6 weird alcoholic drinks from around the world that are truly out of the ordinary

It’s easy to assume the world of alcohol is just beers, wines, whiskies, and cocktails with tiny umbrellas. But travel a little further, into cold mountain kitchens, humid forest clearings, and coastal taverns with stories older than maps and the drinks get wonderfully strange. Across cultures, people have fermented anything that could bubble: roots, grains, fruits and sometimes things even harder to classify as food. Here are six drinks that challenge the idea of what alcohol can be, each holding a slice of culture inside every daring sip.

High on the Tibetan plateau, survival demands creativity. Enter chang - a tangy, warming brew made by fermenting barley and often blended with yak butter and salt. It lands somewhere between tea, beer, and warmth in a cup. Served during festivals, long winters, and welcoming ceremonies, this creamy drink doesn’t just warm your throat, it warms the room. In Tibet, refusing chang would be like refusing hospitality itself. To outsiders, it may feel strange; to locals, it tastes like belonging.

Sweden is famous for clean design and minimalism which makes this drink even more surprising. Along some coastal towns, adventurous drinkers infuse vodka with fish, often tuna or herring. It’s a salty, sea-air kind of shot, often served with pickled seafood on the side. One sniff tells you exactly what to expect: pure ocean. It doesn’t try to hide what it is, but under the midnight sun in Sweden, almost anything feels like a yes.

Icelanders are not ones to waste a shark, even one that’s toxic if eaten fresh. Centuries ago, smart survivalists learned to bury the meat underground to ferment it until safe. Today, some producers take things a step further by aging alcohol (often schnapps or whiskey) near or with fermented shark, creating a spirit with a bold ammonia aroma and a finish that tastes like stormy seas. It’s the liquid equivalent of a Viking challenge: if you can keep a straight face after a sip, you win.

In the lush green of Uganda, bananas aren’t just fruit - they’re celebration fuel. Banana beer is crafted by hand-kneading ripe bananas, filtering the juice through grass, and fermenting it with roasted millet. It’s cloudy, earthy, slightly sweet, and strong enough to loosen a few dance moves. Shared in large clay gourds during weddings and harvest festivals, it has a way of pulling strangers into circles that end in laughter.

Some drinks sit quietly in glasses. Snake wine sits coiled, staring back. Made by steeping a whole cobra or venomous snake in rice wine, it’s believed in East and Southeast Asia to be a tonic for vitality and courage. The ethanol dissolves venom, leaving behind potency without danger - at least, in theory. It’s a drink that tests your bravery before you even taste it. The first sip is surprisingly mellow; the second sip is when the story starts.

Makgeolli looks like someone poured milk into a bar by accident. Cloudy, fizzy, slightly sweet, and probiotic-rich, it’s brewed from rice and offered in wide bowls - not fancy glasses. Farmers used to keep it in clay jars after long days in the fields; now it’s a star of Seoul’s hip bars. It’s playful and ancient at once, a reminder that not all “weird” things are hard to love.