Boy distilling alcohol in South Sudan; most araqi is made in home stills like this.
Araqi (Arabic: عرقي, romanized: ʿaraqī; also araki, aragy)[1] is a date-liquor distilled in Sudan. The 1983 introduction of sharia in Sudan prevented licit sales of alcohol, but a black market exists to meet local demand. The drink is made by mixing dates with water and yeast, fermenting the mix, and then distilling it. It is usually drunk neat.[2]
During the war in Darfur, a number of southern Sudanese women came to the north as refugees, and found that some of the only professions available to them were prostitution or brewing araqi, the latter being a skill some already had, with a reliable market demand. A 2000 UN report noted that 80% of the women in Khartoum's women's prison were there on charges of prostitution or brewing araqi.[3]
Araqi is also popular in South Sudan, which split from Sudan in 2011 and where alcohol is legal.[4]
Home distilling can lead to methanol poisoning; 10 died and several others were blinded by a batch of incorrectly distilled araqi in East Darfur in 2017.[5]
In 2020, a new law permitted alcohol sales to non-Muslims in Sudan.[6]
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