In Ghana — whether you’re sealing a business deal, you want to take photographs of fishing boats on a beach or you have been invited to a village — chances are a bottle of schnapps will be involved.

The ritual of libation, in which a small amount of the fiery liquor is poured on the ground to appease ancestral spirits, remains an important custom in Ghana. Although the term schnapps includes the traditional German tipple (Kaiser Imperial is the most prestigious locally distilled brand), it can also be used to describe any strong bottled alcohol.

After you have presented it to the recipient (usually the local chief or headman), the libation ceremony is performed and then the bottle is “spirited away” for later consumption.