India doesn't have an official national drink, but Chai (spiced milk tea) is universally considered the de facto national drink, deeply woven into daily life, culture, and identity, served everywhere from homes to street stalls by chai wallahs. While tea was introduced by the British, Indians transformed it into a unique spiced brew, making it a symbol of unity and comfort across all social classes.
Chai, or tea, has been an integral part of Indian society since the British helped popularise it. One of the country's iconic sights is a 'chai wallah', or 'tea seller', walking through the streets or a train carriage selling some of the tastiest, sweetest tea you'll ever find.
Mahua liquor is the only pot-distilled and fermented spirit in the world made from naturally sweet flowers. This makes it a unique product not just within India but globally. It's deeply rooted in Indian culture and tradition.
Lassi – a popular, traditional, yogurt-based drink from Northern India. It is a blend of yogurt, water, spices and sometimes fruit. Traditional lassi (a.k.a., "salted lassi", or simply "lassi") is a savoury drink, sometimes flavoured with ground and roasted cumin.
India: Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in India but can not be considered the national drink. Lassi or Chaas is another yogurt-based drink and can be sweet or salty. Lassi or Chaas is a blend of yogurt, water, spices and sometimes fruit like mango.
This act solidified tea's role as a necessity for all classes of British society and it marks the point at which we can see tea established as the national drink of England.
Although alcohol consumption is not an integral part of Indian social life, alcohol-related problems can occur. For example, in one study conducted in Rajasthan, 24.7 percent of all people age 15 and older (36.1 percent of men and 13.4 percent of women) consumed alcohol.
It's ironic that India's oldest spirit is one that not many of us have even heard of. Mahua or Mahura is incredibly unique and it's a fascinating drink that is distilled solely from wild forest flowers.
Lassi. This yoghurt-based drink – a traditional way to keep cool and fed on the Subcontinent – bursts with taste combinations, a world away from bland beer. Easiest to find in the UK is the sweet form, often flavoured with rosewater, sugar and fruit juices; mango lassi conjures up tropical sojourns to India.
Water is the world's most consumed drink, however, 97% of water on Earth is non-drinkable salt water. Fresh water is found in rivers, lakes, wetlands, groundwater, and frozen glaciers.
Whisky dominates India's spirits market, accounting for more than 60% of total spirits consumption. India is the largest whisky market in the world by volume, with both Indian-made and imported brands showing strong growth, particularly in premium segments.
The city that consumes the most alcoholic beverages is not Gurugram, Delhi, Amritsar, or any other northern state, it is surprisingly, Kolkata. According to a survey of 2021, the alcohol consumption rate in Kolkata is 32.9 percent. The rate of alcohol consumption is higher than in other major Indian cities.
Men in Romania are, by and large, the heaviest drinkers on the planet. The average Romanian male drinks 27.3 liters, roughly seven and a half gallons, per year. It's not just the men in Romania that boast such high numbers.
Dr Pepper is the oldest soft drink in America! In fact, it's older than Coca-Cola by a full year. Created in1885 by pharmacist Charles Alderton, its original name was Waco as it was served in his Waco drugstore's soda fountain.
The 1-2-3 drinking rule is a moderation guideline: no more than 1 drink per hour, 2 drinks per occasion, and 3 alcohol-free days per week, helping to pace consumption and reduce risk, though it's important to know that no level of alcohol is completely risk-free, and other guidelines (like the 0-1-2-3 rule or official dietary recommendations) also exist. A "standard drink" is key: 12 oz regular beer, 5 oz wine, or 1.5 oz spirits, and it's crucial to avoid mixing alcohol with medications or while driving.
England had the highest proportion of adults who said they drank alcohol in the previous week (57.8%), followed by Scotland (53.5%) and then Wales (50.0%); of the English regions, among consumers of alcohol, binge drinking was more common in the North West and least common in the South East.
Back in the days of the Boston Tea Party, drinking coffee became an act of patriotism as Americans protested the excessive tax levied by King George III on their tea. The Continental Congress, as a result, made coffee the “national drink”.
Not only was adding milk seen as a means of cooling the tea down and improving on the bitterness of the beverage, it also prevented the boiling water from cracking the porcelain mugs.
