Sbiten

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Sbiten

Sbiten ( Russian сбитень , more rarely: збитень ) is a previously widespread non-alcoholic or sometimes alcoholic hot drink in Russia , which mainly consists of water, honey and spices.

General

Sbiten is a very old drink that was very popular in Russia long before tea was widely used there . The first written mentions of Sbiten date back to the 12th century.

In contrast to medowucha , which is also made from honey, sbiten is in most cases a hot drink that was mainly drunk in winter. Prjaniki ( gingerbread ), pierogi , Bubliki and other sweets were preferably served. Foreigners who visited Russia during the reign of Peter I the Great had sometimes referred to alcoholic sbiten as "Russian mulled wine ".

preparation

As a non-alcoholic hot drink, Sbiten is comparatively easy to prepare. For this purpose, 100 to 200 grams of honey, sugar and various spices such as clove , cinnamon , nutmeg , bay leaf or peppermint are added to one liter of water ; this mixture is boiled for 20 minutes, then left to steep for another 30 minutes and then filtered. In Russia, the finished drink was traditionally served in a samovar and, like tea, drunk from cups. There are also recipes for alcoholic sbiten: For this, the honey solution is left to ferment for several weeks after adding hops and yeast . The alcohol content of such sbiten was usually between 4 and 7 percent. In addition to spices, certain medicinal plants were sometimes used for all sbiten varieties .

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