Our guide, Lasha, couldn't find any other words: "Have a couple shots," he kept saying with a wry smile, "and you'll be set."
Distilling the national spirit ... Georgian men in traditional clothes cook chacha during a holiday celebration. Photograph: Vano Shlamov/Getty |
So in the evening, as we headed back towards the capital of Tbilisi, a forlorn, roadside mess hut caught our attention. "Maybe they have it," Lasha wondered aloud as we pulled over.
He surveyed the kitchen, and we waited in the adjacent dining room. Minutes later, an apron-clad woman entered with a tray of khinkali, or boiled meat dumplings, and a bottle of clear, inconspicuous liquid. Success.
Once the khinkali had cooled, we raised our glasses, and toasted to one another. The subtle taste of grape tingled through my mouth as the high alcohol content registered, lighting my sinuses ablaze. A quick gulp of the salty juices from the khinkali neutralised the residual bitterness, but the satisfying burn remained. We repeated the process several times as the smile on my face grew larger. I soon realised Lasha was right: I was set.
The trip back to Tbilisi was swift. I began pulsating with excitement to explore the tree-lined streets and decaying, Tsarist-era buildings – sights we'd seen before, but not after several rounds of chacha. We bade Lasha farewell and escaped into the night, popping into one cafe after another. Somehow, the chacha changed everything. I was not drunk, but electric. My head wasn't spinning – it was sprinting ahead, along Tbilisi's winding streets.
The next morning, as we prepared to return home, Lasha appeared with a pair of two-litre water bottles filled with that same inconspicuous liquid. It was our own, home-brewed souvenir.
"Now I know you," he said with a smile. "Next time you come to Georgia, we'll celebrate properly."
• Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them toweekly.letter.from@guardian.co.uk
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