Find a Sudanese drink without which Eid al-Adha is not complete!

Eid al-Adha al-Mubarak is a ritual that varies from country to country, even if eating meat was the prevailing and common thing. In the Sudan, eating the drink known as “sharbout” is a well-established custom of the majority.

Drinking is usually done after eating meat at breakfast, where it helps digestion and relaxation, because of the nature of its composition.
The Sudanese inherited the drink from the north of the Sudan, where the Nuba’s ancestors had been drinking it in the areas around the Nile for thousands of years. It was therefore common in the rest of the country.

How is it made?

This drink is made from the fruits of the mussels, so that some spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and fenugreek are added to it.

The mixture is left for a period of time not exceeding one day after which it will emerge in its distinctive taste, after it has been placed in fire until the mussels are completely ripened.
Some families let drinks brew for two or more days, raising the degree of fermentation, and some add yeast, apples or fresh grape juice and raisins, helping to brew or diversify taste.

If in Ramadan the Sudanese were distinguished by the “hallomer” drink, Sharpot is considered a pure Sudanese advantage in the days of Adha.

Modern Sharpot

Some families eat the drinks they have made with neighbors, as a kind of social custom, on which people have traditionally exchanged meals, foods and drinks, usually associated with most festive seasons.

With modern life, the methods of the beverage industry have diversified and are made of different materials, such as guava and others to give the same effect, but older people still prefer the traditional method and taste known to them.

There are now ready-made beverages, which can be purchased in such a way as to limit the family to the process of making and equipping the house, especially with the high costs of the materials required.

Some women make drinks in large quantities and sell them for their livelihoods, benefiting from this season. Modern factories have also been established for this purpose, so that the drink is sold after packaging.

In any event, the beverage industry and preparations at least 48 hours before the dawn of Eid, require expertise and a lady who knows exactly what to do, otherwise the proportions and amounts will fail to lead to the drink’s failure to be as required.

Tweets and hashtag

With Eid al-Sharpot coming to Twitter, a number of young Sudanese have launched the hashtag # sharpout, which means that the new generation is also related to parents’ and grandparents’ traditions.

Omar Adam wrote in a tweet: “Don’t drink like a soup or sip it like a cartilage coffee, mate.”

Another wrote: “I no longer wait for nothing but drinks.”

In a tweet inviting people to his hospitality, Mustafa Bashir wrote, “I have the honour to invite you to sip a pack of our drinks.”