The World’s National Drinks Mapped

Your favorite morning beverage may actually be a form of protest—at least in American history. Before the American Revolution, coffee was defiantly adopted as an alternative to British tea. Its popularity has led it to be the national drink of the USA, along with Coca-Cola (and Pepsi), Mug Root Beer, and bourbon.

Many countries have an official—or unofficial—national beverage, whether due to popularity or that the drink(s) contains local ingredients or is served during traditional events.

However, some places struggle to settle on just one national drink, even unofficially, opting instead to be represented by multiple refreshments—or none at all, as you’ll discover on the map below.

View National drinks in a full screen map

National Beverage Types

The 249 national drinks on the map above can be categorized into nine beverage types. The table below shows different types of the world’s national beverages, from beer and coffee to tea and wine.

Though the worldwide drinking age varies widely, the top types are alcoholic.

Alcoholic National Drinks: Beer, Wine, & Other National Liquors

When it comes to these countries’ national drinks, most can be categorized as alcoholic beverages like liquor or mixed drinks.

Vodka

Many associate vodka with Russia, and it’s true that most Russians identify vodka as their national alcoholic beverage and consider their nation to be vodka’s birthplace… but another central European country believes they are the true point of origin of vodka. Poland considers vodka to be its national beverage and that it was the liquor’s birthplace in the 15th century. The Polish love vodka so much that their other popular drink, Krupnik, is based on vodka and honey.

While Estonia makes no claims to vodka’s heritage, its national drink, Viru Valge is vodka.

Check out the map to see Canada’s national drink, a version of a Bloody Mary that contains vodka, clam broth, and Worcestershire sauce called a Caesar, or to see the gin, and brandy-based national drinks.

Whiskey

Whiskey is most popular in Europe, with Ireland and Scotland each having a variation as their national beverage. Irish whisky is popular, meanwhile, Scotch whisky is by law required to be both produced in Scotland and aged in oak barrels for at least three years.

Of course, other countries have national drinks that contain whiskey, such as the U.S. and Laos, which you can find on the map, along with those based on rum, tequila, or mixed drinks and cocktails like Puerto Rico’s Pina colada and Argentina’s Fernet con cola.

Beer & Wine

There are 17 countries with beer as their national drink. Five are African countries, with Botswana, Burundi, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe having various beers, like Botswana’s Chibuku Shake Shake. And though South Africa has no official drink, beer is common. While the U.S. hasn’t claimed a beer for one of its four national drinks, you can still check out Where U.S. Beer is Brewed.

As for wine, it’s most popular in European countries, including France, which has just two national drinks: red wine and Champagne. Sort the map by the Wine type to see them all, along with popular non-alcoholic types like tea and coffee. Otherwise, let’s move on to other countries like the U.S. and France who just couldn’t choose one—beverage that is.

Italy & Others’ Multiple National Drinks

Like the United States and France, many countries (62 to be exact) have multiple national drinks. These multi-national beverage countries make up almost 62% of the national drinks. One country even has five national beverages (Italy)…

• Cappuccino
• Espresso
• Grappa
• Chinotto
• Wine

Note two different types of coffee as a national drink, along with Chinotto. Chinotto is a soda made with myrtle-leaved orange tree fruit’s juice.

And while Sudan has no official drink, Aradaib (tamarind), Araqi, Gongolez (baobab drink), Hulu-Murr (spiced sorghum beverage), and Roselle tea are all popular. Meanwhile, Eritrea, India, Malta, Singapore, and the United States each have four drinks representing them.

Check out the map to see the countries with two or three national drinks. And for more national statistics, don’t miss our maps of the 317 national foods, national animals, or national sports of every country.