Kakching's bar culture is genuinely distinctive. The local drink is Yu, a rice wine fermented according to traditional methods that produces something close to Japanese sake in flavour — mild, slightly earthy, served warm or at room temperature. Hundreds of small bars around town serve Yu alongside simple food, and the drinking culture is communal and relaxed. A bar tab costs almost nothing by any standard.
The bars operate like social clubs: regulars return to the same place, drinking with the same friends. They generally open in the late afternoon around 4 pm and close around 11 pm. The clientele is predominantly male, though this has been gradually shifting. Bar-hopping is not the local style — you find your place and stay.