A Taste of Honey

If you were to name vodka as the oldest Russian beverage, you would be wrong. Although the words ‘Russian’ and ‘vodka’ are frequently uttered in the same breath, vodka did not in fact appear in Russia until the thirteenth century. Before that time, over the course of many centuries, the Slavs and their descendents, the Rus, quenched their thirst with drinks made from honey. 

Honey brews can be nonalcoholic or extremely potent alcoholic beverages, hot or cold, but all are distinguished by their excellent taste and smell. And then there is this: a potent, alcoholic myedovukha tends to make people happy when drunk. The feasts of princes and nobles were unthinkable without honey. At such events, the myedovukha flowed freely. 

It’s no accident that most Russian fairy tales end with the saying: “And I was there, I drank honey and beer, down my moustache it dripped, never got to my lips.” Needless to say, this image of plenty signified a happy ending — the Russian equivalent of living “happily ever after.” Another expression, medovyi mesyats (honeymoon), also originates from the honey-drink tradition. A special kind of myedovukha   — which was very weak, as newlyweds were not supposed to partake of strong alcohol  — was prepared for the happy couple to drink both at the wedding feast and 30 days afterward.

The best honeys (and in old Russia there were many different kinds) were produced in monasteries. Perhaps this had to do with Prince Vasily III’s fifteenth century proclamation  banning the free brewing of honey, which brought this profitable trade into the hands of the state and church. It seems that, even as early as 500 years ago, the powers that be were attempting to take control of the production of national beverages. Which makes it hardly surprising that the current Russian government is trying to monopolize vodka production. It is part of a long tradition ...

Myedovukha remained the most popular and widespread drink in Russia up to the end of the seventeenth century, especially since grapes could not grow on the cold plains of Muscovy and wine was considered an imported delicacy. But honey was different. Thanks to the bees, which were not particularly sensitive to the harsh climate, flowers were a dime a dozen.

With the ascent of Peter the Great, Russian traditions of all kinds came under threat. The reformer tsar decided to bring foreign drinks into fashion, and wine, coffee and hot chocolate soon became all the rage among the upper classes. At first, ordinary people reacted to these novelties as the work of the devil, but soon they got used to them.

All the same, honey continued to play an important role in the Russian diet. In Russia, honey was divided into two main groups, according to the way it was prepared: cooked honey and that which was left to stand. The former type, as its name suggests, was boiled, while the latter was prepared  according to a beautifully simple principle: just add water. Water and juice were poured into the honey, and the mixture was left to stand. Fresh berry or fruit juice improved the taste of the drink. This kind of myedovukha contained almost no alcohol and was, and is, a great source of vitamins.

Russians also drank a hot variety of myedovukha, which was called sbityen. You could buy it in large quantities at any bazaar. Sbityen  vendors, with towels tied around their waists and their special sbityen glasses with rolled edges, to prevent customers from burning their lips, were a sight to see. Sbityen was prepared and carried in samovars and, before that, in special teapots of Eastern origin.

But all this was long ago. After the 1917 October Revolution, sbityen and myedovukha were pushed aside by a variety of other drinks. As recently as several years ago, your average Russian associated myedovukha with fairy tales, and if you ordered sbityen in a cafe or restaurant, the waiter was apt to look at you as if you had just flown in from Mars. But now, old culinary traditions are being revived. To sample myedovukha and sbityen in today’s Moscow, just head for any Russkoye Bistro cafe. This popular chain of traditional Russian fast-food restaurants has locations on practically every street corner in the city center.

If you can’t make it to Moscow, we suggest this recipe for cold myedovukha during this hot summer month.

– Yelena Utenkova

Photography by Vladimir Popov

Medovukha

Ingredients

2 lbs. honey

3 1/4 quarts water

2 teaspoons hops

Mix the honey and water and boil over a low flame for 3 hours. Then place the hops, along with a small stone, in some cheesecloth, tie the ends together and place in a pot with the honey (the stone is necessary so that the hops don’t rise to the surface). Boil the honey and hops for another hour, periodically adding fresh water as it boils off.

Take honey off the flame and, while still hot, sift through the cheesecloth into a glass or wooden dish. When all is said and done, the container should be no more than 4/5 full.

Leave the container in a warm place for the honey to ferment. This process usually begins about two days after brewing.

After the honey has fermented (i.e., when it stops bubbling), pour in half a cup of well-brewed tea (1 teaspoon of brewed tea to a cup of boiling water). Then, without mixing, sift the honey through a flannel cloth, preferably several times.

The sifted honey is ready to drink. It can be stored for as long as you like, and as an added bonus, it becomes especially delicious after being stored for a year in a cool place.