Talk:Rakia

Medovina

How is medovina different from mead? Is there also a variety of rakia made from cherries called černovica? I think this article should be broadened to include all Slavic peoples instead of just those from the former Yugoslav countries. The Czechs and Slovaks also enjoy these drinks.   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 13:47, August 22, 2005 (UTC)

About the third point - what do the Czechs and Slovaks call it? We already made a compromise with using the title "Rakia", I fear that if we add a third and a fourth trivially different variant, it will become increasingly unfair to stick to one name in the title... --Joy [shallot] 14:29, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

Fiery drinks for cold nights (Spectacular Slovakia travel guide)
Alcohol: Slovak national tradition claims ever new victims (The Slovak Spectator)
When I visited Slovakia, slivovica and borovička were the most popular of the home-grown spirits. I am an American who only knows a little about Slovakia, so don’t rely too much on what I have to say. Juro seems to be a pretty knowledgeable Slovak wikipedia user. He could probably supply you with a lot of first-hand information.

I think I discovered the answer to two of the above questions. From the Spectacular Slovakia article, medovina is mead. From the Slovak Spectator article, the correct Slovak name for the cherry brandy is čerešňovica.   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 14:54, August 22, 2005 (UTC)

As written in the article, medovina/medica/medovača is rakia with added honey, mead is however made solely of honey.

Rose Rakia

What about Rose Rakia? I sampled some in Kalofer, Bulgaria; I don't know exactly how much rose oil is in it, but you can certainly smell it—it's a like drinking perfume (not that I've ever done that.) --Froese 12:54, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

I have tasted it in Croatia too ( near Sinj ), the stuff is really made out of rose, it is not to be confused with "travarica"-like drinks that are actually plain rakija with addition of rose flower. --Rdavl 23:24, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Kom

I believe that lees is the correct English word that should be used in place of "kom" in the article.   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 15:04, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

I think it's pomace, i.e. including the skins, seeds, etc. of the grapes. Preslav 18:30, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

pelinkovac

Is pelinkovac considered to be rakija? --Dijxtra 12:26, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

No -- it's a liqueur, and it has lower percent of alcohol, which is not made on the fruit basis. One can add pelin into rakija, but it's something different, and would be called a travarica (IIRC, pelin is one of added herbs into rather famous "Stomaklija"). Duja 20:12, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Pelinkovac is absynth AFAIK --Arny 22:25, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Nonono, pelinkovac and absynth have nothing in common :-) --Dijxtra 09:09, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Was the smiley "intended" or... ? Well, pelinkovac [1] [2] [3] is a form of absinth (absinthe)... my Lord, there are even two articles. It's a mild one (28% alc. vol. in Arteska one, 31% in Badel's one), though, and probably with low level of that thujone thingo. Now, since Absinth(e) has a bad name in the West, rarely one producer will market it as one, (cf. Jaegermeister, Unicum) but that's a wormwood-based liqueur in essence. Duja 10:33, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Hmmmmmmmm... this is first time I hear that pelinkovac is a form of absinth... and I got drunk of both not once :-)) I mean, I thought pelinkovac has much less alcohol, and does not have the hallucinogen properties. Pelinkovac is brown/red, absinth is.. dunno, greenish or something, if I recall it correctly, it's been some time. But, then again, I am not an expert and I haven't read the sources, and therefore I better shut up :-) Please ignore my previous statemens on that issue. --Dijxtra 17:26, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Heheh, I believe smiley was addressed to my misspelling of absinth as absynth. Even if it wasn't I've deserved one ;) --Arny 14:07, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Noup, the smiley was not addressed at all, it just popped up for no good reason ;-) --Dijxtra 20:42, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

"I thought pelinkovac has much less alcohol,"

Obviously >:) Duja 09:53, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Now seriously, both are based on wormwood (pelin). The thujone thingo from wormwood is allegedly hallucinogenic, and allowed thujone contents in absinthe-(like) liqueurs are severely limited in Western markets. Now, I prefer plain old rakija, so I can't comment on the effects :-). Duja 09:53, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

I have never heard that Pelinkovac had any hallucinogenic effect on anyone that had got drunk from it including myself ( At least not from pelinkovac that is made in Zadar ). --Rdavl 23:31, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Merge with Ţuică

I think that two articles should be merged. This is the same drink, and 95% of information for Ţuică is also true for rakia and vice versa. Ţuică article has more information on production and consumption, while rakia article has more information on fruits used and ritual use, but that's it; I think that they would make a good article together.

I don't have a strong suggestion under which name they should be merged. I think rakia is better, as the spelling is more "neutral" (rachiu is also a Romanian word). Duja 08:18, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Sugar?

Do the flavored or unflavored versions of this liquor contain sugar? Badagnani 06:32, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Normally, sugar is never added to rakia. The only exception is "heated" rakia, drank only in winter times, which has honey or sugar added. As for production, sugar may be added to the fermented fruit mush (what's the English word btw?) to enhance strength; however, it is considered a malpractice and rakia produced in such way is of bad quality. The exception can be in types made of fruits with low fructose contents, such as quinces (although I think even that is preferrably made by mixing with apples rather than adding sugar; don't hold my word for it). Duja 14:56, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

The word you're looking for is "mash". (And you meant to type "drunk only in winter times", which applies, I suppose, to some people as well). "Malpractice" is used to describe doctors who misdiagnose or mistreat their patients; "bad practice" would do here. And we'd say "don't take my word for it". ==ILike2BeAnonymous 17:55, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Wow, thanks; although I'm not sure that "malpractice" was a totally wrong word :-)—everybody who make rakia out of sugar would swear to God and his children that it's pure, and that practice might have health effects as well. Duja 18:25, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Albanian raki

I am searching about the source of the best raki in Albania and anybody who has more information is welcomed to edit it in this article.

Whoever wrote the article claims that the best raki comes from the Durrës region.
Born and raised in Albania it is the first time I have ever heard this. As far as I know some of the best raki comes either from the Skrapari and Përmeti regions or specific villages around Tirana - Farka being one of them.

Is "Albanian raki" Raki (alcoholic beverage) or Rakia? If it really is rakia (and citation should be provided), then the spelling should be consistent with the rest of the article and not regionalized. If it is a regional variant of raki, it should go in that article. I think it should go in Raki (alcoholic beverage). Rakia did not come from the Ottoman Empire.   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 14:16, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

It is quite common to (also) give local names for local variants of a food or beverage. I don't think the origin of rakia is well-established, and I wonder how you can state with such certainty that it did not come from the Ottoman Empire (which means it must have come to Albania either before 1478 or after 1912).  --Lambiam 00:11, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Rakia was around well before 1478. Rakia was developed along with many other sorts of European distilled drinks in the mid-12th century. (Medieval European Distilled Beverages).   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 09:51, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not to be considered a reliable source. The Distilled beverage article cites no source for the rakia claim.  --Lambiam 12:26, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Biska

In Istra and Primorje (Croatia) also popular drink is biska, made with addition of mistletoe (imela, biska), but I don't know if this would go here because it's more like pelinkovac - bitter liqueur.Martin 07:12, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

raki / rakia

How is rakia similar to raki/ouzo? Taste is totally different, way of drinking, way of producing... I think they should be removed from the list of 'similar drinks', the only way in which they remotely resemble eachother is the name... --83.128.23.133 15:38, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

what gives with "мускатова" and "aniseta" - peculiarly placed?

I find these under "grapes, in the "Bulgarian" column - they look like new headings to me, but if so they are a) mis-coded, and probably b) mis-placed (shouldn't they be under "With additions"? I don't know enough about these to move them myself. -- Martha 19:43, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

In fact, I question whether мускатова ракия really does contain "myrrh" - on the page myrrh I find: "Myrrh is a red-brown resinous material, the dried sap of the tree Commiphora myrrha..." and I really doubt that's what is intended. I also chased "muscat" to Muscat where I find a variety of links, including to Muscat_(grape_and_wine) and Nutmeg - which again does not look appropriate (although its Bulgarian name is indeed "мускатов орех"). I have had "Пещерска ракия - мускат" - it is simply a very fine rakia, I perceived no "exotic" flavors. See [Peshterska muskatova rakiya] - if you enlarge the label, you will see that they mention "мускатово зърно" (which I cannot find defined) and that is actually the brand that I had. I think we have some inaccuracy here - but I can't prove it. Can the person who entered this please speak up? Thanks - Martha 20:13, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Hi, Muskatova rakiya (that should be the correct spelling, I think) is just made from a certain sort of grape - Muskat (or Muscat, in English...) and specific technology. There are no outstanding additives (each rakiya has SOME additives). There is also wine called "Muskat" - made from the same sort of grape. - Peter