The short answer to what Albanians drink: tiny, strong espressos all day, raki (a clear fruit spirit) offered as hospitality, cheap domestic lager with grilled meat, and increasingly decent local wine. Add mountain tea and salted yoghurt drinks and you have most of the glass. The two things that surprise visitors immediately are the coffee, which is everywhere, cheap and never rushed, and the raki, which will be offered by a guesthouse owner, a shopkeeper or somebody’s uncle, sometimes before you have eaten anything, and which is stronger than the small glass implies.
What do Albanians drink, at a glance?
| Drink | What it is | When you meet it | Worth it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raki | Clear fruit spirit, often homemade | Arrival, meals, celebrations, sometimes breakfast | Yes, sipped slowly |
| Espresso | Short, strong, taken seriously | From early morning until late | Daily |
| Korca and Tirana beer | Domestic lagers | With grilled meat and byrek | Yes, and cheaper than imports |
| Albanian wine | Indigenous grapes, almost unexported | Proper restaurants, hill regions | Yes, ask by grape |
| Mountain tea | Wild sideritis, drunk hot | After coffee, in winter | Yes, take a bag home |
| Dhalle or ayran | Salted yoghurt drink | With byrek | Try once |
| Boza | Fermented grain drink | Older cafes and sweet shops | An acquired taste |
Prices for all of this are low by Western European standards, but they vary by town and venue, so treat what you see on a menu as the guide rather than any figure you have read in advance.
Raki: the fruit spirit that arrives uninvited
What raki actually is
Raki is distilled from grapes, plums, mulberries or whatever the family had. Commercial bottles are sold everywhere, but the version that matters is the homemade one in an unlabelled bottle, poured by someone who made it or knows who did. It is offered rather than ordered, frequently on the house, and it is a social gesture as much as a drink. The homemade version can be well above the strength of a commercial bottle, and nothing on the label will warn you, because there is no label.
How to handle the offer
- Accept the first glass and acknowledge it, even if only with a nod and a word of thanks.
- Sip it slowly over the conversation. It is not a shot.
- Eat whatever comes with it, usually cheese, almonds or a plate of something from the kitchen.
- Slow down afterwards without announcing it. A half full glass left alone is understood.
- If you are driving, say so. It ends the offer instantly and completely, with no awkwardness.
Declining is entirely possible and reasonably common, particularly at breakfast. The offer is hospitality rather than a drinking challenge, and nobody will press you seriously. It is simply that accepting one and sipping is the smoother path socially.
Taking raki home
A commercial bottle from a shop is the straightforward souvenir. If you are tempted by a homemade bottle from a guesthouse, check your airline’s rules on liquids and your own country’s customs allowances before you go, because both change and both depend on where you are flying.
Coffee: the real centre of Albanian drinking
What to order
Espresso is the default and is taken seriously, from early morning until late at night. A macchiato is the standard milk order. In the older places and in the south you will also find Turkish style coffee, served in a small pot or cup with the grounds still in it, so leave the last sip alone.
How to sit
Coffee in Albania is so cheap that it barely registers on a budget, and that is part of the point: it is the price of a table, not just a drink. An hour over one cup is a normal use of an afternoon and nobody will move you on. Cafes work as public space, where people meet, argue, do business and watch the street, and the density of them is among the highest anywhere. If you want to understand the country quickly, sit in one for an hour without a laptop.
Beer and wine
Beer
Korca and Tirana are the two long established domestic lagers. Both are perfectly good, sold everywhere and cheap, and they are the everyday drink with grilled meat and with byrek. There is a small but growing craft scene in Tirana for anyone who wants something different. Imported brands are available and cost more for no obvious gain, so order the local one.
Wine
Albanian wine has improved a great deal and is almost entirely unexported, which means the only way to drink it is to be here. Look for indigenous grape varieties and ask for them by name at a proper restaurant rather than pointing at the house bottle. The hill regions around Berat and in the south east are where the better producers are. Prices are low enough that experimenting costs you very little, so order a different bottle each night and see what you like.
The rest of the glass
Hot and cold, without alcohol
Mountain tea is an infusion of sideritis, gathered wild in the mountains and sold dried in every market. It is drunk hot, often with honey, and is the standard non alcoholic hot drink after coffee. A bag is one of the better things to take home.
Dhalle or ayran is salted yoghurt, the traditional partner to byrek. It tastes sharper than most visitors expect, so try a small glass first.
Boza is a fermented grain drink and an acquired taste, but worth trying once.
Fresh juice comes from street stands, with pomegranate particularly good in autumn.
Water
Choose bottled water rather than tap water, which is what the UK government health advice recommends and what most Albanians drink. In summer the coast is hot, so drink more water than feels necessary.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Treating raki as a shot, then discovering the homemade version is far stronger than expected.
- Refusing the first offer abruptly, when a polite acceptance and a slow sip would have done.
- Drinking raki on an empty stomach because it arrived before the food.
- Paying more for imported beer when the domestic lagers are better value and suit the food.
- Ordering wine without asking what grape it is, and missing the indigenous varieties.
- Rushing coffee, which is the one thing nobody expects you to do.
Where this fits in an Albania trip
Continuously, cheaply, and mostly at somebody else’s invitation.
For what to eat alongside all of it, our Albanian food guide covers the ground.
For the breakfast that the coffee accompanies, our guide to byrek covers where to buy it.
And for the evening version of the drinking culture, our Tirana nightlife guide covers the districts.
The short version
Drink espresso constantly, because it is excellent, costs almost nothing and nobody will rush you. Accept the first raki, sip it rather than shooting it, eat something with it and slow down quietly afterwards, and remember that saying you are driving ends the offer instantly. Order the domestic beer rather than the imported one. Ask for Albanian wine by grape at a proper restaurant, because none of it is exported. And take a bag of mountain tea home.
Have you been handed a homemade raki yet, and what was in the bottle?
