-There is definitely a distinct flavor to it.
-The chufly, that's the national cocktail of Bolivia.
-Georgians are always about making sure
that there's alcohol on the table.
It's about a way of life.
-So, makgeolli, it's the oldest liquor
that was produced in Korea.
It's a sparkling rice wine that was made for the farmers.
It was kind of the beverage that they had
when they're out in the field, working.
It was really high in calories, so it gave them energy.
-It was made in almost every household.
You know, had their own batch of makgeolli.
So it was a welcoming drink.
-Traditionally, what you would do is you would
take steamed rice,
you would add yeast to it, water, and nuruk.
And what you do is you put that all together
and allow that to brew for, like, maybe two to three weeks.
I mean, honestly, it's not very hard to do.
Again, this was done in everyone's home.
Just like you would ferment your own kimchi at your house,
you could also make your own makgeolli.
-With any type of home brewing, you know, sterility is the key,
to make sure you have a very sterile environment,
so you're not introducing any harmful bacteria
to the process besides the natural bacteria
that result from the fermentation process.
It's a fun drink to drink with groups.
The etiquette of never pouring your own drink,
you always pour for everyone else.
And then, at the end, someone will pour your drink,
and then you can have "cheers" and have a drink together.
And if you're sharing a drink with someone
that's older than you, you turn away.
You never drink facing your senior.
So, they all do a "cheers" -- all "cheers" together --
and you see half the table just kind of turn away.
-Yeah, it's a respecting, yeah.
-Chacha, in its most technical form,
is what's called a pomace brandy.
When you make wine, you press grapes,
and what's left over is what's called pomace,
and that's grape skins, grape seeds.
And then you take that and separate it off the wine.
And what you do is you then ferment that.
And like any distillation, there's high-class stuff,
and then there's the people who just sort of do it at home.
And there's something really endearing to that, as well.
And it's less kind of about technical, like,
measuring the temperature or getting it exactly right.
It's more about, you know, having fun,
bringing the family out.
I'm going to say we should drink it.
-Alright. -Because it's [chuckles].
-Very grapey, very smooth.
It's not really, you know, hot the way chacha fresh
out of the pot still in someone's backyard will be.
-A different kind is where you take chacha,
and then you age it in oak barrels.
-It's almost between a scotch and a bourbon,
or between a mescal and a bourbon,
because it's got these sweet notes like a bourbon would have,
but there's a smokiness like a scotch or a mescal.
-We've done it in shots.
Typical, very often is the little horn.
So, little horns that come from either sheep or rams.
And so you're -- Typically, in Georgia,
you're drinking wine out of very large horns,
but the chacha will come served in, you know, smaller horns.
They're sometimes bigger than you expect.
Georgia is one of the oldest
Christian countries in the world.
You always do things in three because God is three persons.
So you usually start your evening with three shots,
and then, the next morning,
you usually start your morning with three shots.
Sometimes it's an excuse to drink more,
but most of the time, it is a faithful way to do it.
-Singani is an unaged Bolivian brandy.
So, it's grape-based.
It's essentially like distilling a wine.
And the huge defining factor is that it's produced and grown --
the grapes are grown all high-altitude.
-And it's also exclusively muscat of Alexandria grapes,
and is known as being one of the most aromatic.
The minimum elevation to call yourself singani is 5,200 feet.
So, when you stick the super, crazy aromatic grape,
it becomes like a muscat on steroids.
They're really thicker skins.
And then the distillation is a slightly lower boiling point,
so you're able to capture and keep more of those complexities.
-It tastes kind of like it has
a flavor put into it, and it doesn't,
and that's what's kind of nuts about the product itself.
It's so floral --
like, these honeysuckle notes, white flowers.
It's super citrusy, like a Meyer lemon.
And then it has this, like, really nice spice to it that's,
like, pink peppercorn spice, so it's almost a fruity spice.
-Originally, it was -- I mean,
the miners were drinking this to warm themselves up.
So you'll still see the older generation
drinking it in the winter, to warm themselves up.
-So, now, like, pretty much most families
have a small batch of singani.
-In the wine country.
-In the wine country, yeah. -Yeah.
-[speaks native language]