Sbiten

Sbiten is a fragrant and warming old Russian drink. Nowadays, it is being cooked less and less often, but several centuries ago we were often brought down by cold days. Almost every family knew how to cook it, and many even had their own secret to making a drink. Today, recipes for shotgun are available to any hostess.

Sbiten: what is it?

Sbiten (or, as they used to call it, "Zbiten") is a traditional Russian drink. Its name comes from the verb "churn", since the basis of its preparation was precisely churning. The drink was served hot, its composition consisted of pure water and honey, with the addition of various spices and medicinal herbs, boiled it in large samovars. The word "sbiten" can be seen for the first time in the chronicles of the Slavs, which refer to 12 century (1128). Until the end of the 19th century This drink was drunk instead of tea by peasants and noble families.

There were even special places called "knocked down kitchens" located in crowded places and representing "windows". In them, people could buy a drink in its different variations. After the October Revolution, consumption of food was almost gone. But now his popularity is growing again, and many housewives have learned how to make a drink on their own.

How to cook sbiten at home?

Composition:

1. Water - 3 L
2. Honey - 350 g
3. Sugar - 250 g
4. Black tea - 100 g
5. Ground cinnamon - ½ tsp.
6. Clove - ½ tsp
7. Ground nutmeg - ¼ tsp
8. Celery Stalk - 100 g
9. Lemon zest -5 tbsp.

Cooking:

• So first you need to boil water. To do this, pour water into a deep container, add sugar and honey after boiling. Mix ingredients and boil until dissolved.
• Brew strong tea in a separate bowl, then strain it and pour it into a saucepan with a sweet brew.
• Put celery, spices and lemon zest into a saucepan. The drink is brewed for about 10 minutes, then removed from the stove, covered with a lid and infused for a few minutes.
• When the sbiten is completely ready, strain it and boil again.
• The drink is poured into cups and served hot.
• You can put circles of lemons or oranges into it. This sbiten good to drink with a cold.

Exquisite strawberry beverage

Composition:

1. Honey - 300 g
2. Water - 5 l
3. Strawberry juice - 500 ml
4. Mint - 2 tbsp.
5. St. John's Wort - 1ch.l.
6. Sage - 2 tsp.

Cooking:

• First boil the water, then pour the strawberry juice and boil again. Add natural honey, mint, St. John's wort, and sage.
• Boil for about an hour, periodically removing the formed foam. Ready sbiteni strain and serve to the table, spilling into beautiful glasses.
• Strawberry Sbiten will be an excellent alternative to fruit tea. Instead of strawberries, you can take other fruits and berries (currants, raspberries, blueberries, apples, pears), getting a completely different warming drink.

Ginger Ginger Recipe

Composition:

1. Water - 3 L
2. Honey - 300 g
3. Ground cloves - 2 tsp.
4. Fir - 100 g
5. Ginger Root - 50 g
6. Sage - 4 tbsp.
7. Ground cinnamon -2 h.

Cooking:

• Take a large saucepan, put spices and herbs in it (fir, sage, cinnamon and shredded ginger root). Pour the ingredients with water, put the saucepan on the fire, boil and leave to boil for 10 minutes.
• Leave the finished sbiten for half an hour so that it is well infused. At the end of cooking, add the remaining ingredients - honey, cloves and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
• Sbiten with ginger will be an excellent remedy for colds, as well as a preventive measure during a flu epidemic.

Classic cooking method

Composition:

1. Water - 3 L
2. Honey - 300 g
3. Sugar - 200 g
4. St. John's wort - 4 tsp
5. Ground cloves - 3 tsp.
6. Black pepper peas - 10 pcs.
7. Ground ginger - 1 tsp.
8. Cinnamon - 2 tsp.
9. Mint - 3 tsp.
10. Chabrets- 1 tsp
11. Cardamom- 1ch.l.
12. Lemon - 1 pc.

Cooking:

• Honey is poured 2 tbsp. water and stirred until dissolved. Pour honey water into a saucepan and boil. Periodically remove the foam, add sugar. Boil the mixture over low heat until a homogeneous mass (do not bring to a boil).
• Pour the remaining water into a large saucepan, place the spices and cook under a closed lid for about 20 minutes. Leave the cooked spices to leave for 10 minutes, then strain and mix with the honey mass. Heat the drink, but do not bring to a boil.
• Serve hot with lemon slices.

Homemade wine sbiten

Composition:

1. Wine - 3 l
2. Honey - 250 g
3. Carnation - 5 pcs.
4. Nutmeg- 1 tsp
5. Ground cinnamon - 1 tsp.

Cooking:

• For the preparation of this shot, it is better to choose dry red wine (mostly homemade). Pour wine into the pan, heat it, but do not boil it. Add spices and honey, heat slightly (do not bring to a boil).
• Wine sbiten insist 30 minutes for richness and smell. Then it is recommended to strain the drink.
• This recipe is a bit like the taste of mulled wine, served hot and warms well on cold winter evenings.

Moscow Navy

Composition:

1. Water - 7 l
2. White molasses - 1 kg
3. Honey - 300 g
4. Carnation - 7 pcs.
5. Cinnamon - 2 tsp.
6. Ground ginger - 3 tsp.
7. Black pepper peas - 15 pcs.
8. Cardamom - 5 pcs.
9. Badian - 5 pcs.

Cooking:

• In a deep saucepan, boil water, dissolve the honey along with molasses. Boil sweet water for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add cloves, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, pepper and cardamom.
• Boil sbiten with spices for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Pour the finished drink into glasses or cups.

Sbiten is a traditional Russian warming drink, which used to be drunk instead of tea. Due to its regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties, sbiten is well taken during cold and in the winter season instead of a firming agent. There are a lot of recipes for cooking, so everyone will find one that suits your taste.