🥃 Ukrainian spirit traditions

Ukrainian spirit traditions include horilka, nalyvky, tinctures, zapikanka and pepper horilka. According to the Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine, horilka appeared at the end of the 15th century and became the main alcoholic drink from the end of the 17th to the beginning of the 18th century; earlier the oldest drinks were beer and intoxicating mead.

The raw material was mostly rye, in some regions potatoes, and also molasses. Modern horilka is made from rectified spirit: water and spirit are mixed in the blending section, and the mixture is filtered through sand filters and activated charcoal.

Liqueur-and-vodka products are divided into liqueurs, creams, nalyvky, punches, sweet and semi-sweet tinctures, dessert drinks, bitter tinctures and balsams. Nalyvky and tinctures were made from horilka with herbs, honey, spices, berries and sugar; the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine adds herbal zapikanka and pepper horilka.

Home distilling is known in Ukraine from the 15th century, and horilka production spread in the first half of the 16th century. Most distilleries were in Polissia and Left-Bank Ukraine, where potatoes, rye and molasses were available. In the second half of the 18th century simple kettles began to be replaced by improved stills, and in the 1820s the first steam distilleries appeared.

Why it matters to you. “Nalyvka” and “nastoyanka” are traditional names, not EU categories: under EU rules they are assessed as liqueurs (from 15 % vol., sugar usually from 100 g/l) or as a “spirit drink”. Read the strength on the label in % vol. WHO: no safe level of alcohol exists.

Other sections of this topic: Vodka and grain spirits; Honey spirit drinks; Fruit brandies; Milk-based and rare distillates; Pomace spirits; Asian spirit traditions; Liqueurs; Mulled wine and fortified wines; How spirits are made; Label, law and health. All sections are gathered on the “Spirits” page.