West Africa · Drink
Asaana (Fermented Caramelized Corn Malt Drink)
A sparkling, bittersweet malt soda crafted from fermented crushed maize and dark caramel.
The story
In the coastal towns of Greater Accra, Ga women have perfected asaana as the quintessential street cooler, served ice-cold from glass dispensers lined with condensed milk. The beverage relies on crushed corn that has undergone a four-day lacto-fermentation process, giving it an unmistakable refreshing sour backbone. The defining culinary technique is blistering granulated sugar to near-black caramel before quenching it with hot corn extract, which yields a complex smoky depth and deep mahogany color.
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