Continuing the discussion from Malagasy Cannabis:
Thanks @sayrum ,
Those sessions are quite rare !
Need to go easy on that 'gasy khatball mix, Rhum and Khat can’t be an everyday thing for me.
Yet I can use few leaves some mornings infused in black tea. I personally like the smell and taste too.
So the ginger and the kola nuts (high caffeine content nuts) are cut into pieces, basically to fit the bottleneck, while a handful of whole Khat leaves are put into the Rhum, soaked for 2-3 months minimum. This mix is highly enjoyable and reputed to be aphrodisiac .
Khat wine is a thing in South Africa and Ethiopia.
If you want more info on Khat growing and “qat wine” :
I got few rhum bottles full of khat leaves, vanilla, zamal that are soaking for over 3 months now… The longer seems the better. Rhum becomes red when infused with khat leaves for long enough.
“Commercial” Malagasy Rhum Arrangé with Khat, Kola and Ginger, tastes absolutely amazing, uplifting, warm effects:
I personally fill the whole bottle of leaves, but it’s for that special occasion one shot. Alcohol is not very good for you anyway…
In Madagascar, khat use is huge and obvious in the north and east coast. It was brought by Yemenites in the 1900s . All the growing happens in the north. Long time ago, the state tried to put the plant as illegal, it wasn’t possible because too deeply rooted in those communities, people were highly upset. Yet I remember that I first used and saw khat use in Mahajanga in 2018 until 2022, got back there this year, apparently the daily plane from Antsiranana (far north) got cut down so people switched to kola nuts and Khat became harder to find than weed.
washed leaves already sorted:
Back then it was impressive. It’s very hot and dry up here, people do naps around midday, leaving the streets totally empty… until 2 or 3 pm when that flight used to arrive from Antsiranana, suddenly a lot of people would appear from everywhere and rush on those huge piles of fresh khat packed in bundles brought by trucks to buy some. Then suddenly everything was taking life again, but I think it makes people nervous at some point, at least I felt quite some tense feelings when people didn’t chew yet.
In Ambanja, Nosy Be you can see a lot of public use too. People got huge cheeks as they keep the leaves sometimes for days and keep adding some again and again. The dialect is already hard to understand, but the mouth literally full of khat, it’s another level of difficulty!
Quite common to see in the Malagasy bars of those areas people drinking beer, sharing khat branches and smoking joints. Khat is often forbidden in westerners touristic places, signs with “no katy” pop up here and there. Some use Khat at day to go through work and relax at night with zamal and rhum…
Zamal and Khat:
Chewing is not viewed as the same in the highlands and the south, less people use it and it is a bit badly viewed too.
edit : During my experience I found that there is big leaves and narrow leaves with red branches… Effects and taste between the two are a bit different, locals seems to prefer the fresher narrow leaves with red branches… The older the tree is the better it is supposed to be as well.
Cheers 
but I guess the effects are different!
