“Strizhament” is a deep, delicate drink, ideal for unhurried friendly gatherings or a solid business meeting. Despite the fact that the recipe for this tincture is quite complicated, we will still try to repeat it at home.
Not everyone will understand, not many will remember, but in the days of the USSR there was such an unusual tincture with an elaborate name – “Strizhament”. Something exquisite is already guessed in the name of the drink: here you have “swifts” scurrying over the plateaus, and the “swiftness” with which the pride of Stavropol distillers scattered from the shelves, and the “menthol” freshness of mountain springs …
“Strizhament” is a deep, delicate drink, ideal for unhurried friendly gatherings or a solid business meeting. It includes a whole broom of medicinal herbs, which creates a very pleasant aroma of autumn meadows and a beautiful “straw” color. Despite the fact that the recipe for this tincture is quite complicated, we will still try to repeat it at home.
What kind of bird “Strizhament”?
For starters, as usual, a little general information.
“Strizhament” is a mountain in the Ciscaucasia, after which the local distillery was named, and after it – a branded drink. At the end of the XNUMXth century, a fortification structure, a retrenchment, stood on the mountain. It is not known, maybe Lermontov served in this fortress, but the rough “retrenchment” associated with dirty trenches was reshaped by the garrison into a soaring, light and mysterious “Strizhament” – poetic, isn’t it?
The drink owes its birth not to just anyone, but to Gorbachev himself. Yes, yes, it was this fighter for “sobriety is the norm of life” in the distant 1976 instructed the leadership of the Stavropol distillery to develop a branded tincture for the 200th anniversary of the city. Mikhail Sergeyevich then held the post of first secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU, which is symbolic – after all, immediately after the creation of “Strizhament” it became one of the favorite drinks of party functionaries, almost completely dispersing in mini-bars in walnut offices and sideboards of government dachas.
“Strizhament” was the main souvenir from Stavropol, a rare delicacy that vacationers brought from the Caucasus. A bottle of tincture, no worse than Armenian cognac, “solved problems” and brought genuine joy to rare lovers of the “elite”.
For some time now, the Strizhament plant has ceased production of tincture. Its manufacture was moved to Krasnodar, but this, according to rumors, is not at all the same. For those who want to be nostalgic, there is only one thing left – to cook “Strizhament” at home.
Recipe for tincture “Strizhament”
To prepare the tincture, we need mountain herbs (you can buy at a pharmacy or order on specialized sites), alcohol, some good cognac and natural juice from green apples. Oh yes – pharmacy scales or a grammeter will not interfere here. There are a lot of ingredients in the infusion, they require accurate weighing – this recipe for “Strizhament” resembles a recipe for homemade vermouth.
So, we take:
- Alcohol 96 ° – about 0.5 liters;
- Cognac – 40-50 grams;
- Clarified juice from green apples – 75 ml.;
- Water – as needed.
Hyssop officinalis, aka blue St. John’s wort
Herbs (in grams):
- Mint – 3;
- Melissa – 2;
- St. John’s wort – 2;
- Oak shavings – 2;
- Angelica – 2;
- Donnik – 2;
- Thyme – 1;
- Yarrow – 0.5;
- Wormwood – 0.5;
- Hyssop – 0.5
Cooking takes place in two stages.
- Herbal infusion
Pour 250 ml of herbs. 40-degree alcohol (our calculator will help you to properly loosen alcohol), close and send to a dark place for at least a week. After insisting, we filter through gauze, then through cotton wool or another fine filter.
- Actually, “Strizhament”.
We need only 23-25 ml per liter of the final product. the resulting infusion (if you want to get a richer taste, you can experiment and add more) + cognac stopar and 75 ml. apple juice. The whole thing is poured with vodka or 40-45-degree alcohol, so that exactly a liter is obtained in volume. The tincture is sent to a dark place for at least 3 weeks, so that the juice, cognac and herbs “make friends” and form a harmonious taste and aroma.
Due to wormwood and other similar herbs, homemade Strizhament looks like a very strong vermouth, also slightly reminiscent of homemade Becherovka or Jägermeister with an apple flavor and a bright, bitter aftertaste. It is recommended to drink it with meat dishes or just for a friendly conversation, it can also be added to tea or diluted with natural juices.