The honey wine (Tej) is the most widely consumed traditionally fermented alcoholic beverage in Ethiopia. Different classes of microorganisms including lactic acid bacteria and yeasts have been reported to be involved in its fermentation. The microbial composition of Tej differs based on the raw materials and additives used by the producers. The purpose of this study was to assess the bacterial composition and diversity of Tej. Six Tej samples were collected from small-scale and household Tej producers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and bacterial diversity was analyzed by 16S rRNA amplicon library sequencing. From the examined samples, 68.5% of the sampled Tej had a pH value of ≤ 3.8. The titratable acidity ranged from 0.4 ± 0.1 to 1.2 ± 0.4, with a significant difference observed at p-value = 0.001. The alcohol content (%, v/v) varied between 10.1 ± 0.7 and 12.0 ± 0.9. Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the two most predominant taxa, with Firmicutes dominating 99.9% of the three Tej samples and being the second most prevalent taxon in the other two samples. The two dominant genera identified were Lactobacillus and Zymomonas. These findings revealed the importance of evaluating the role of different consortia of microorganisms in the production of Tej and assessing its quality.
