Another Polish offering for you - Krupnik. This is a drink that goes back in my family
for quite some time. I still remember
when my parents discovered it locally and just had to get a bottle. It's not every day that you find a drink with
your name on it, and butt-kicking booze is way cooler then soup.
It's been a long time since I've had any - the last time we
made the road trip to visit my parents, I believe (my mother likes to add it to
her tea - I highly recommend it), but I've regaled my children with the story
of it, joking that it was an old family recipe.
It isn't, though my mother does have a Polish cookbook with a recipe
that my father used. It was quite the
thing to see, and it left the house smelling of honey and spices.
Being a rather cheap sort, I haven't actually bought a
bottle for myself in years, though we did find a liquor store that sold it at a
much more reasonable price - about $25, or $5-$10 less then anywhere else I've
seen it of late. This particular bottle
was a Mother's Day gift. :-D
This is a drink that I've seen classified as a whiskey,
liqueur or mead - though the recipe to make it at home calls for vodka. I've also heard it called honey or fire
whiskey. It is typically drunk straight
(though as I mentioned, it does go well with tea) warm, at room temperature or
on ice. At 40% alcohol, it packs quite a
kick. The warmer it is, the more
powerful the hit, and the more flavourful.
Sipped from a cognac style glass, allowed to warm in your hand, the
vapours rising up are enough to make the eyes burn! Especially if you wear glasses. The taste is sweet and wonderfully spiced
with cinnamon and cloves. It's warm and
smooth on the way down, and the heat and flavours linger. This is not the sort of drink to be drunk
quickly. Sip and savour! I definitely recommend giving it a try.