WHAT YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT PALM WINE TAPPING

 

palm wine and dodg meat

The Igbo people of Nigeria are well known for tapping good wine. Palm wine is used in virtually all the traditional festivals and ceremonies celebrated in Igbo land. And as a custom, a typical Igbo man loves to drink palm wine.

However, Enugu people are known to be the best tappers of palm wine. For Example the Udi people are known for  their ‘aneke achime’. This is the name associated to their palm wine because of its exceptional quality. The Akpugo and Agbani people of Nkanu Enugu also tap good wine in large quantity. It is at Akpugo that the people of Enugu usually go to buy plenty of palm wine that they use in ceremonies. The wine is sold in Oboo market and Orie Mba market, all in Akpugo. I will not conclude without mentioning the Otu market in Amechi Awkunanaw. These are well known places where good palm wine can be obtained.

 Perhaps, there are different kinds of palm wine according to the alcoholic level. A knowledgeable Igbo man can tell the type of palm wine by merely tasting it. There is the ogwuduani and the nkwuenu.

The ogwuduani is the palm wine tapped from a fallen palm tree. The palm is allowed to stay for about three to four weeks before the actual tapping process can proceed. However, after falling the tree you will cut off the palm frond so it won’t drain off the entire wine flowing along the palm stem. Probably, I said earlier that after falling the palm tree you allow it to stay for like three to four weeks. It’s to allow the fluid to ferment. If it is not allowed to ferment the palm wine it will produce will be sour.

On the other hand, nkwuenu is tapped from a palm that is not fallen. The palm wine tapper has t o climb the palm tree with a rope and his container. This type of wine is considered the best because it is sometimes sweeter in the mouth. It can be given to  a nursing mother to increase the flow of her breast milk. Nevertheless, elderly people prefer ogwuduani because it is stronger. Or if they must drink the nkwuenu they will allow it to for some days to ferment.

The palm win is white in colour.

HOW TO ENJOY PALM WINE

Palm wine is best enjoyed with dog meat in the evening market at in Nkanu. The palm wine seller usually buys a live dog and slaughters it. He prepares pepper soup with it as that is what the people of Nkanu enjoy with palm wine. It is said that dog meat is a straight cure to malaria. Read also: Amazing Facts About Dog Meat

THE EQUIPMENTS USED IN PALM WINE TAPPING

Rope (agbu): the rope is used in climbing the palm tree

Machete: machete is used to cut down unwanted palm fronds and to trim the palm tree. It can also be used cut foot paths on the stem of the palm tree.

Knife: sharp knife is used to create a hole in the palm tree where the palm wine flows out from

Calabash/gallon: calabash or gallon is used to collect the rushing palm wine.

Bicycle/motorcycle: commercial palm wine tappers normally use bicycle or motorcycle to convey the collected palm wine to the business unit

Head lamp: the palm wine tappers carry lamps on their heads at night to see the way to their palm trees.

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