From fermented millet to cinnamon and roasted chickpeas: a winter drink that travelled from Central Asia to Ottoman Istanbul
Boza is a thick, sweet and slightly sour traditional drink made by cooking grains such as millet, maize, wheat or rice with water, sweetening the mixture with sugar and leaving it to ferment. Because it goes through both alcoholic and lactic acid fermentation, it has a gentle tang of its own, and in Türkiye it is traditionally enjoyed in winter with a dusting of cinnamon and a handful of roasted chickpeas. Below we look at how boza is made, its long journey from Central Asia to Anatolia, and how people drink it today.
What Is Boza? A Fermented Grain Drink by Definition
The Turkish Chamber of Food Engineers (TMMOB Gıda Mühendisleri Odası) cites the Turkish standard TS 9778, which defines boza as a product made by cooking the meal or flour of cleaned grains such as millet, rice, wheat or maize with drinking water, adding white sugar and subjecting it to alcoholic and lactic acid fermentation. The standard sorts boza into two classes by acidity: sweet boza and sour boza.
According to English Wikipedia, boza has a low alcohol content of around 1 percent, a thick body and a mildly acidic, sweet flavor. An analysis of samples made from maize, wheat and rice found on average 12.3 percent total sugar, 1.06 percent protein and 0.07 percent fat. Turkish Wikipedia adds that boza contains B vitamins such as thiamine and niacin.
From Millet to Glass: How Boza Is Made
The production flow summarized by the Chamber of Food Engineers comes down to a few basic steps. Home cooks and workshops each have their own way of doing things, but the logic stays the same: cook the grain, sweeten it and give living cultures time to work.
- Clean and cook: The grain is cleaned and cooked with drinking water.
- Cool and strain: The cooked mixture is cooled and strained.
- Sweeten: Sugar is added at roughly 15 to 20 percent.
- Ferment: A starter culture is added and the mix ferments at 25 to 30 degrees Celsius for about 24 hours.
- Chill and pack: The boza is cooled below 15 degrees Celsius and packaged.
Traditionally the fermentation is started with a little boza from an earlier batch, sourdough or yogurt bacteria; today ready-made starter cultures are also used. English Wikipedia describes the process as a lacto-fermentation driven by lactic acid bacteria. The grain shapes the taste, too. According to the Eskişehir Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, boza in Eskişehir is made from yellow maize rather than wheat: the maize is boiled with water, fermented, cooled, strained, mixed with sugar and left to rest for a few days.
From Central Asia to Anatolia: A Very Old Drink
Fermented grain drinks have an ancient history. As English Wikipedia summarizes, they have been made in Anatolia and Mesopotamia since the 9th or 8th millennium BCE, and in the 4th century BCE Xenophon described locals keeping such preparations cool in buried earthenware pots. The same source calls boza one of the oldest Turkic beverages and traces it to Central Asia.
The written record supports that link. English Wikipedia notes that the oldest known written reference is the word "buχsum" in the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, a Middle Turkic dictionary from 1073. Turkish Wikipedia and the Eskişehir culture directorate both relate that the 14th-century Arab traveler Ibn Battuta recorded Turks on the Kipchak Steppe drinking this grain beverage. The name itself is traced to the Old Turkic forms buχsı or buχsum, although it remains unclear which language first borrowed the word.
Boza in the Ottoman City: Shops, Bans and a Novel
In Ottoman times boza was part of everyday urban life. The 17th-century traveler Evliya Çelebi wrote that Istanbul alone had 300 boza shops employing more than a thousand people; Turkish Wikipedia gives the figure as around 1,100. Its history was not always smooth. English Wikipedia records that Sultan Selim II (reigned 1566 to 1574) banned boza after opium-laced versions appeared, and that Sultan Mehmed IV (reigned 1648 to 1687) had the boza shops closed. Such bans were tightened and relaxed again many times.
Boza has a place in literature as well. Mevlut Karataş, the hero of Orhan Pamuk's 2014 novel A Strangeness in My Mind, is a boza seller, and the book offers a vivid reminder of the drink's role in Istanbul street life.
A Drink Shared from the Balkans to Kazakhstan
Boza is not unique to Türkiye. The Chamber of Food Engineers and Turkish Wikipedia list it as produced and enjoyed today in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Romania, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as well as Türkiye. English Wikipedia points out that the flavor varies with the grain and mentions a version from Białystok in Poland made with millet groats, raisins, lemon and sugar.
There are regional styles within Türkiye too. The Culture Portal of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism describes the boza of Pazaryeri in Bilecik province: its season opens in late September as the cold sets in, and it is served sprinkled with cinnamon alongside the town's well-known halva. In Eskişehir, the maize-based boza is served with small spoons.
How to Drink Boza: Cinnamon, Roasted Chickpeas and Winter Evenings
Cinnamon and leblebi, Türkiye's roasted chickpeas, are boza's best-known companions. As a feature in the Turkish daily Hürriyet describes, boza is traditionally poured into a glass, dusted with cinnamon and served with leblebi on the side. Some people drop the chickpeas into the glass and scoop them up with a spoon, others nibble them separately; it is purely a matter of taste. Because it is so thick, boza is eaten with a spoon in some regions, as in Eskişehir.
Timing is part of the tradition. According to English Wikipedia, boza spoils if it is not kept cool, so it was traditionally made only in the colder months; refrigeration has largely lifted that limit, yet boza is still thought of as a winter drink. Turkish Wikipedia gives the traditional selling season as 15 September to 15 May. The Chamber of Food Engineers also notes that boza contains no milk, which makes it a suitable choice for people with lactose intolerance and for vegetarian and vegan diets.
A Glass of Boza in Ortahisar
At Bozacının Yeri in the Cappadocian town of Ortahisar, boza is on the menu as a thick, sweet and slightly sour traditional drink made by fermenting millet. For those who would like to enjoy it at home, the menu also offers boza by the kilo. In the winter season, hot chestnuts join the menu as another familiar taste of cold days. Trying boza for the first time? Take a plain sip first to get to know its sweet and tangy balance, then try it with cinnamon.
Sources: TMMOB Chamber of Food Engineers (TS 9778 definition and production flow); Culture Portal of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Bilecik, Pazaryeri boza); Eskişehir Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism; Hürriyet Kelebek; Wikipedia (Turkish and English).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is boza made from?
Boza is made by cooking grains such as millet, rice, wheat or maize with water, adding sugar and letting the mixture ferment. Millet is the classic grain, while some regions, such as Eskişehir, use maize.
Does boza contain alcohol?
Because boza goes through alcoholic and lactic acid fermentation, a very small amount of alcohol forms. According to English Wikipedia it is around 1 percent.
Why is boza a winter drink?
Boza spoils if it is not kept cool, so it was traditionally made only in the colder months. Refrigeration has changed that, but boza has kept its identity as a winter drink.
How do you drink boza?
Traditionally it is poured into a glass, sprinkled with cinnamon and enjoyed with roasted chickpeas (leblebi). Because it is thick, in some regions it is served with a spoon.
Where does boza come from?
Sources describe boza as originating in Central Asia and as one of the oldest Turkic beverages. Its oldest known written record is the word "buχsum" in the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk of 1073.
