Homemade Nubian Gin: The Most Dangerous African Liquor Money Can Buy

Editor-at-large for the Wine & Spirits Journal.

The Controversial History and Origin of Changaa liquor from Kenya

No liquor has had added more danger to the lives of everyday Africans than this potent clear liquid. It is known by handful of names including Nubian Gin, Pelelle, Waragi, African moonshine. But the two most popular are Changaa and “Kill Me Quick,” the last one falling somewhere between a dare and a promise.

Still, everyone drinks the stuff. And the money from making it can put your kids through school. So, what’s not to like?! Sadly, this is no April Fools.

Here’s a breakdown of the traditional, sometimes lethal homemade African spirit.

(Origin Story of Nubian Gin) (Kenya Prohibition) (How It’s Made) (Buyer Beware)

The fermenting of fruit and grains to make alcohol in Sub-Saharan Africa has been around prior to recorded history. But apparently East Africa didn’t get the memo about making hard liquor.

Origin Story of Nubian Gin

The first distilled spirits came to East Africa by way of British explorers John Speke and Samuel Baker in the 1860s, with batches made from bananas and sweet potatoes.

Local Kings grew a taste for the potent clear liquid. On one occasion, the powerful King Kamurasi of Bunyoro was so impressed that he ordered a British Nubian soldiers to stay behind to make more.

Nubian soldiers loyal to the Crown were tasked with making liquor for British forces in East Africa. It was common practice for the British Navy to pay salaries in both currency and alcohol rations. Liquor had to be made navy strength and according to rank: Rum for soldiers and gin for officers.

By British Navy standards, only liquor with concentrations on or above 57% ABV were permitted as rations.

Before the Sykes Hydrometer was invented, there was only one known way to prove strength. The gunpowder test involves soaking grains of the powder in alcohol. If it still lit, it “proved” the liquid was above 57% ABV (100+ proof) and would not ruin gunpowder if spilled.

British and German armies during colonization and world wars depended heavily on Sudanese soldiers and their Nubian gin. From the late 19th into the mid 20th century, the drink grew in popularity and spread across Africa.

Nubian soldiers and their families needed places to live and were housed in what were called “Nubian settlements” all over East Africa. In Nairobi, the encampments surrounding military bases became the concentration points for the King’s African Rifles (KAR). The largest settlement was called Kibera.

While native Kenyans celebrated their independence, the Sudanese-Nubians certainly did not. On December 12, 1963, Nubians were officially denied citizenship, rendering them a stateless, powerless minority among Kenya’s larger tribes.

Impoverished urban encampments swelled with both Nubians and rural migrants. Soon Kibera settlement would become the hotbed for large-scale production and distribution of Changaa.

Kenya’s Prohibition Era Begins

In the 1950s, the British colonial government was losing grip on power. Freedom Fighters, including the Mau Mau were applying pressure. Africans who sided with colonizers became targets ––especially those who spoke out.

A well-known British loyalist by the name of Chief Waruhiu made the mistake of snitching to British Intelligence about a secret plot targeting white settlers and their servants for death. Then angered more by announcing plans to start a British loyalist group of his own to counter the revolt.

The assassination of Waruhiu sent shockwaves through the Government. In 1952 a State of Emergency was declared and a complete ban on alcohol was imposed!

Native Kenyans were left with no alcohol to drink and literally no say in the matter.

Kenya’s Prohibition mirrored that of the United States between the years 1919 and 1933 with similar side effects: Tainted alcohol and organized crime. Prohibition drove Nubian gin completely underground and from that a new name appeared.

The Name Changaa

One day a white policeman in Nairobi was tipped off about the underground trafficking of illicit Pelele liquor. Women milk sellers were being stopped along the road to inspect their pots of “milk”. Upon inspection, one of the pots had illicit Pelele and not milk.

The policeman ordered all pots lined up on the roadside and asked “Maziwa ya nani? The interpreter mistakenly repeated in Dhuluo Sudanese: “Ma Chag ng’a?”, meaning “whose milk is this?”

One that day, the woman was officially charged with “transporting and selling Changaa and that is how African moonshine got its name.

Traditional Method for Making Changaa

Changaa is made from home made African beer called Bussa and sugars including molasses. It can also be made with bananas and other fruits. The liquid is left to ferment for a number of days becoming Kangara. After about a week, Kangara is distilled to make Changaa.

It is said, that the initial sweetness gives way to an unnatural sting that leaves your mouth desperate for water. Changaa is sold in old tins, plastic tubes and reused glass bottles.

Making and selling traditional alcohol is still illegal in Kenya. Yet drinking Changaa remains a common African pastimes for social gatherings and religious ceremonies.

Buyer Beware

“The perceived potency of the liquid and the reputation of the seller justifies a higher price. Advertising is strictly word of mouth.”

The list of dangers posed by the consumption of Changaa (aka “Kill Me Quick”) is long: contamination caused by unpurified water, unclean equipment, poisonous additives and exposure during fermentation and improper use of the foreshot that contains methanol.

Rampant abuse of the highly addictive drink has a created a health emergency among native Kenyans and across East Africa.

Verifying the safety of the clear high octane liquid is tricky. Currently, the go-to method for judging purity is by eyeballing it for a lack of color. Unfortunately, that is the same strategy that got Africa colonized in the first place.

Most recently, Kenyan officials signed a bill that legalizes traditional home-brewing of Changaa in hopes it would dramatically reduce the number of illicit sellers adding toxic chemicals to make their drinks stronger.

Nearly all Kenya’s 42 tribes have their own unique home made alcohol for celebrations and traditions. Somewhere out there is a master distiller making Changaa to absolute perfection. We’ll let you know when we find her.