Beyond wine: chacha, Georgian beer, lemonade and mineral waters

Georgia’s drinks culture goes well beyond the qvevri cellar. Chacha, the fiery pomace spirit made from what is left after the grapes are pressed, sits on almost every family table alongside craft beer that has only existed for a decade, lemonades that generations of Georgians grew up drinking, and mineral waters bottled at source in the mountains since the nineteenth century. None of it is folklore for tourists: it is what Georgians actually drink at a Sunday lunch, after a hike, or when someone has a stomach ache and reaches for a bottle of Borjomi rather than a pharmacy.

This guide explains how chacha is distilled and served, where to see it made, what is happening in Tbilisi‘s small but serious craft beer scene, the difference between Natakhtari and Zedazeni lemonades, and how Borjomi, Nabeglavi, Sairme and Likani waters differ in mineral content and traditional use. Prices, licensing rules and health guidance change, so each section says where to check the current official position rather than quoting a number that may be out of date by the time you read this.

What chacha is and how it is made

Chacha is a clear grape spirit distilled from pomace, the skins, pips and stems left in the press after wine is drawn off, though some village producers distil from whole grapes or from the lees at the bottom of a qvevri. The mash ferments for a few weeks, then is run through a pot still, traditionally a wood-fired copper or clay apparatus, sometimes twice to raise strength and clean the flavour. Commercial chacha is usually bottled between 40 and 50 percent alcohol by volume; home-distilled chacha served at a family table can be considerably stronger, and strength varies far more than with wine, so treat an unlabelled glass with caution. Georgian grape distillation sits in the same family tradition that produced qvevri winemaking, the UNESCO-listed method of fermenting wine in buried clay vessels, which is where most chacha’s raw material comes from in the first place, see the inscription on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Commercial production, labelling and export of chacha and other grape spirits are regulated by the National Wine Agency, and the rules on licensing change from time to time, so anyone setting up a sale or bringing bottles home in quantity should check current requirements directly with the National Wine Agency rather than rely on hearsay.

Chacha is usually drunk neat, in small glasses, as a toast rather than a sipping drink, often alongside khinkali or a heavy supra. Infused versions steeped with honey, walnut, feijoa or tarragon are common in home kitchens and increasingly in bars, softening the burn without diluting the strength.

Where to taste it: distilleries, cellars and chacha tours

Kakheti and Imereti both have family cellars that distil chacha alongside wine, usually from the same autumn harvest, and a growing number open their stills to visitors between September and November. A guided day lets you see the press, the still and the ageing room in one visit, and compares chacha against the wine it came from, which is the clearest way to understand the link between the two. Our own Chacha and Qvevri — a Distillery and Cellar Day in Kakheti covers exactly this, and the Qvevri Masterclass pairs a winemaker with a qvevri maker for a longer, hands-on day. Outside the autumn distilling season, Tbilisi wine bars pour chacha flights alongside natural wine, which is the easier option if you are short on time; the Tbilisi Natural Wine Evening visits three bars and includes both.

Georgian craft beer, a recent but fast-growing scene

Lager has been brewed industrially in Georgia for over a century, but independent craft breweries are a recent arrival, opening mostly in Tbilisi since the mid-2010s and expanding steadily since. The scene is small by regional standards, built around a handful of taprooms rather than supermarket shelves, and styles lean toward IPAs, wheat beers and seasonal fruit beers using local produce such as feijoa or tarragon. Coverage of individual breweries and openings appears regularly in Georgian English-language press, including Agenda.ge and Georgia Today, which is a better way to find out what has opened this season than any guidebook, since bars and brands change faster than print. Large industrial brewers, among them Natakhtari, also make beer alongside their soft drinks and remain the default pour in most restaurants outside the capital.

Natakhtari and Zedazeni: the lemonades of a Georgian childhood

Georgian lemonade is not citrus soda; it is a carbonated soft drink tradition dating to the nineteenth century, built around flavours that read strangely to a first-time visitor and are genuinely loved by Georgians of every generation. Natakhtari and Zedazeni are the two largest producers and both sell the same core range of flavours, though recipes and sweetness levels differ slightly between the two brands.

• Tarragon (estragon) — bright green, herbal, the most distinctive and most polarising flavour
• Pear — sweet, closer to a soft drink most visitors recognise
• Cream soda — vanilla-like, sold as “Baghi” style in some ranges
• Grape — dark, grapey, less sweet than Western grape sodas
• Saperavi or “Tarkhuna”-adjacent fruit blends, which change seasonally

Both brands are sold everywhere from corner shops to restaurant menus, usually in half-litre glass bottles, and are a reasonable non-alcoholic pairing for khachapuri at a Supra Evening with a Tamada or simply from a market stall on a Tbilisi Market and Street-Food Walk.

Mineral waters: Borjomi, Nabeglavi, Sairme and Likani compared

Georgia’s geology, shaped by volcanic activity in the Lesser Caucasus, produces several naturally carbonated mineral springs that have been bottled and drunk therapeutically since the Russian imperial period. Composition, carbonation and traditional use differ meaningfully between the four best-known sources.

Borjomi is bottled within what is now Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, one of the largest protected forest areas in the Caucasus, managed by the Agency of Protected Areas; details of the park and its access rules are on the Agency of Protected Areas site. Likani, a short distance away, is best known for its former royal residence and remains tied to the same gorge’s waters. Sairme and Nabeglavi are the two most widely drunk everyday mineral waters outside the Borjomi name, and both are sold in supermarkets across Georgia.

What the waters are said to help with, and what to ask your doctor

Georgian balneology, the medical use of mineral waters and baths, has a long institutional history, with resorts at Borjomi, Likani, Sairme, Abastumani and Tskaltubo built specifically around local springs and, at Tskaltubo, naturally occurring radon-carbonate water. These resorts traditionally treat digestive, kidney, urinary and musculoskeletal complaints through supervised drinking cures and mineral baths, and that tradition continues at working spa hotels today, which is what our Borjomi Family Spa Break — 4 Nights, Sairme and Abastumani — Mountain Spas in 4 Nights, and Tskaltubo Cure — 7 Nights of Radon-Carbonate Baths and Mud programmes are built around. None of this is a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. Mineral water can support hydration and may suit people managing mild digestive discomfort, but claims about curing specific conditions should not replace a doctor’s advice, particularly for anyone with kidney disease, heart failure, high blood pressure, or on a sodium-restricted diet, since several Georgian mineral waters carry meaningfully more sodium and minerals than ordinary bottled water. Anyone considering a drinking or bathing cure for a diagnosed condition should discuss it with their physician before travelling, and should check current bottled water safety standards with Georgia’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, which oversees food and drinking water regulation.

Buying, carrying and drinking responsibly

All four waters, Natakhtari and Zedazeni lemonades, and bottled craft or industrial beer are sold in supermarkets, kiosks and restaurants throughout Georgia, and Borjomi in particular is exported widely enough to be found in many countries’ supermarkets; production and export figures are tracked by the national statistics office at Geostat for anyone wanting hard numbers rather than brand claims. Chacha is the one item on this list that needs more care when travelling: strength varies widely between bottles, home-distilled chacha offered at a village table may be considerably stronger than a labelled commercial bottle, and airlines and destination customs set their own limits on alcohol carried in checked luggage, so check your airline’s rules and your home country’s duty-free allowance before buying several litres to take home. If chacha, craft beer or a spa cure is central to your trip rather than incidental to it, build it into the itinerary deliberately with a guide who can translate labels, explain strength and pace tastings sensibly, which is the approach our Culinary Georgia in 6 Days and Kakheti Table — 3 Days of Supras, Cellars and Village Kitchens tours take.

Practical summary

• Chacha is a grape-pomace spirit, usually 40-50 percent ABV commercially, stronger and more variable when home-distilled; drink it neat, in small measures, and ask before accepting an unlabelled pour.
• Visit Kakheti or Imereti distilleries in autumn to see chacha made, or book a city tasting at a Tbilisi wine bar year-round; check current licensing and export rules with the National Wine Agency.
• Georgian craft beer is a small, recent Tbilisi-centred scene; follow local English-language press for current breweries and openings rather than an old guidebook.
• Natakhtari and Zedazeni make the same family of traditional lemonade flavours, tarragon, pear, cream soda and grape; both are widely available and non-alcoholic.
• Borjomi and Likani are sodium-bicarbonate waters from the same gorge inside Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park; Nabeglavi and Sairme are lighter and more varied in mineral content.
• Mineral water drinking cures are a genuine Georgian spa tradition, but are not a medical treatment; consult a doctor before a cure if you have kidney, heart or blood-pressure conditions.
• Check destination customs and airline limits before flying home with chacha, and verify any bottled water safety or export question with the relevant Georgian ministry or statistics office rather than a brand’s own marketing.

Sources

• Qvevri traditional winemaking method
• National Wine Agency of Georgia
• Agency of Protected Areas, Borjomi-Kharagauli
• Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture
• Geostat, national statistics
• Agenda.ge, Georgian news in English
• Georgia Today, Georgian news in English