Churchkhela — the Georgian energy bar
If you try only one sweet in Georgia, make it churchkhela. Nuts (walnut or hazelnut) are threaded on a string and dipped several times in thickened grape juice — tatara. The result is a dense "sausage" dried for weeks. No sugar: the sweetness comes from the grapes. It's an ancient travel snack — calorific, natural and delicious.
Don't confuse fresh churchkhela with the souvenir kind: tourist stalls often sell it over-dried. The real thing is soft inside with whole nuts. For more edible souvenirs, see our guide to Georgian food →.
Pelamushi and tatara
The same grape juice (tatara) used for churchkhela becomes pelamushi — a thick pudding the colour of young wine, served chilled and sometimes topped with nuts. At a Georgian feast pelamushi is the classic dessert; on the feast itself and its toasts, see Georgian toasts and the tamada →.
Gozinaki (honey nut brittle)
Gozinaki is roasted walnuts in hot honey, cut into diamonds. Traditionally made for New Year, but sold year-round. Crunchy and very sweet, it's perfect with tea. From Georgia it spread across the whole post-Soviet region.
Tklapi — fruit leather
Tklapi is thin sheets of dried fruit purée (usually tkemali — sour plum). It comes sweet or sour; the sour kind is used as a seasoning in soups (kharcho), the sweet kind eaten like fruit leather. Light and long-keeping — a handy snack for the road.
| Sweet | What it is | Approx. price |
|---|---|---|
| Churchkhela | nuts in grape juice | ₾3-6 each |
| Pelamushi | grape pudding | ₾5-8 a portion |
| Gozinaki | nuts in honey | ₾8-15 / kg |
| Tklapi | fruit leather | ₾5-10 a sheet |
| Kada | layered pastry | ₾3-5 each |
Kada, nazuki and pastries
Kada is a flaky bun with a sugar-butter filling, sold at every bakery. Nazuki is a sweet cinnamon-and-raisin bread; the best comes from the town of Surami on the road to Batumi, sold hot right by the highway. These go beautifully with Georgian coffee or wine — there's a separate wine guide →.
Where to try and buy them
- Dezerter Bazaar in Tbilisi — the biggest selection of churchkhela and spices.
- Old-town bakeries and cafés — fresh kada and nazuki.
- Kakheti — the home of churchkhela and wine; on tasting tours sweets often come with the wine.
- Restaurants usually list pelamushi and ice cream on the dessert menu — for where to eat, see restaurants in Tbilisi →.
Want to taste sweets and wine where they're made? On guided tours across Georgia it's part of the programme — from the wine cellar to roadside nazuki.
Want to taste sweets and wine where they're made?
A food trip to Kakheti: a wine cellar, churchkhela and lunch overlooking the vineyards. Groups up to 7.