African-Colombian moonshine gets official seal of approval as heritage drink

Viche - traditionally produced by women on the Pacific coast - is poised to be for Colombia what mezcal is for Mexico, experts say

Lucia Solis, an African-Colombian artisan distiller from Buenaventura on Colombia's Pacific coast, has spent much of her life making and selling viche, a pungent liquor believed to cure snakebites. Now, with a new law on the horizon, she'll be able to sell the ancestral home-brew across the country -and perhaps beyond.