The short answer: chacha is a clear brandy distilled from grape pomace, the skins, pips and stalks left over after the grapes are pressed for wine, much like Italian grappa. Commercial chacha is usually around 40% alcohol; home-made chacha, still common in the villages, can be much stronger, with figures of up to 85% quoted for home brew [1]. It is poured in small glasses, drunk with food and toasts, and you are always free to say no.
What chacha is
Every Georgian family that makes wine ends up with a pile of pomace, and for generations the thrifty answer has been to distil it. Chacha was a home-made drink for most of its history; today it is also made by wineries and professional distillers [1]. Some producers use unripe or wild grapes as well as pomace, and there are fruit versions made from figs, tangerines, mulberries and other fruit, especially in western Georgia [1].
In 2011, "chacha" became Georgia's first registered geographical indication, so the name is protected for spirit made in Georgia [1].
Styles you will meet
- Clear, unaged chacha: the classic, tasting of grape and sometimes of the variety it came from, such as Rkatsiteli or Saperavi.
- Oak-aged chacha: golden, softer and rounder; some Kakhetian producers age theirs in oak [1].
- Flavoured chacha: with honey, tarragon or fruit; commercial brands offer several [1].
- Home-made chacha: served from a plastic bottle or a jug, often very strong, and different in every house.
Home-made or commercial?
Home-made chacha is part of the hospitality: a host who pours you their own is offering you something they are proud of. It varies a lot. Some is excellent; some is rough and much stronger than you expect, because nobody measures it. Commercial chacha is labelled with its strength, usually around 40–50%, and is made under controlled conditions.
Our advice: enjoy home-made chacha in the homes and family cellars where it is offered, in small amounts, and buy commercial bottles, with the strength on the label, to take home.
How to drink it
- Small glasses, with food. Chacha is served in shot-sized glasses, at the table, with bread, cheese, pickles and the rest of the meal. It is often drunk as a digestif at the end of a feast, or first thing to welcome a guest [1].
- With a toast. At a supra, glasses are raised when the tamada, the toastmaster, proposes a toast. You drink after the toast, not between them. Read our guide to the supra and the tamada.
- Down in one, or not. Georgians usually drink chacha in one go. One tip: breathe out before you drink and again straight afterwards, which takes the edge off the burn [2]. But you don't have to finish your glass.
- Pace yourself. Chacha is two or three times the strength of wine, and a long supra brings many toasts. Drink water between them.
Tasting etiquette: how to say no
Hospitality in Georgia is generous and hosts will keep pouring, but refusing politely is accepted.
- Say you'd like just a little, or keep your glass half full so it can't be topped up.
- It is fine to raise a glass of water, juice or wine for a toast; you don't have to drink spirits at all.
- Saying "I'm driving" or "doctor's orders" always works. Your guide can also explain for you.
- Children don't drink chacha, and home distillation demonstrations on our tours are for adults only.
Where to try it
- Kakheti: family cellars and wineries often end a tasting with a glass of chacha, and in autumn you may see a still at work in a village yard after the harvest.
- At a supra: a family feast will almost always include some.
- Tbilisi: wine bars and specialist bars pour dozens of commercial and small-producer chachas side by side, which is the easiest way to compare styles [2].
Taking chacha home
- Pack it in checked luggage. Standard airport security rules limit liquids in hand luggage to small containers, so a bottle of chacha goes in your suitcase unless you buy it after security. Wrap bottles well.
- Check your home allowance. Travellers aged 17 and over entering the EU from outside it can bring, duty-free, 1 litre of spirits over 22% (or 2 litres of fortified or sparkling wine instead), plus 4 litres of still wine and 16 litres of beer [3]. Other countries set their own limits, so check yours before you fly, and check your airline's rules too.
- Buy labelled bottles for travelling; unlabelled home-made spirit can cause problems at customs.
Other Georgian drinks
- Wine: the main event, including amber wine made in qvevri, the clay vessels on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2013. See Georgian grapes and amber wine.
- Lagidze water: natural fruit and herb syrups mixed with soda water, invented in Kutaisi in 1887 by Mitrofan Lagidze. Flavours include lemon, pear, cherry, feijoa, grape and tarragon [2][4].
- Tarkhuna: the bright green tarragon soda, sold everywhere in bottles and cans [5].
- Borjomi: Georgia's famous mineral water, naturally fizzy and strongly salty; it is an acquired taste. Nabeghlavi, from Guria, is milder [2].
Tasting chacha with us
Our trips are private: your own car and English-speaking driver-guide, for 1–8 travellers, and your driver-guide doesn't drink on duty. The Kakheti village cooking day, private includes a chacha distillation and tasting with the host family (adults only), alongside bread, khinkali and churchkhela. The Kakheti wine tour, 3 days, private ends its second day with a family supra with a tamada and chacha. In Tbilisi, the private Tbilisi food and wine walk finishes at a natural-wine bar, and children get Lagidze lemonade instead. See each tour page for the current price, or build your own route. Nothing to pay now.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Chacha (brandy)": en.wikipedia.org
- Wander-Lush, "Traditional Georgian drinks": wander-lush.org
- Your Europe (European Union), "Alcohol, tobacco and cash: entering the EU": europa.eu
- Wikipedia, "Lagidze water": en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Tarkhuna": en.wikipedia.org
Last checked: September 2026. Customs allowances and airline rules change; check yours before you fly.
