Young Tunisians in Gafsa, in southern Tunisia, are still drinking spirits despite the high prices of spirits and the closing of many bars. They have discovered a different kind of liquor- Lagmi, a beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees with some additives to make it an alcoholic drink. 

Young Tunisians in Gafsa, in southern Tunisia, are still drinking spirits despite the high prices of spirits and the closing of many bars. They have discovered a different kind of liquor- Lagmi, a beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees with some additives to make it an alcoholic drink. 

They gather and listen to the music of Belgacem Bouguenna, a popular singer in the yards until the early morning hours. Ayoub is an expert in preparing the Lagmi drink and he sells his products in one of the city’s yards. “Since the early hours of the morning, I cook a certain amount of dates in one of the large pots. I use a small tube to collect the vapor in another pot. After about three hours we get a drink called Laqraba or the Lagmi.  One bottle of it sells for 1 dinar and a half (around US $1),” said Ayoub.   

Ayoub ties a rope around his waist and climbs the palm tree with great agility. With a knife he carries with him, he chops a part of the tree and the juice starts to flow. This juice will be chemically treated and made into the Lagmi alcoholic beverage.   

Lagmi is good alternative with the high prices of other drinks

The Lagmi drink is carefully stored for 24 hours and every producer of it has his own way of preparing it. Some add a piece of copper or iron, others use yeast. Some use cooking gas as an additive material, which causes health hazards.

Twenty-year-old Nabil does not have a job. He barely manages to bring along money to attend one of the gatherings where friends meet to drink together. “Spirits prices have become extremely expensive and I can no longer affor to buy drinks. Before I used to drink alcohol once a week, but now I’ve become an addict of Lagmi because I can afford it,” he said. 

However, young people who gather to drink Lagmi do not always feel secure, especially since one of the security patrols recently detained a group of young men on charges of selling and consuming drugs and Lagmi. 

The low prices of drugs have led to an increase in the number of users since January 14.  It became easy for those who consume drugs to buy a cigarette filled with “Zalta” (a kind of drug) for only 1 dinar. 

Ayman is a teacher at one of the primary schools in Gafsa and he has many unemployed friends who are university graduates. “Every weekend we come to this square and drink two liters of Lagmi and we only pay 3 dinars (US $1.8). When we finish them we go to one of the cafes in the city center and try to enjoy ourselves without having to pay too much money.” 

High consumption during the Eid holidays 

Ayoub, the owner of the secret place which produces and sells Lagmi said that during religious holidays the prices of his product increases because most of the bars are closed.   “I need to prepare myself well before Eid in order to have enough quantities of beer and Lagmi and to ensure that I can earn some extra money during such occasions.” 

“My customers are young and old men and some of them are holders of high educational certificates while others are just ordinary people,” said Ayoub, adding with humor that “until today, we haven’t been able to reach out to women.”

Naji, a bartender in one of the bars in the Gafsa city center, said that Lagmi shops are not illegally competing with the spirit shops. He added that “until last year we only allowed people who didn’t drink any alcoholic drinks outside our shop to come in, but today, people come here after drinking the Lagmi somewhere else.”

Naji added that he has been working in this profession for more than thirty years and that the prices of alcohol were affordable. “People used to come and drink and leave us a good tip.  Today, the price of the cheapest wine bottle is around 10 dinars and this is too high for those who drink wine, so people stopped drinking and stopped paying tips. “Things have become even worse,” according to Naji, “because in the past, we used to have different kinds of customers and those who drink alcohol, but today, people drink Lagmi and when they finish they come to our shop to have one or two extra drinks.” 

Lagmi production: an old tradition

The production of Lagmi juice is an old tradition in southern Tunisia. It is as old as the planting of the palm trees tradition in these areas. Originally, Lagmi was a sweet non-alcoholic drink served on special occasions and a tradition passed on from one generation to the other.  It is also a source of income for many families in areas where there are palm trees.

A number of vendors, who sell the unfermented Lagmi sweet drink, said that this wealth has become threatened.

Fermenting this substance is now giving them trouble with the authorities and that there is always the threat of the security patrols because of suspicions of them converting the palm juice into alcohol.

Ayoub believes that the solution comes through rationing the production of the fermented Lagmi and controlling it because the raw material is available in the country and is inexhaustible.