Throughout much of Central America, cususa is the name for moonshine. It is synonymous to terms like guaro and lijón. In Nicaragua, corn chicha is the traditional alcohol of choice, so cususa has also been produced from corn. During a national celebration, I find some cususa for sale in Managua.
In many countries around the world, the plastic bottle is eclipsed by its cheaper cousin, the plastic bag. Water, juice, milk, and more are all sold in bags. Some bags are mass produced in factories, while other are filled and tied by a juice vendor at the time of sale. Why do Americans rarely drink from bags? Perhaps because we only drink industrialized beverages.
In Garifuna communities, a type of medicinal rum is produced called guifity. The beverage is produced by soaking over a dozen herbs, roots, barks, and leaves into clear spirits for weeks at a time. While the drink is traditionally a medicine in the Garifuna community, it has gained wider appreciation throughout Honduras.
Kalahuala is a lightly fermented beverage produced by the Garifuna people on the coast on Honduras. It is not entirely clear what the drink is made of, but perhaps it contains palm fruit and sugarcane juice. Additionally, the name calaguala typically refers to a medicinal herb or fern, Polypodium leucotomos, that is common in Central America. Perhaps the drink contains some of this herb.
Guatemalans make a sort of limeade out of salt, limes, and soda water. Interestingly, Argentines have used the same term to refer to a kind of yerba mate. The word comes from the earliest years of Conquest in Latin America, and once referred to escaped slaves.
Only one family in Antigua, Guatemala still makes a traditional spiced limeade called chinchivir. The juice is refreshing, spiced, and complex. But the origins of the limeade are forgotten. Yet, in both Costa Rica and Peru, different drinks with remarkably similar names give a hint as to the origins of chinchivir.
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