Drink Lesson

This is a lesson in drinking beer in Peru. When you are at a party and you are drinking beer these are a few tips that will help you blend in and not look so white. I had to learn this the hard way and even though I am getting used to people staring at me it is nice to blend in sometimes.

First of all never drink from the bottle unless it is a 12 ouncer. I have found that at parties you will usually be drinking from a liter bottle and you share with others. Depending on the number of people you may have one or more bottles being passed around at any given time. Someone will have the bottle and a small glass and they will pour some in the glass, pass the bottle to the right with their right hand and say salud (cheers). You take the bottle, with your right hand, say salud also, and they drink the beer they poured in the glass. The person then passes you the glass with their right hand and you receive it with your right. You pour your beer and pass to the right. Now if the person to my right is a woman I would pour the beer in the glass (after I have finished my glass) and pass the glass to her. She drinks and gives you the beer back and you then continue to the next person. Men always pour for the women.

One last rule. When the bottle is empty the person who empties it should get another bottle and they must drink the first sip from this bottle. So even if you filled your glass to the top to empty the bottle you will need to take a little more from the new bottle and then continue the process. The reason for this is a story from a war between Peru and Chile. During this war when the Peruvian soldiers wanted to drink the women would pour the beer and mysteriously the soldier would be dead the next morning because the women would poison the beer. So it is customary to take the first sip from the bottle to show that it is safe.

I hope this helps so the next time you are drinking beer in Peru you will blend in. Your skin color is another thing, maybe a tanning salon for a few weeks before you travel.