Chicha is a common social drink in the Cochabamba rural countryside. It is a milky, pleasantly sweet drink made from pre-masticated corn maize which is boiled then fermented a week or two. This is “buena chicha”. 
Sometimes an impatient vendor will spike the chicha with sugar and grain alcohol. This is “agua sucia” (dirty water) which can be detected by its overly sweet taste. Persons with fresh chicha to sell hang a white handkerchief on a long pole outside the house. The full moon is said to be the white flag over all of Bolivia.
We offer the following rules of etiquette so that when you visit us you can be on your best behaviour. When invited to a home and offered chicha it is impolite to refuse. The common cup is passed - a shell called a tutuma. It is proper to drain the entire cup in one draft after pouring a small amount of Chicha into the earth to honour Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). The offering may even be done indoors. Drink the entire cup and shake it upside down before passing it to the next person. You might shake it over your head for effect. Caution: the cup continues making the rounds through the night! It is acceptable to say that you will have only one cup since you it is not your custom to drink much. Come visit before too many full moons.
Sometimes an impatient vendor will spike the chicha with sugar and grain alcohol. This is “agua sucia” (dirty water) which can be detected by its overly sweet taste. Persons with fresh chicha to sell hang a white handkerchief on a long pole outside the house. The full moon is said to be the white flag over all of Bolivia.We offer the following rules of etiquette so that when you visit us you can be on your best behaviour. When invited to a home and offered chicha it is impolite to refuse. The common cup is passed - a shell called a tutuma. It is proper to drain the entire cup in one draft after pouring a small amount of Chicha into the earth to honour Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). The offering may even be done indoors. Drink the entire cup and shake it upside down before passing it to the next person. You might shake it over your head for effect. Caution: the cup continues making the rounds through the night! It is acceptable to say that you will have only one cup since you it is not your custom to drink much. Come visit before too many full moons.
