The director of the Center of Folk Culture of the Republic of Adygea, Amerbiy Kulov said:

The feast of the Adyghe turned into a game where the host aimed to get the guests drunk, while the guests had to not get drunk.

The most common Adyghe alcoholic beverage was “bakhsyma”. It was made from millet flour, honey and barley malt. This drink lifted the mood, toned the person up and caused no damage to the health.

Another name for a drinking horn is “rhython”. For several millennia, these vessels were made from the natural horns of even-toed ungulates like deer, antelopes, cows and sheep. The horns required pretreatment.

Currently, such ritons are in demand among tourists visiting southern regions of Russia. Residents of the Caucasus buy them mainly as gifts for friends and acquaintances from other regions. Sometimes these horns are used as originally intended — for drinking wine and saying toasts.

If the riton is not intended for drinking, but for interior design, it is decorated with metal, embossed or hand-stamped jewelry. Horns suitable for drinking are inlaid with silver or have no metal ornaments at all. Even though horns decorated with brass look impressive, they are not suitable as drinking vessels, as prolonged exposure to liquids leads to the oxidation of brass which results in it getting covered in a green coating.