Alaverdi
A ritualized toast-competition, called alaverdi, is often established between the men at the table. The tamada talks about a specific topic, and the other men must modify this topic in the subsequent toasts.
When one alaverdi round is completed, the tamada must decide who will open the next round. His decision should be based on the criteria of the toast’s originality, its formulation, and the approval it received from the table. Table rhetoric is considered to be an important sign of masculinity. Men who cannot take part are considered unmanly.
In the special form of alaverdi toasting competition, the tamada symbolically grants other men his power of speech. To whoever he hands the drink-horn or the glass, becomes temporarily the tamada, and as such, the center of attraction of the dinner-party. He is then expected to vary and elaborate the topic already determined by the head-tamada.
In formal contexts, the competition is about ‘who is the best.’ The head-tamada, taking into consideration the approval of the people present, judges who was best. In the next round, the winner is given the right to speak as the second tamada. It is frequently very obvious that the head-tamada himself was the best, and he laboriously tries to remain in that position.
The audience at the table can express their appreciation of specific toasts by paying compliments, clapping, or making non-verbal gestures (however, this does not occur in the following example). In alaverdi-drinking, it becomes especially apparent that the power of words is a sign of masculinity in Georgian culture.
This ends the lesson on Georgian supras and toasting.
