🥃 Kalhanivka

Kalhanivka is a traditional Ukrainian nastoyanka: vodka infused with dried calgan roots. The plant behind the name is upright cinquefoil, or tormentil (Potentilla erecta); it should not be confused with Asian galangal, which is a different plant.

Legal status. Under Regulation (EU) 2019/787, a commercial drink of this kind falls under flavoured vodka (category 31) if it is sold as a spirit drink. A home-made nastoyanka is not checked against that definition, so its strength and composition are unknown.

The plant. The European Medicines Agency recognises the dried rhizome of tormentil as a traditional herbal medicinal product for adults: for mild diarrhoea and, as herbal tea or some liquid preparations, for minor inflammation of the lining of the mouth. The conclusion rests on long-standing traditional use, not on clinical trials, and the agency advises seeing a doctor if diarrhoea lasts longer than 3 days or mouth inflammation longer than 1 week. These are registered herbal products; the agency mentions ethanol only as a solvent for extracts, and it does not describe a vodka infusion. The healing effect of kalhanivka has not been proven.

Why it matters to you. Kalhanivka is vodka, with as much alcohol as before the infusion, so a folk reputation as a medicine does not make it healthy. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.