Spotykach – classic recipes for a folk drink!

Spotykach is a Ukrainian sweet alcoholic drink made on the basis of berries, dried fruits, spices, herbs, sugar and vodka, or better, good moonshine. This liqueur is distinguished by the original manufacturing technology with the obligatory heat treatment of ingredients, as well as an interesting effect on the body, to which the drink, in fact, owes its wonderful name.

That’s usually how it happens – you drink something, your brain gets cloudy, your tongue gets tangled, and you can still walk half the night, especially to the catch-up store. Cooked according to the classic recipe, the spotykach acts exactly the opposite – the head from it is clear, and the legs begin to be woven into intricate knots and completely refuse to carry the owner anywhere. In short, for friendly gatherings or a feast, that’s it – there is nothing to wander around in vain, sit, eat, drink and talk about philosophical dilemmas. Today we will talk about this ancient Ukrainian drink – its history, varieties, differences from other sweet alcohol and, of course, learn how to cook spotykach at home in four different ways.

What is the difference between the classic recipe for spotting?

As already mentioned, spotkach is necessarily a sweet drink with a strength of about 20-25 degrees, prepared exclusively with strong alcohol – vodka, moonshine or alcohol diluted to vodka strength. In terms of sweetness, spotykach occupies the golden mean between liqueur and liqueur, it usually contains about 20-25% sugar.

Spotykach has been mentioned in literature since the 10th century, but in reality it seems to have been prepared in earlier times. It was usually made by women, and they were mainly consumed by them – the drink is still sweet, fairly light, although very effective. I gave Panyanochka some tasty drink – and take it wherever you want. They say that in the huts of responsible “strong businesswomen” there were always at least XNUMX types of stumblers – both berry, and spicy, and herbal.

But the main distinguishing feature of this drink is an unusual method of production, which certainly includes heat treatment of raw materials. In fruit stumbles, the fruits themselves are processed in boiling water, which allows them to soften, destroy pectins, let the juice separate, in spicy ones – the syrup is boiled with spices and herbs. After that, the alcohol base is poured directly into the hot sugar broth, which facilitates and accelerates the maceration. And only after this comes the infusion stage, which usually takes a week or two – noticeably less than that of a conventional tincture.

So if you come across a recipe for a “cold” spottykach, feel free to call it liqueur, such a drink cannot claim the title of “classic”. By the way, the principle of heating all kinds of alcoholic nyashki during cooking is very common in Ukrainian cuisine – for example, varenukha is prepared in a similar way, only the latter is not defended, but is served directly hot, like punch. Qualitative (or rather, spots of high quality) folk drink is prepared only “hot”!

How to cook spotykach at home? 4 different recipes

The most common spotykachi – blackcurrant, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, plum, grape, cranberry – they are prepared in almost the same way. There is also rowan spotykach (a rumored Varangian recipe). From Ukrainian folk, drink options on green walnuts (analogous to nocchino), acacia flowers, roses, mint, prunes are popular, and from modern ones – on lemon.

Pouring “Spotykach” from tender berries

To prepare this drink, any sweet, fresh, soft berries will do – such as raspberries, strawberries, currants, cherries, plums, apricots, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, grapes of fruit varieties, lingonberries, strawberries – in general, there is plenty to choose from! Mixed berries can also be used to make a stucco – for example, raspberry-blueberry 2:1, black and red currant 2:1, apricot-peach 1:1, raspberry-cherry 1:2, strawberry-white currant 1:1, cherry-gooseberry 1:2 – in short, there are countless options!

It is not difficult and not very long to prepare the liqueur “spotykach berry”. To begin with, we sort and wash the berries, put them in a saucepan, pour water, add sugar and turn on the fire. After boiling, the fire must be reduced to a minimum and our brew should be darkened for about half an hour, stirring constantly – so that the fruits wrinkle and burst, give more juice. Now pour vodka directly into the hot mixture, bring the mass almost to a boil and cover with a lid. Let cool naturally, then pour into a suitable jar and close tightly.

The term of infusion is about 10 days, preferably 2 weeks. After that, the liqueur must be filtered, the remnants of the berries are well squeezed out – they are no longer needed. The drink is thoroughly filtered through gauze, then through a cotton filter, goes to rest for another couple of weeks, after which it can already be served on the table!

Advice. Spotykach is a sweet liqueur, but the concept of “sweet” is different for everyone, someone likes slightly sugared drinks, and someone likes cloying ones. To achieve the perfect taste, it is recommended not to thump all the sugar at once during cooking, but to put only half, while adding the rest little by little to the already prepared filtered tincture and trying all the time. Only after sweetening the drink, you definitely need to rest for a week or two!

Spotykach rowan according to the Varangian recipe

I don’t know if the Varangians (Vikings) have anything to do with this drink, and indeed, if Ragnar Leather Pants ever saw such a tree as a mountain ash. However, it does not matter whether it is Varangian or not Varangian, but spotykach turns out to be tasty and original, reminiscent of rowan liquor. By the way, the usual red rowan in this recipe can be replaced with chokeberry. Also, you can add a little prunes, cinnamon to the mountain ash, and replace the sugar with honey.

It is better to collect mountain ash after the first frost – then it will soften and become sweeter. In extreme cases, before cooking, it is recommended to send it to the freezer overnight. Then everything is as in the previous recipe – put the berries in a saucepan, pour water, add sugar and boil over low heat until it bursts well. This may take longer – about an hour, depending on the ripeness of the mountain ash. Now vodka is poured into the hot mass, the pan closes and cools, after which the broth, along with the berries, is transferred to the jar.

Such a drink is infused for about two weeks – it should show a light almond shade, like Amaretto. After that, drain the liquid, squeeze the berries, filter everything. It doesn’t hurt to add a little – literally a teaspoon – of caramel syrup to such a stumble, it’s written here how to cook it. Everything, our rowan spotykach is ready! You can taste it after a week of rest, but it has long been noticed that all drinks based on mountain ash become noticeably better with long-term – up to six months – infusion.

Recipe for classic mint spottykach

Mint spotykach is the most popular after berry ones, it is faster and easier to prepare than mint liqueur, but the drink turns out to be very interesting, refreshing, “cooling” in taste and, in addition, very beautiful! In the same way, you can cook spotykach from young acacia flowers or rose petals, only the raw material needs to be doubled compared to mint.

Boil water, add sugar to it and cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly and removing the foam. We send mint to the syrup – only the leaves, naturally washed. You can also add spices – cinnamon, dill seeds, cumin, fennel, cloves, ground ginger, lime or orange zest – but just a little bit, literally 1-2 grams each. Boil the whole thing in syrup for 15 minutes, add vodka and leave to cool under the lid.

Pour the cooled broth into a jar along with mint, insist in a dark, warm place for no more than five days, then filter twice and that’s it – Spotykach mint liqueur is ready for use! It is recommended to serve this drink very chilled.

Lemon spottykach

Something between limoncello and lemonade, a sweet drink with sourness, which noticeably softens during the heat treatment of lemons. To expand the flavor range, spices are put into spotykach during cooking – coriander seeds, dill, cloves, star anise, but for the first time I would recommend making a pure lemon drink – it will be very bright anyway.

Wash the lemons well under hot water. With a special knife for peeling vegetables (well, or an ordinary sharp one), we cut off the thin yellow zest, trying not to touch the bitter white “subcortex”. Set aside the zest, cut out the pulp from the lemons, discard the white skins. We boil water in a saucepan, put sugar, cook until it is completely dissolved. Add pieces of fruit, half of the whole zest and spices. We boil for another 5-10 minutes, after which we add vodka to the brew. Let cool under the lid.

The resulting liquid, together with lemons and zest, is poured into a jar and let stand for 5-7 days – there is no need anymore. Drain the infusion, squeeze the cake, filter through gauze and cotton wool. You need to rest the drink for literally 3-4 days, after which it is usable. Lemon spotykach, like mint, should be served well chilled.

As we can see, there is nothing particularly complicated in both the classic spotykach recipes and its modernized later versions. Drinks are prepared according to this principle quite quickly, so if a holiday is coming up and you would like to serve something of your own, homemade and tasty, the spotykach will be a great alternative to the classic liqueur or liquor!