How to brew sbiten - an undeservedly forgotten old Russian Christmas drink

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Do you want to surprise your guests for the New Year? Prepare this forgotten drink of our ancestors, which was previously brewed in every home. Hot, fragrant, warming, aromatic … Moreover, it is not at all difficult to prepare it …

Join the process …

For a long time, the now undeservedly forgotten sbiten was in Russia a favorite national winter drink and, of course, a traditional drink for Christmas.

For the first time it is mentioned in the annals of 1128, it is only called there a digest, a broth. Later this drink became known as sbitnem. Perhaps due to the fact that during its preparation, the contents of two containers were mixed (knocked down).

Slavic predecessor of tea

For a long time in Russia they did well without tea, they did not even know about it. And instead of tea, they drank an excellent, very healthy drink - sbiten, which is good at any time of the year. In the cold winter, hot sbiten helped to keep warm, saved from colds and other ailments.

In summer, chilled, it perfectly quenched thirst, not yielding to traditional kvass.

Classic sbiten was prepared on the basis of three components - honey, water and spices (sage, ginger, bay leaf, capsicum, cardamom, cinnamon, mint, cloves - in a very different combination). To enhance the taste, as well as for preventive and therapeutic purposes, medicinal herbs were also added to the drink.

Sbiten could be simple (non-alcoholic) or custard. For choux sbitn, at first, they prepared a wort from honey with various spices. As a result of a short fermentation process, a low-alcohol sbiten was obtained. Here is one, though not very intelligible, old recipe for drunken sbitnya from the culinary section of Domostroy:

In the 19th century, on city streets, at fairs and bazaars, you could often find street vendors selling sbiten. Usually they only traded in non-alcoholic sbitn.

The sbiters could be easily recognized by their characteristic attire - special cups with turned-out edges for hot drinks were tied on a belt in the form of a bandolier, and in their hands they held a special copper teapot.

Inside this kettle there was a brazier pipe with hot coals that prevented the contents of the kettle from cooling. From time to time, the knock-down man poured coals into this pipe from a special bag that hung on his belt. There was also a bundle of bagels on the merchant's shoulder.

The bogeymen praised their goods with jokes and jokes, some even in verse:

In frosty weather there was no end to buyers, such a drink warmed very well.

In the busiest places for trading sbitnem, special “knocked down smoking rooms” were installed, in which one could leisurely enjoy a wonderful drink.

Or the drink was poured to the chilled citizens from a large copper samovar, which stood right on the windowsill. Foreigners spoke with great enthusiasm about the hot sbitn, they called it "Russian mulled wine."

Chinese tea instead of sbitnAfter Chinese tea was brought to Russia, sbitnya began to be drunk less and less. In addition, due to the total deforestation, beekeeping began to decline, honey became less.

But nevertheless, at the end of the last century, in some places they tried to revive sbiten, they found old recipes. If you want to try this wonderful drink, go to Vladimir or Suzdal, where you can not only taste real sbiten, but also enjoy the beauty of these ancient Russian cities.

And finally, a couple of recipes for Suzdal sbitnya:

Sbiten Suzdal non-alcoholic (for 4 portions)

Water 1 l Honey 4 tablespoons Cinnamon 15 g Cloves 15 g Cardamom 15 g Ginger 15 g Bay leaf 15 g Take boiled water and add honey to it. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, then add spices and simmer for another 5 minutes. Strain the drink and pour into cups.

Sbiten Suzdal fruit and berry

water - 1 l honey - 100 g rose hips (dry) - 2 tbsp. l. and rowan berries - 1 tsp. dried berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries …) - 1 tbsp. l cinnamon - 1 stickcardamom - 10 boxes of star anise - ½ stars cloves - 4-5 buds Optionally, you can also add raisins, dates, dried apricots. Prepare spices: open the boxes of cardamom, chop the cinnamon and star anise. Put spices, berries and dried fruits in boiling water and boil for 10-15 minutes under a lid over low heat to preserve the aromas. Strain the slightly cooled drink and add honey to it.