List of national drinks


A national drink is a distinct beverage that is strongly associated with a particular country, and can be part of their national identity and self-image. National drinks fall into two categories, alcoholic and nonalcoholic. An alcoholic national drink is sometimes a liquor drunk straight/neat, but is most often a mixed drink or beer or wine. A beverage can be considered a national drink for a variety of reasons:
In some cases, it may be impossible to settle on a national drink for a particular country. In the realm of food at least, Zilkia Janer, a lecturer on Latin American culture at Hofstra University, says that it is impossible to choose a single national dish, even unofficially, for countries such as Mexico, China or India because of their diverse ethnic populations and cultures. At the other end of the spectrum, sometimes different countries see the same beverage as their national drink.
The national drinks are categorized within geo-political regions modified from the United Nations' five "regional groups".

The Americas

North America

The "beer belt" in Western Europe includes Germany, the UK, and Ireland, whereas the "wine belt" includes the Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy, and Greece. Several drinks are common and particular to Slavic countries. Vodka is a clear alcoholic beverage made most often by distilling the liquid from fermented cereal grains and potatoes. Countries where vodka is identified as a national beverage have been referred to as the "vodka belt". Kvass is a traditional fermented non-alcoholic beverage commonly made from rye bread and is drank in many Slavic countries, as well as the three the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Kompot is another drink that is traditionally popular throughout this region and made by boiling together different fruit including strawberries, apricots, peaches, apples, and raisins in large volume of water and served hot or cold, depending on tradition and season. Fruit brandies are popular in the Balkans, while Brännvin and Akvavit are popular in Scandinavia.
served with pickled cucumber – the usual way of consuming it in Slavic countries of the so-called "vodka belt".

East Asia


Central Asia