Update: CrossTalk guy (see below) has pointed out that inflation and what not has since raised these prices. The top-end joints – Intercontinental Hotel and the likes – will charge you around Kshs. 300 for a bottle of Tusker. Most Yuppie joints sell the same at Kshs. 200. The recommended retail price is Kshs. 85-90.
Comparatively, out here in Palo Alto, CA a bottle of Tusker at Rose & Crown will set you back by US $5, roughly Kshs. 400.
This past summer while sipping a cold Tusker at the historic Fairmont The Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi (disclaimer: the only reason I was there was because my best friend from primary school is a manager there. I usually prefer cheaper places on Kimathi street) I couldn’t help but wonder if the East African Breweries or Kenyan consumers for that matter kept a tab of how much the various watering holes charge for the machozi ya simba.
Well, thanks to Bankelele, I came across this blog with the Tusker Index.
Pub Location Tusker Price Swallow One Kahawa West 75/- Sabina Joy Moi Avenue 80/- Jam Rescue Outering Road 80/- Enzogu Bar South B/C 90/- Capri 7 Jabavu Road, Hurlingham 90/- Monique Moi Avenue (Next to Sabina Joy) 100/-
The Nairobi Serena Valley Road 220/- Safari Bar The Intercontinental, CBD 230/- The Grand Regency Hotel Central Business District 242/- The Jockey Pub (Hilton Hotel) Central Business District 250/- The Exchange Bar (Stanely hotel) Kimathi Street. CBD 250/-
The index, although only covering middle class residential areas and big hotels within the CBD, shows a Kshs. 175 variation in the price of a bottle of Tusker. I’ll make sure to take this into account the next time I want one baada ya kazi.
And here is CrossTalk, a new blog I am reading which, in the words of the author, will “fight stupidity in Kenya and Kenyans”