Palm wine — the naturally fermented sap of the raffia or oil palm — is central to social life across the Niger Delta, and Port Harcourt still has drinking spots that serve it fresh. The wine is tapped from the cut palm and is lightly alcoholic, slightly fizzy, and almost sweet when fresh. It ferments rapidly; within twelve hours of tapping it becomes much stronger and more acidic.
The best places to try palm wine are the informal spots in older residential areas of the city, particularly around the Diobu neighbourhood and the roads leading toward the waterfront. Look for plastic containers stacked outside small premises — that is usually the sign. The drink is traditionally served in calabash cups or recycled plastic jugs, and it goes well with roasted groundnuts. This is an aspect of West African drinking culture that has no equivalent anywhere else, and a fresh palm wine in the afternoon shade is one of Port Harcourt's underrated pleasures.