Belarusian Cuisine - Beverages

Beverages

Тhe traditional hard drink is vodka or harelka (Belarusian: гарэлка), including varieties made from birch sap (biarozavik, Belarusian: бярозавік) or flavored with forest herbs (zubrovka, Belarusian: зуброўка). Mead and similar alcoholic drinks made of honey and spices were very common up to the 19th century and then more or less disappeared until the latest revival of the national cuisine. A notable example in this group is krambambula (Belarusian: крамбамбуля), vodka diluted with water, mixed with honey, and flavored with spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, red and black pepper). In the 18th century this drink competed with French champagne in Belarus and only wealthy people could afford it. Today it is enjoying a popular revival, as is evident from the appearance of krambambula recipes and histories on the Internet.

Kvass traditionally was and still remains the main local non-alcoholic drink, although it is increasingly made with sugars and artificial flavorings rather than with genuine rye malt and natural flavorings. Kompot is also a relatively popular beverage, normally made of dried or fresh fruit, boiled, and then cooled. Every small town boasts a local variety of mineral water. Belarusians prefer carbonated water.

Тraditional liquid desserts that accompany a meal include saladucha (Belarusian: саладуха), a thick liquid made of rye flour and honey that was popular in the 18th century, and kissel, the traditional jelly drink of Slavic peoples made with the pulp of forest berries and cooked fruits, originally thickened with oatmeal (now replaced by potato starch flour or cornstarch).