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Monkey Tail: Nigerians show of creativity in the brewing industry

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6 years ago

February 6, 2019

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Marijuana-brewed beverages might seem like such a brilliantly novel idea, but Nigerians have been doing this for the longest time.

“O ti mu dogo yaro and monkey tail,” is the catchy lyric in Nigerian hip-hop artist Olamide’s hit single, ‘Story For the God’, which had him claiming to need the drinks for the intense intoxication required to ‘do shina’.

Heineken has jumped on the recent wave of marijuana-acceptance in mainstream society by producing Lagunitas, popularly called Hi-Fi Hops.

The drink launched in July 2018 in California, where the drug is legal, and is marketed as “hoppy sparkling water.”

The beverage is made to taste like normal beer but actually has zero alcohol — made instead with THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. There are two varieties: one is purely THC, with 10mg per can while the other is a hybrid of 5mg of THC and 5mg of CBD which reportedly gives a calming, therapeutic effect.

Cannabis-infused products are selling fast and legalization campaigns are on the rise. This strategic move by Heineken comes as a result of the changing tastes of America’s, and probably the world’s, inebriated class.

In Nigeria, marijuana has been an officially-illegal-but-unofficially-legal drug for the longest time, and even a presidential candidate, in 2018, publicly vowed to make Nigeria a major exporter of marijuana to contribute to the GDP of the world if he is elected president.

So, marijuana-infused brews would not come as a novel idea to a common Nigerian.

For those that didn’t know, “Monkey tail” is a locally brewed cannabis and ogogoro liquor, commonly sold by skilled herbal mixologists, usually female, who either have Agbo stations by the road-side or are conveniently mobile.

These herb merchants sell everything from agbo jedi to ale, opa eyin to sobotone.

Monkey tail is gotten from either soaking marijuana leaves, stems and roots in ogogoro (local gin) for a few days depending on Units of Intoxication (UOI) intended for the customers, or by boiling/extracting water from marijuana leaves, stems, seeds or roots and mixing with ogogoro.

Depending on who’s taking it and the UOI desired, the drink is usually mixed with sweeter elements and/or taken in shots. Mostly taken by men, some claim that the drink gives them “man power” and helps them perform better during intercourse.

Though marijuana is officially illegal in Nigeria, Monkey Tail is a mainstream commercial drink whose demographic ranges from the inner-caucus rendezvous of the elite to the volatile “get-togethers” and “shayos” of area boys.

For Nigerians like Olamide, Monkey Tail has been helping regular men “do shina” and other shenanigans for the past three decades, and possibly longer.