The history of Russian drinks is rooted in antiquity. Pickles, fruit drinks, kvass, mead, forest tea – found their way to our modern tables. All of them do not like each other and have different purposes. Some have a warming effect (spicy teas, honeys, brought down), and therefore were used mainly in the winter, while others (kvass, fruit drinks) have a refreshing tonic effect on a hot day. Honey remained the Russian drink until the end of the XVII century. This is largely due to the fact that the harsh climate of the country is not allowed to develop the wine industry. All kinds of honey drinks were developed by East Slavic ancestors: honey simple, fresh, red, white, Boyarsky, cherry, raspberry, currant …
Boiled mead prepared as their name implies, by heat treatment. .
Kvass
One of the favorite beverages of the Russian people. In all likelihood, the eastern Slavs knew kvass long before the formation of Kievan Rus. During its long history the Russian people have accumulated a lot of various recipes of kvass. But basically, they were as follows: a mixture of malt, rye, wheat or any other meal, taken in certain proportions, poured into a wooden tub and brewed with boiling water. Before pouring kvass in barrels it was filled with flavor sugars, hops, mint, raisins, molasses, honey. Exceptional taste advantages and unique flavor made this drink one of a kind.
When a profession “Kvasnikov” was very common in Russia they typically were masters specialized in the production of homogeneous kvass. Each Kvasnikov was selling you his self made brew only on allocated area. In St. Petersburg, there was 2 million bottled kvass sold per day. Especially a lot of kvass traders can be found in summer in Moscow part called Okhotny Ryad. Muscovites especially respected brew of boiled pears as Art of “kvasovareniya” required great skill and experience, as well as the necessary equipment.
Kvass was always produced in Russia made of high-grade natural raw materials – grain, fruits, berries, honey, added to it a variety of herbs, roots, spices. For fruit kvass used mainly wild apples, pears, cranberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, strawberries, currants, raspberries. Kvass competed successfully with alcohol, especially beer.
For Russian kvass fruit has always been a characteristic of a minimum alcohol content (1-3%), while in France, England, Denmark, Germany, Hungary and other Western Europe dominated kvass stronger (3-6%).
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