Local Drinks

1. Bisaab

   Bisaab (chilled hibiscus/roselle drink)

   Usage

   Deep red drink made by steeping dried roselle calyces, sweetened and often flavoured with mint, served cold. The easiest drink to find, at restaurants and street stalls alike. ⚠ Signs and menus use the French spelling "bissap". It is also sold frozen in small plastic sachets

   Grammar Note

   "bisaab" (bi class) means "roselle" (the plant). The same word has two senses — "Fleur de l'hibiscus" and "Boisson issue de cette fleur" — explicitly covering the drink

2. Buy

   Buy (baobab fruit drink)

   Usage

   Milky, slightly tart drink made by soaking the white pulp of the baobab (guy) fruit in water with sugar and milk. ⚠ Signs use the French spelling "bouye" / "jus de bouye"

   Grammar Note

   The word "buy" (bi class) has two senses, the second being "sweet drink made of this fruit by adding water, sugar, milk, and other ingredients"; the first is the baobab fruit. The tree itself is "guy". ⚠ The same string also spells the b-class relative "bu" plus the imperfective "y", so point at the drink rather than relying on the word alone

3. Àttaya

   Àttaya (sweet green tea served in three rounds)

   Usage

   Green tea brewed in a small pot over coals, poured from a height to raise a head of foam and served in small glasses. It always comes in three rounds: the first bitter, the second and third progressively sweeter. Brewing takes close to an hour, so if you are offered it, sitting and waiting is the polite response — leaving part-way reads as a refusal. Mint (naanaa) is usually added. ⚠ Spellings vary: "àttaya" / "attaaya", "ataaya", and the French "ataya" / "attaya" on signs and menus

   Grammar Note

   "àttaya" (ji class) means "tea (beverage)" and is derived from Moroccan Arabic "atāy"; "attaaya" is an alternative form. Related words: "baraada" (tea kettle), "warga" (tea leaves) and "xiimkat" (the person who makes the tea). ⚠ The first letter is à (U+00E0), a distinct letter from plain a

4. Warga

   Warga (the dried green tea leaves for àttaya)

   Usage

   The word for the leaves themselves, before brewing. Small boxes of Chinese gunpowder green tea are sold in markets and corner shops (bitig), and make a good souvenir with sugar and mint. It is a different word from àttaya, the prepared drink — use this one when buying

5. Daqaar

   Daqaar (tamarind drink)

   Usage

   A tart brown drink made by soaking tamarind pods in water, straining and sweetening. With bissap and bouye it is one of the three drinks every eatery has. ⚠ Signs use the French spelling "dakhar" / "jus de dakhar". ⚠ Unrelated to the capital Dakar, which is "Ndakaaru" in Wolof

   Grammar Note

   "daqaar" (ji class) means "tamarind" (Tamarindus indica). It is used for drinks: 'Daqaar dees koy jëfandikoo di ci defar naan yu neex' (tamarind is used to make pleasant drinks). Also spelled "daqqaar"

6. Naan

   A drink / beverage

   Usage

   The general word for a drink — useful for pointing when you do not know the name of what you want. The same form is also the verb "to drink", as in "Lan nga bëgg di naan?" ("What would you like to drink?")

   Grammar Note

   "naan" is both a noun ("drink") and a verb ("to drink"). ⚠ Unrelated to the Indian bread "naan"

7. Kafe

   Coffee

   Usage

   Ask for coffee in Senegal and what usually arrives is café Touba, named for the Mouride holy city — roasted coffee ground together with grains of Selim pepper (djar in Wolof), spicy and sweet, poured from thermos flasks into paper cups on the street each morning. Say so explicitly if you want plain black coffee

   Grammar Note

   "kafe" means "Café". ⚠ The compound "kafe Tuubaa" is not confirmed in Wolof

Browse all TravelPhrases languages