges support dairy ferments.

In this majority‑Muslim country, alcohol is optional but present at family feasts, to’y weddings, and holiday tables. From sun‑drenched Samarkand wines to tangy milk ferments in Karakalpakstan, what people drink depends on geography, season, and ritual.

Grape wine has deep roots in the Zeravshan Valley around Samarkand, where scorching summers and big day–night temperature swings build sugar and aroma. Today’s producers range from legacy factories founded in the Russian Empire (the Samarkand winery dates to 1868, now known as Khovrenko) to small private bottlers. Grapes include heat‑loving varieties such as Muscat, Saperavi, Rkatsiteli, and local seedless types (kishmish), yielding dry, semi‑sweet, and dessert wines. Strength typically runs 11–14% ABV for table wines and 15–16% for fortified or naturally sweet styles.

Expect notes of apricot, melon, raisin, and spice in semi‑sweet cuvées; drier bottlings skew toward stone fruit and herbal tones. Wine is served at restaurants in Tashkent and Samarkand, and appears on festive tables from Bukhara to Khiva. Tastings are possible in Samarkand (Khovrenko’s museum and cellars), while souvenir shops in old towns stock regional labels. Locals pour wine with plov and kebabs during autumn harvest and family gatherings, when grapes are at their aromatic peak.

Qimiz, known across Central Asia, is a lightly alcoholic ferment (about 0.7–2.5% ABV) made from mare’s milk using a mixed culture of lactic-acid bacteria and wild or baker’s yeast. Fresh milk is warmed, inoculated with a starter from a previous batch, and churned in a wooden or metal vessel to aerate, promoting a gentle, effervescent tang. The result is bright, tart, and slightly creamy, with aromas of yogurt, hay, and fresh bread dough.

In Uzbekistan, qimiz is seasonal—most common in late spring and early summer when mares foal—on the fringes of the steppe and foothill pastures. You may see roadside stalls near grazing areas in the Fergana Valley or vendors supplying markets in cities like Andijan and Kokand, with some trade reaching Tashkent. Although closely associated with neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, qimiz persists in Uzbek communities influenced by nomadic lifeways. It’s sipped fresh in small bowls, often for its reputed digestive and restorative benefits.

Shubat (also called chal) is a camel‑milk ferment traditional to the arid west, especially Karakalpakstan. Compared with qimiz, shubat is fuller and richer due to camel milk’s higher fat content. Fresh milk is blended with a portion of previous shubat as a starter and left to ferment for 12–48 hours in covered containers; some households refresh the culture by adding warm milk in stages. Alcohol ranges around 0.8–2% ABV, while acidity and carbonation develop quickly in the heat.

The flavor is creamy, buttery, and tangy with a faint salinity and notes of soft cheese and fermented grain. In and around Nukus, shubat is sold chilled at markets during the warm months and served in small bowls with bread or savory snacks. It’s offered to guests as a thirst‑quenching, nourishing drink, and local families may send bottles to relatives in Urgench and the lower Amu Darya area. Because it spoils fast, shubat is best consumed the day it’s made.

Bo’za is a thick, gently fermented drink made from millet, wheat, corn, or rice that shows the shared Turkic‑Ottoman heritage of the region (variants are popular in Turkey). Grains are cooked into a porridge, cooled, inoculated with yeast (and sometimes lactobacilli), then left to ferment until softly tangy and faintly sparkling. Alcohol is minimal—typically around 1% ABV—balancing sweet cereal notes with lactic sourness.

In Uzbek cities such as Tashkent and Fergana, bo’zachi once sold warm bo’za in winter and around Nowruz in early spring; household versions still appear in cooler months. The texture is custardy, the aroma reminiscent of banana bread, toasted grain, and yogurt. Vendors sprinkle cinnamon or serve it with chickpeas for texture. Bo’za is more snack than inebriant—sipped in markets and teahouse courtyards, especially when temperatures drop—yet it remains a culturally meaningful, historical “bridge” beverage between everyday sustenance and celebration.

Araq (often spelled araq/araq) in Uzbekistan refers to vodka‑style neutral spirits, a legacy of the Russian Empire and Soviet periods. It’s typically distilled from grain or sugar‑beet alcohol to high purity, charcoal‑filtered, and diluted to 38–40% ABV. The result is clean, neutral, and peppery, intended to pair with rich dishes rather than to showcase raw material character. Domestic brands are produced by state and private distillers around Tashkent Region and shipped nationwide.

Culturally, araq is the go‑to hard liquor at to’y weddings, milestone birthdays, and New Year’s (Yangi Yil/Novy God) banquets, where hosts propose toasts between courses of plov, shashlik, and salads. In restaurants from Samarkand to Bukhara and Khiva, it’s poured into small shot glasses and chased with pickles, herbs, or bread. While not “ancient” in the way qimiz is, araq is firmly embedded in urban social life, occupying the role that grape brandies fill elsewhere in the Caucasus.

Mulberries (tut) thrive across Uzbekistan, historically linked to sericulture in the Fergana Valley, where towns like Kokand and Margilan raised silkworms on mulberry leaves. In some villages, ripe white or black mulberries are crushed, fermented with wild yeasts, and double‑distilled in small pot stills to make a fragrant spirit known locally as tut arag’i. Bottled at roughly 40–55% ABV, it carries honeyed, jammy aromas with hints of fresh wood, mint, and white pepper.

Production is largely household‑scale: fruit ferments in covered tubs for several days, the low‑wine is redistilled, and the heart cut rests briefly in glass. The spirit is sipped at home gatherings, sometimes sweetened with a spoon of mulberry syrup, and offered to guests alongside dried fruit and nuts. You’re most likely to encounter it via family connections or at rural markets in Andijan or Kokand, and occasionally in restaurants that highlight regional specialties in Tashkent. Its appeal lies in capturing the valley’s sun and fruit in a single, crystalline sip.