Sahti

Sahti is a traditional beer from Finland made from a variety of grains, malted and unmalted, including barley, rye, wheat, and oats; sometimes bread made from these grains is fermented instead of malt itself. Traditionally the beer is flavored with juniper berries in addition to, or instead of, hops; the mash is filtered through juniper twigs through a trough-shaped tun called a kuurna in Finnish. Sahti has a distinct banana flavor due to the production of isoamyl acetate by the yeast. Sahti is a top-fermented brew (ale), and while baking yeast has been used traditionally, ale yeast may also be used in fermenting.

The end product is a cloudy beer with yeasty and phenolic flavors and a distinct taste similar to banana. Sahti is traditionally homebrewed but in recent years commercial versions have become available. Commercial Sahti usually has around eight percent ABV. In Finland, due to the higher percentage of alcohol in sahti, it is only sold in commercial sahti breweries, pubs or state-owned Alko stores, not in regular markets or grocery stores. Sahti has to be stored cold until consumption and is therefore not available in all Alko branches.

Cheb Hasni

Cheb Hasni (Arabic : الشاب حسني) born Hasni Chakroun (1 February 1968 – 29 September 1994) was a performer of Algerian raï music. He was popular across North Africa, having reached the height of his career in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was the son of a welder and grew up in a working-class family where he was one of seven children. Hasni is most well known for his love songs, but he also dealt with taboo subjects such as divorce and alcohol. He was murdered in 1994. Hasni's controversial lyrical content (particularly those on the 1987 hit song “El Berraka”, which contained lyrics about drunken sexual intercourse) had drawn the ire of Salafist fundamentalists in North Africa and it is believed he was murdered as a result.

Early career

Born in Oran, Algeria, Cheb Hasni was interested in performing from an early age. In an interview published in the French newspaper Libération in 1992, Hasni recounted how "everyone knew me in our neighbourhood when I was a kid. I was always walking up the road with my school bag thrown off my shoulder, singing my head off".