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One of my friends is a teacher by education and is fond of historical reconstruction. He is interested in literally everything – from the Roman legionnaires to the events of the recent past.
He pays special attention to the drinks of past eras. Every time I came to visit him, I jokingly asked the same question: “What are we going to cook this time?”.
The answer was different each time. We made cider from the Viking Age, the grog of English sailors from the time of Admiral Nelson, and this time we decided to try making tincture of Count Razumovsky, a favorite of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
The story was shared by blog reader Sergey.
What ingredients and equipment will be needed
Where my friend got the recipes from was a mystery to me. On this topic, he tried not to expand. Why? I don’t know, maybe I thought of something myself? Well, okay!
I liked my friend’s passion for history and the fact that his ciders, meads, etc. always came out very tasty and allowed me to get in touch with history in such a peculiar way.
However, let us return to Count Razumovsky, or rather, to his tincture. I once again came to a friend on vacation and immediately asked the traditional question. He replied that he had recently become interested in the era of Elizabeth Petrovna, and today we would prepare her favorite tincture with him.
And here is Count Alexei Razumovsky himself
According to the established tradition, my friend and I went to the store for the necessary ingredients and equipment:
- Vodka – 1 l. We took a standard bottle for 600 rubles.
- Linden blossom – 50 gr. At a friend, the flowers of this tree have been dried since the summer. If not for his thriftiness, I would have had to run to the pharmacy, where they are sold for 135 rubles.
- Mint – 10 gr. 60 rub.
- Anise – 10 gr. 70 rub.
- Juniper – 20 gr. 65 rub.
- Ground ginger – 5 gr. 45 rub.
- Honey – 30 gr. 250 rub.
Note! The fact that the tincture was invented by Count Razumovsky by historians, unfortunately, has not been proven, however, the fact that he loved to drink it is a historical fact.
The cooking process
So, the ingredients are purchased, it is time to start preparing the tincture itself. While we were preparing everything, a friend shared interesting facts that were related to the history of Russia.
The cooking process itself, by the way, turned out to be simple:
- Linden flowers, as well as anise, mint and juniper are put in a glass jar.
- Fill with vodka.
- Stir.
- Close the lid and leave to infuse for 15 days.
Here we had to stop. I went home, but promised to return in two weeks and stay for at least five days.
After my promised arrival, we continued our alcoholic experiments. The tincture just had time, as they say, to reach the condition. After that, the matter remained small. It was necessary to strain the liquid and add ginger with honey to it.
During cooking
After mixing thoroughly, we left the tincture in a dark room for another 4 days. Another filtration followed. After that, the tincture was ready for use.
Note! As a filter, you can use gauze or cotton wool folded in several layers.
What will be the result
When the cooking process was completed, we got a bottle of brown-red liquid with a spicy smell. Apparently, the count liked scalding drinks, because she tasted just like that. However, this was caused more likely not by vodka, but by ginger.
In general, Razumovsky knew what to drink. We tasted only one glass each and realized that this time we succeeded in immersing ourselves in Russian history.
We drink, we eat
In the tincture itself, by the way, there was almost no alcohol, it was interrupted by spices, and honey gave a little sweetness, which was very good given the overall slightly bitter taste.
How to serve and with what to use
We had a friend and another tradition. Having prepared a drink according to old recipes, we tried to arrange a small evening of historical reconstruction. No, we didn’t change into costumes and didn’t make gallant bows to each other either.
But, for example, we drank Viking cider from horns and ate fried meat, and poured Russian mead into wooden mugs and ate sauerkraut.
In general, we tried to use the next novelty in the spirit of the era in which it was popular, even if we did it in a modern manner.
So with the tincture of Count Razumovsky, we did exactly the same. To begin with, a friend cooled it well in the refrigerator (a modern analogue of the cellar). Then he poured it into a glass decanter and placed it on the table.
The comrade served two small glasses to the decanter. As an appetizer, we used fruits and desserts.
All in all, the evening went well. We drank tincture, remembered the count and all that difficult era in which he lived. Have you ever tried alcohol prepared according to old recipes?