Once every four years, the world gets a chance to do something truly special: escape the summer heat, sit on our couches sipping our beverages while highly skilled athletes from around the globe compete for glory.
Yes, Tippler Nation, we are talking about the Olympics! This year, let’s up your game with the national drinks from the participating Olympic and Paralympic Countries! There are 184 countries particpating this year–that’s a whole lot of national drinks–and we’ve done our best to traverse the globe and represent them all!
National Spirits
Anise & Bitter Herbs
At the top of our Olympic spirits round-up, anise flavored spirits are going for gold! Let’s jump off the block with Pastis, the national spirit of host country, France. Often confused with Absinthe, which can be poured to celebrate Switzerland! Aquavit is the spirit of Scandinavia, although the styles vary in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden. Anise is the star of Ouzo, Oghi and Raki, also known as “Lion’s Milk,” which are the national spirits of Greece, Armenia, and Turkey. Sprint on over to the Middle East for one of the oldest spirits there is: Arak. This anise infused brandy is the national spirit of Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Indonesia, and Israel. Becherovka from the Czech Republic and Riga Black Balsam from Latvia round out our licorice laced libations.
Black Juniper dominates in Slovakia’s national spirit, Borovicka, while eucalyptus and angelica root feature prominently in Hungary’s Unicum, who’s name translates to “unique!”
Sugarcane
With the sheer multitude of countries who’ve claimed a sugarcane distillate as their national spirit, you’ll never have to yell “why is the rum gone?!” during these Olympic and Paralympic Games!
Grab bottles of rum from Venezuela, Suriname, Saint Lucia, Madagascar, Antigua, Barbuda, and, of course, Jamaica, to raise a glass of their national spirit for their fantastic Olympians! Each country has its own unique rum style and we are here to try them all!
Pour out some aguardiente and don’t forget the fruit juice chasers while Columbia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica take to the field. This high proof sugarcane distillate is a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Tic Tack, the national spirit of El Salvador, Mlamba from Cameroon, and Grogue (named for Grog not Baby Yoda, nerd), Cape Verde’s cane juice distillate with a serious banana vibe. There may not be actual bananas in the national spirit from this island nation, but there sure will be in the Olympic Village! They plan to go through 3 million of them! We have zero clue how to tally that many bananas, but we find the national drink of the Dominican Republic most a-peal-ing. “Invented by Jesus Rodriguez in the 1950s, Mama Juana was created to be an herbal medicine that apart from acting as an aphrodisiac could rid you of the flu, aid digestion and circulation, and cleanse the blood, liver and kidneys.” Oh and it’s delicious.
Rounding out our rum-down is Thailand’s national spirit, Mekhong! Mekhong is distilled from a co-ferment of molasses and rice before it’s blended with native herbs and spices and sweetened with honey. The characteristic color comes from added caramel rather than barrel aging, and it is often eroniously refered to as “whisky.” This sweet and spiced sipper is a great pairing for all your spicy sports watching snacks!
Fruit Based
Brittish biographer Samuel Johnson once wrote, “he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy” and it would seem several nations agree!
Celebrate the heroic althletic feats of Chile and Peru with Pisco. The grape based distillate is the national spirit of both countries and they’ve been locked in a bitter rivalry over which of them can claim it, the likes of which we’ve only seen with fueding soccer teams. We’re staying out of the fight, as is the country sandwiched right between them: Bolivia. Bolivian’s make their own grape based national spirit: Singani. Have some ready before your team goes for the winning free kick.
Rakia or Rakija, a fruit based brandy, is the national spirit for most of the Balkans, including Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Bulgaria. In Romania, they swill ţuica, a plum based brandy that traces its origins to Medievil Times and is often distilled in illicit backyard stills. Zganje or Schnapps is what you’ll raise for celebrations in Slovinia, while in Georgia they will toast their team with Chacha, a pomace brandy akin to Grappa. Hungarians will clink their glasses of pálinka ,Cypriots will proclaim “Stin iyia mas” before tossing back Zivania, which is best served chilled straight from the freezer.
Distilled palm wine or Sodabi is what to enjoy while rooting for Benin, while twice distilled Divin is the appropriate choice to celebrate Moldova.
Grain Based
Forget the gains, these countries are all about the grains! Pour yourself a little Dutch Courage aka Genever while watching the Netherlands and Belgium. The national spirit has several drinking traditions to accompany it: choose between taking your first sip from the glass without picking it up or participate in kopstootje, or “little head-butt” by following your first sip with a shot of beer. Psshh we can totally play sports.
Pour some Sake in your friend’s glass every time Japan scores, Soju if it’s South Korea on the straightaway, and Baijiu for China. Just remember, for all three countries, traditionally you should not fill your own glass and drinking is supposed to be a communal event. Any excuse for an Olympic watch party!
In the Congo and Bhutan the national spirits are grain based and often made at home by the women of the communities. Lotoko from Congo is corn based, while Bhutan’s Ara can be rice, millet, or wheat.
While vodka can be distilled from any agricultural product, in Ukraine their national spirit is vodka typically distilled from wheat or rye.
That brings us to our national spirit in the USA, Tippler Nation! The one, the only, the 51% golden corn distillate: Bourbon. Hip hip hooray!
Agave
Just as there is only one Olympian on the top of the podium, there is only one national spirit distilled from agave: tequila! Arriba, abajo, al centro y adentro every time an athlete from Mexico wins!
Cocktails by Country
Olympic and Paralympic teams are comprised of athletes carefully chosen to create the perfect winning combination, just like these national cocktails! We might never make the Olympic Team, but we sure can shake (or stir) up a gold medal beverage any day of the week.
Starting your day by cheering for Canada? There’s only one cocktail that will do: the Caesar, of course! Clamato not your thing? Try one of our Bloody Mary variations!
Get your arm workout in and shake those cocktail tins for Peru, Chile, and Angola with their national cocktail: The Pisco Sour. We like to make a fizzy little variation!
Muddlers on your mark, get set, go! Portugal and Mozambique both claim Brazil’s Caipirinha, a zesty blend of muddled lime and cachaça as their national drink. Don’t put those muddlers down yet, you’re going to need them to make the national cocktail of Cuba! Our feelings on the Mojito are well documented, big big fans here at Team Crafty Cask. We also profess our undying love for the national cocktail of The British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas: The Painkiller. Maybe we just have a real thing for rum (as does the rest of the world, apparently) because Barbados’ Dark ‘n’ Stormy is always one of our go-to at home cocktails. Both the Painkiller and the Dark ‘n’ Stormy are trademarked cocktails, in sports-speak does that mean they’ve turned pro? We digress.
Let’s keep kicking those coconuts like we’re on the soccer pitch and go for the golden pineapple wedge with Puerto Rico’s Piña Colada, created at the Caribe Hilton in 1954. GOAL! Vaulting on over to Barbados and Grenada, we’re going to need to sample their Rum Punch before rowing over to Trinidad for their Queens Park Swizzle. Watching your team win is as delicous as a Mudslide, which is the national drink of the Cayman Islands where it was invented. Rounding out the list of tropical national cocktails, Aruba’s Aruba Ariba featuring Coecoei, a local liquour, is sure to get you in the cheering mood!
Italy’s national drink may be bitter in nature, but the Negroni is perfect to pre-batch for any Olympic watch party (we like to keep them in the freezer). If you’d rather go the fridge, open a can, and take a swig for your team, may we recommend Finland’s Ionkero or “long drink.” This RTD cocktail was actually created for the Helsinki Olympic Games! The organizers were psyched to host but wanted to make sure getting a drink was a breeze for both sides of the bar. It also might just be the perfect bev for at home sports watching as it is ingrained in the tradition of being “Pantsdrunk,” which for the Finns is basically some state of comfortable undress, can in hand. That right there, Tippler Nation, is a sport we can excell at. ::pops can:: Kippis!
If multiple ingredients and Hunter S.Thompson quotes are more your style, try your hand at Singapore’s Singapore Sling! After a few, you might forget you’re even watching organized sports but we can’t stop here, this is bat country!
Craving a real winner of a cocktail? Nicaragua’s national drink is the winner of a 2006 nationwide competition: El Macuá. Named for a Central American bird, this national cocktail is packed with rum and guava, yum!
Nigeria’s Chapman Cocktail can be made with or without vodka or rum, making it a crowd fave! Speaking of vodka, Kenya’s Dawa cocktail was inspired by the Caipirinha and does not shy away from a hearty dose of the spirit. The name means “medicine” and it is best consumed ice cold while you cheer.
Beer Takes The Bronze
Could you celebrate with a six pack of craft beer for just about every country competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games? Sure! Some countries have taken their love of beer to heart and named the third most popular beverage in the world the most important beverage in their nation!
Get your biceps ready for Oktoberfest by raising your beer stein in honor of Germany! Pivo or beer is also the tipple of choice for Poland, typically of the pilsner variety. Light crisp styles are also showcased in Angola’s Cuca, Gabon’s Regab , and Guatemala’ s Gallo which translates to “rooster” but don’t worry, they didn’t throw one in the brew tank. Pilsner is also popular in the Philipines, but you could always up the difficulty and open an 8% Red Horse tall boy–just don’t blame us if you don’t stick the landing after a few.
Sorghum and millet are the beers du jour if you hail from Burundi, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, or Namimbia. In Rwanda and Tanzania the national beers are brewed with sorghum and banana! If there are any bananas left over after the Olympics, that is.
Rice is the main ingredient in Beerlao, the national drink of Laos, they also distill it into rice whisky.
Naturally only a dry Irish Stout will do for the Emerald Isle, pair it with a wee dram of the water of life when the judges aren’t looking.
Tea Tops The Podium
Did you know that tea is the most popular beverage in the world (not counting water)? It should come as no suprise that the national drink of the most countries in these Olympic Games is some form of tea! You really can drink your way around the globe with just your kettle and teapot, although a few of these do traditionally involve special preparation or serving vessels.
Pick up a bombilla and mate gourd and brew up some yerba mate while watching Uruguay and Argentina, make an iced yerba mate or Terere to root for Paraguay. Tea is also the national drink of Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Oman, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh and Great Britain: throw a tea party for your team! We love any excuse for snack pairings.
If you’re rocking out for Morocco, Libya, or Algeria brew up some mint tea. Sip on regional versions of chai to support India and Iran. Want to raise your teacup to Guyana? Brew up a carribean beverage know as Mauby, which is tea-like in esssence and occasionally fermented. Get your green tea fix cheering for Vietnam, Myanmar, and Gambia, where the Attaya ceremony can take up to three hours. That’s a national drink that takes longer than most Olympic Sports!
Try your hand at whipping up Alouda, a milk bubble tea, to root for Mauritius. Brew up some rooibos to honor athletes from South Africa, hibsicus tea or Karkade for Egypt and Chad, where this national drink is called Karkanji.
Want to make a few national drinks that require near Olympic sport level precision? Hong Kong milk tea has been designated a recipe of “Intangible Cultural Heritage” by the UN and is prepared by “pulling” (similar to “rolling” or “throwing” behind the bar) the tea between two vessels, as is Malaysia’s Teh Tarik. If you pull off pulling tea at home, you deserve a medal (or at least a tea cake)!
There Is No Wine-ing in Winning
Wine is beloved all over the globe and we sure love any excuse to spritz it up! The countries who have embraced the fermented grape as their national drink might not be as numerous as those who’ve opted for fermented grain, and ok they might not all be using grapes, but they make some truly delicious signature sips.
Sip on Sherry or Vermouth while watching Spain (or take a page from our founder’s book and pick up some sidre). In love with Luxemborg? Don’t forget to have a chilled bottle of Reisling or Cremant handy to yell “grape, set, match!”
Ready to exclaim: “oh, honey, you won”? Lithuania, Eritrea, and Ethiopia all claim a form of mead as their national drink. Victory might be sweet, but it sure is sweeter when you’re sipping Malamba from Equatorial Guinea, wine made from fermented sugarcane, Tuba from Guam, or palm wine from Kiribati. No whining while watching these Olympic teams, just wine.
Ready To Drink Around The
World With Us?
Join the only subscription club for true craft drinks explorers, SipScout!
Spirit-Free National Drinks
Not all national drinks have booze as their base! These zero proof libations are ready to high dive right into the Olympic Village (where no alcohol is served btw) and you can even make quite a few in your own kitchen, score!
Get your caffeine kick with New Zealand’s flat white and Bahrain’s Gahwa, a spiced coffee that’s sure to get you ready to watch some serious competive sports. The Olympic Village anticipates it will go through a whopping 20 tons of coffee during the games! What’s going to happen to all the spent grounds? A local mushroom farm will be using them for fertilizer! You know we love when spent grounds and grains get a second life.
Cool off after providing sideline commentary from your couch with Australia’s LLB: Lemon, Lime, Bitters, their unofficial national drink since the late 1800s. Tickle your tastebuds with Limonana, a frozen mint lemonade popular in Israel and Jordan. Savor the sweet success of Pakistan with sugarcane juice, declared their national drink in 2019 after a landslide vote (sorry carrot juice). Swill your strawberry soda while watching Mozambique and keep it fizzy with an Almudler from Austria (also makes a great spritz!). Tart and tangy your vibe? Pour yourself a Bissap from Senegal!
Two countries competing in the Olympic Games claim a national drink that isn’t *actually* alcoholic but does qualify as a drug. We’re talking about Kava, the national drink of both Fiji and Samoa. It is available legally in the US and is commonly used as a sleep aid and muscle relaxant, traditionally it is consumed out of coconuts. That’s one way to unwind after all the cheering!
All that athleticism making you sweaty? Reach for a coconut water from Papua New Guinea, sure to keep you hydrated!
You Can’t Try This At Home, Kids
Well, Tippler Nation, we’ve shared national spirits, national cocktails, and a smattering of non alcohlic national drinks you can make at home to root for your fave country, but the following beverages (we’re sorry to say) you’ll have to travel to try. Grab those passports!
Make your way to Nepal to try Chhaang, a fermented beverage made by passing hot water through fermenting barley. It’s served in a large pot and drunk through a wooden straw but here’s the kicker: Chhaang is traditionally made in the areas at the base of Mount Everest. That’s just a tad far from your couch. Chhaang is popular among Sherpas, Newars, Rai, and Tamang people, and is often used in Tamang rituals. There are varieties not made near Everest, and even a few homebrew recipes out there.
Also on the list of national drinks that should be tried in their native countries are Kumys from Kazakhstan and Airag from Mongolia. Fermenting horse milk at home is out of our wheelhouse and the thought of consuming it might make your stomach do more backflips than Simone Biles, but in both countries this beverage is the GOAT.
Cheers to the 2024 Olympics!
Team Crafty Cask wishes a safe and fun Olympic Games to all the participating athletes! We are particulary psyched to check out the new sports making their debut this year (what is UP break dancing?!)!
Let us know what you selected to sip to support your fave Olympians in the comments below!
Jena is an event host & contributing writer for The Crafty Cask, as well as an award-winning bartender, cocktail educator, Cicerone Certified Beer Server, and Executive American Whiskey Steward. Based in NYC, Jena has been working in the craft alcohol world for the last 15 years with recipes appearing in Manhattan restaurant/bars & multiple publications. She is the 2019 Nikka Perfect Serve Global Runner Up and a 2020 Cognac Connection winner.
