Old hot drink sbiten - recipes. Sbiten: recipes for cooking at home

Often we use the name of the ancient Russian drink "sbiten", having little idea of how it differs from other traditional Russian drinks. Let's try to figure out what it is and how to cook a real one. Old Russian sbiten.

Archaeological excavations show that there is no people in the world who would not use honey in the preparation of their traditional drinks. The ancients were no exception Slavic peoples. They shared honey with their gods. And drinks with honey and based on honey are an indispensable attribute of all feasts, religious offerings, rituals and everyday life.

Our distant ancestors loved honey drinks and drank them in considerable quantities. This is indirectly confirmed by old recipes, in which the ingredients used for their preparation were measured in tens of liters of water and tens of kilograms of honey (for example, take “1.5 pounds of honey”, “dilute with 12 buckets of water”). One of these honey drinks is known to us under the name "sbiten".

The first mention of this ancient Russian drink is found in the annals of the 12th century. In those days, sbiten was called “overcooking”, later “boiling”, “var” (a drink that was obtained by boiling water with the addition of herbs, berries, fruits and honey).

It is assumed that its name comes from the verb "shoot down". Whether this is actually the case is hard to say. But it is known that two different vessels were usually used in its preparation. In one they cooked herbal infusion, in another insisted honey. And before use, the contents of both were mixed - “knocked down”.

According to the definition given in ancient books and chronicles of the ancient Slavs, sbiten is sweet honey drink, the main component of which is honey. In addition, water, various spices, various herbs, including medicinal ones, were used for its preparation.

Read also: Suzdal sbiten: beneficial features and recipes

How did they drink sbiten in Rus'?

Drinking fragrant and tasty Russian sbiten is a pleasure. And long time(before the advent and mass distribution of tea) it was perhaps the only hot drink. It was drunk at home, cooked in samovars in downed kurens, usually located in the most crowded places in the city. And at fairs and bazaars, sbitenschiki carried it in samovars and offered it to the frozen people.

They drank it from samovars, usually from earthenware mugs or special convex cups, as a snack with rolls, buns and gingerbread.

There is a version that it was for this drink that the samovar was invented in Rus'. Perhaps it is. After all, tea appeared on the table of our ancestors much later.

Honey sbiten with an infusion of medicinal herbs (chamomile and mint, St. John's wort and sage) was drunk not only for mood, but also for restoring health. In Rus', this popular drink was drunk cold on hot days and in the bath, as a means of perfectly quenching thirst. In winter, in frost, it was the best warming and tonic drink.

How to cook old Russian sbiten?

Most old recipe cooking sbitnya was found in a collection of instructions and advice on all life issues - in the famous book "Domostroy" of the 16th century edition, attributed to Archpriest Sylvester. Although it is known for certain that the ancient Russian sbiten appeared much earlier, back in the 11th-13th centuries.

The main components for the classic traditional sbitnya are honey, water and spices (sage, St. John's wort, ginger, Bay leaf, capsicum, cardamom, cinnamon, mint, cloves).

Sbiten, unlike other traditional honey drinks, is prepared simply and quickly. You can drink it after 3-4 hours. The technology of its preparation does not use a long fermentation process, as, for example, it is done when preparing mead or surya (a little-known ancient Russian drink).

Read also: Stolbushin sbiten - an old Russian recipe

According to the method of preparation, sbiten can be non-alcoholic (strength up to 1%) and alcoholic - 4-7%, plain or custard.

Unlike many honey-based drinks, sbiten was most often prepared non-alcoholic. Hops were not added to it and honey was not fermented.

There are a lot of known recipes for its preparation. The most commonly mentioned sbiten are "Stobushinsky", "Suzdal", "Juniper", "Vladimir", "Fir" and "Moscow". They differ slightly from each other: either in the set of seasonings and spices used, or in different cooking technologies.

The classic recipe for an old Russian sbitnya is cooking in two vessels. In one, honey was dissolved in water and brought to a boil, in the other, a decoction of spices was prepared. Then everything was mixed together. And the simplest recipe is to mix all the ingredients at once in one go, boil for 20-30 minutes, insist and strain.

Russian sbitnya recipe

To prepare a real Russian sbitnya according to the recipe from the book by V.V. Pokhlebkin will need:

Honey - 200 g
White molasses - 1 kg
Water - 5-6 l
Spices: cinnamon - 2 g, cloves - 5 pieces, star anise - 3 pieces, ginger - 2 tsp, black pepper (peas) - 10 pieces, dry mint - 5 tbsp. l., cardamom - 6-8 pcs.

Cooking method: dissolve honey and molasses into hot water and boil for another quarter of an hour. Add spices and boil everything together for another 10 minutes.

Sbiten - undeservedly forgotten Slavic drink. Once it was much more popular than tea and coffee. Its main advantage is natural, rich and useful composition. Sbiten gives strength, fills the body with vitamins, helps to recover from serious illnesses and is very easy to prepare at home.

Homemade sbiten - general principles of cooking

All types of drink can be divided into winter, summer and alcoholic options. Warming sbiten will help protect against colds and give warmth. Cold versions of the drink will be to your taste on a hot day, they will be a wonderful summer treat. Alcoholic sbitni were served to festive table. The invariable ingredient of any kind is fresh Bee Honey.

What else can be added:

Carnation;

different berries;

Sbiten is getting ready different ways, but most often with cooking. Alcoholic options drinks take time to ferment, often hops are added to them. Before use, the broth is always filtered, sometimes supplemented with lemon. The shelf life depends on the recipe. If the drink is hot, it is advisable to consume it within an hour. Cold sbitni are stored for several days. The Slavs prepared alcoholic options for the future, kept them in cellars for several months, got them to festive feast.

Sbiten "Honey" at home (winter version)

Traditional Slavic recipe warming honey whip at home. The classic drink is prepared only with real wand cinnamon and fresh ginger, it is better not to use dry spices from a bag.

Ingredients

Liter of water;

150 grams of honey;

50 grams of sugar;

5 pieces of cardamom;

cinnamon stick;

star anise;

A piece of ginger root.

Cooking

1. Combine water with sugar. Sometimes honey is laid right away, but if you want to keep everything useful material. It's better not to do it yet. In general, sugar can be omitted, but classic drink very sweet, sometimes this amount of products goes up to 150 grams. We pour a little.

2. Put the ginger root cut into thin slices, first remove the thin skin.

3. Remove the zest from the lemon, add the peel to the saucepan.

4. Fall asleep all the other spices, put on the stove.

5. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for about one hour.

6. Turn off the stove, let the drink stand for another 15 minutes.

7. Cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice from one part of the citrus into the drink, stir.

8. We spread the honey, just the liquid has already cooled down a bit.

9. Strain the sbiten, pour it into mugs, add slices of fresh lemon. Since this is a winter version of the drink, serve it hot.

Homemade sbiten with cranberries

A variant of a refreshing homemade whipped cream with cranberries. Although, hot, this drink is also very tasty. Cranberries can be taken fresh, frozen, grated.

Ingredients

200 g cranberries;

Liter of water;

Two spoons of honey;

clove bud;

A pinch of nutmeg.

Cooking

1. Pour boiling water over cranberries if the berries are whole. If they are already grated, then just lay them in the pan. Whole berries are also laid, rubbed with a pestle.

2. Add water, you can immediately take boiling water, throw a clove.

3. Put on fire, bring to a boil, boil for a couple of minutes.

4. We insist cranberries for about half an hour.

5. We filter the broth through gauze, carefully squeeze the cranberries.

6. We throw a pinch of nutmeg into the broth.

7. Let the drink cool down to 60 degrees so as not to destroy the vitamins in honey.

8. Add honey, stir until dissolved.

9. Cool or use warm. If desired, you can add sugar for more sweetness or add a couple of tablespoons of honey.

Sbiten "Honey" at home with prunes

One of the brightest options for honey sbitnya. The taste will directly depend on the quality of the prunes. Choose good, unprocessed dried fruits.

Ingredients

100 g prunes;

10 pieces. wild rose;

1 clove;

1.5 liters of water;

4 tbsp. l. honey;

5 g fresh ginger.

Cooking

1. Rinse the prunes, put them in a pot of water, put on the stove.

2. Break the washed rose hips, add after the prunes.

3. Insert chopped ginger root, add one clove. It's minimum. If you like the clove flavor, then you can throw up to five stars.

4. Boil all this for about half an hour, but do not let it boil actively, cook over low heat with a slight boil.

5. Turn off the stove and wrap the pan in a warm blanket, imitating a thermos. In the old days, they simply put a dish on a warm stove.

6. Leave for two hours.

7. Stir the sbiten so that the dried fruits give off the taste as much as possible. We filter.

8. You can add more honey or sugar if there is not enough sweetness.

9. The drink is universal, you can drink it immediately in a warm form or cool it in the refrigerator.

Home sbiten "Monastyrsky"

Once a very popular recipe for homemade sbiten, to which fresh hop cones were added. It is believed that the monks invented it, hence the name.

Ingredients

1 kg of honey;

20 g of hop cones;

100 ml of tea leaves;

3 liters of water;

Star anise.

Cooking

1. Combine honey with water, put on the stove.

2. Put the hops in a gauze bag, put an anise and one stone in it, thoroughly washed with soap. Throw into a saucepan.

3. Boil the drink for 2 hours at a low boil.

4. Remove from heat, cool to a warm state.

5. Brew strong tea from 1 st. l. tea leaves and 120 ml of water.

6. Strain, about 100 ml should come out. Connect with the main broth.

7. Pour into fermentation tank with a water seal, which is used in the preparation of wine.

8. Remove sbiten in the dark and cool place until the end of fermentation.

9. Using a transparent tube, remove the drink from the sediment, pour into clean bottles, cork. Leave in the cellar to mature for a month.

Sbiten honey at home with orange

A very spicy version of honey sbitnya, which is simply prepared at home. No citrus juice is needed, just the zest. You can prepare it for the future, dry it, use it at any time.

Ingredients

5 spoons of honey;

1 st. l. zest;

2 liters of water;

2 cloves;

2-3 cm of ginger root;

1 vanilla pod;

1 cinnamon.

Cooking

1. Cut the ginger into thin slices or grate, pour into the pan.

2. Add fresh or dried zest, in the second option, the amount can be halved.

3. Throw in a vanilla pod, throw in a cinnamon stick. Can be broken into several pieces.

4. Add a couple of carnation stars. If there is a star anise, then it can be laid.

5. Fill with water, put honey and send it all to the stove.

6. After boiling, simmer on the stove for two hours. Be sure to cover so that the liquid does not evaporate.

7. Ready sbiten strain, use hot. You can reheat if necessary.

Homemade sbiten with sea buckthorn and calendula

Another very fragrant and delicious option home slaughter. To make the drink rich, it is best to use ripe sea buckthorn. This drink can be consumed hot or cold.

Ingredients

200 g of sea buckthorn berries;

150 g of liquid honey;

10 g of ginger root;

1.6 liters of water;

1 st. l. oregano;

1 st. l. calendula;

2-3 cloves;

1-2 cinnamon sticks.

Cooking

1. Put the sea buckthorn berries in a saucepan. If they are frozen, thaw a little first. Crush with a pusher.

2. Add water to the drink, put on the stove, boil for ten minutes.

3. Add chopped ginger.

4. Pour in all herbs and spices, you can remove something or add more to your liking. Stir, turn off the stove.

5. Cover the pan, leave for half an hour to make the broth more saturated.

6. Strain, squeeze herbal cake with berries.

7. Add honey to the still hot liquid, stir until it is completely dissolved.

Sbiten "Honey" at home with mint and apples

Very tasty and once popular recipe honey beat. At home, it was often prepared with the addition peppermint. But if desired, this ingredient can be omitted or replaced with lemon balm.

Ingredients

2 apples;

150 g of honey;

1 tsp chopped mint (can be dry);

4 cloves;

7 glasses of water;

1 cm ginger root;

cinnamon stick;

0.5 lemon.

Cooking

1. Cut the apples into quarters. It is not necessary to remove the seeds or throw away the cores. We throw it into the saucepan.

2. Add prescription water.

3. Finely chop the ginger root, add to the total mass.

4. Spread the cloves with mint and cinnamon.

5. Remove a little zest, add to the pan.

6. Boil together for 15 minutes after boiling water. We let the sbitnya stand for the same amount of time.

7. We filter. We introduce liquid honey into the drink.

8. Lemon, which was left without zest, cut into pieces, put in glasses.

9. Pour hot sbiten and enjoy!

The root of ginger is very easily and quickly peeled off the gray skin with an ordinary teaspoon, it briskly goes through all the bumps.

If you are allergic to honey, you should not drink the drink in any case. Also, it should not be given to small children under three years of age.

If pieces of grass, ginger or other products float in the drink, then it is not very pleasant to use it. Therefore, you need to filter the sbiten through several layers of gauze or use a fine strainer.

Sbiten is often confused with mead, which was also a very popular drink among the Slavs. But in fact, they are prepared using completely different technologies.

If you don't like sugary taste sbitnya, then you can add a little lemon juice to it.

Sbiten is an unusual drink. And even if you have not had a chance to taste it yet, then you have heard the name for sure. True, most of our contemporaries still have a rather vague idea of \u200b\u200bthis drink, and most often do not know how to cook sbiten with their own hands at home. But the recipe for sbitnya was invented in Rus'. And for several centuries, it was the most popular honey drink.

Among the huge variety of honey drinks that Rus' has been famous for since time immemorial, it is easy to get confused. After all, honey is the most popular product in those times. He was certainly present in any home, regardless of status and social position. But sbiten is a primordially Russian drink in the form of a hot decoction of hot, spicy spices, fragrant herbs and roots sweetened with honey - cannot be confused with other honeys or with.

It is prepared, unlike the same mead, quickly. And his numerous recipes with the ability to combine and combine in different proportions are quite available ingredients allow you to cook real, healthy and tasty sbiten at home with your own hands.

Information about it can be found already in the annals of the 12th century, in which sbiten is mentioned as a warming drink, called at first a digest. Somewhat later, it began to be called a vzvar, a var, and after some time it received the name we now know - sbiten.

As follows from the primary sources, they drank this soft drink several times a day, hot as tea. In fact, sbiten fully performed the functions of the now popular tea and coffee, which gradually (completely after the revolution of 1917) replaced sbiten, like other honey drinks.

By the way, according to historians, such an obligatory attribute of the tea ceremony in the Russian state as the famous samovar also appeared at the time of the popularity of sbitnya. It was, of course, not an exact copy of the sbitennik, but its design is based on the same principle with a heating element and a pipe.

But until the end, useful and tasty was not forgotten. Nowadays, on the wave of increased interest in useful and healthy eating remembered about healing properties honey drink, which in many respects surpass the same tea or coffee. And remembering, they began to make attempts to find old recipes and revive the Russian tradition of eating sbitnya.

Read also: What is Old Russian sbiten and how was it prepared in Rus'?

How was an old hot drink prepared in Rus'?

Honey, spices and water were used to cook sbitnya. The quantity and composition of the ingredients were constantly changing (it depended on the recipe). Only honey was the unchanging and constant product. And the most popular additives in Rus' were St. John's wort, mint, sage, ginger, capsicum, bay leaf, cinnamon and coriander.

Basically, sbiten was prepared in several ways: simple and custard.

At easy way honey was boiled separately: after stirring it in water, it was brought to a boil. In another vessel, a hot decoction of spices and herbs was prepared. And then everything was whipped (mixed) together. Spices and spices that were brought from distant countries, especially at first, were replaced by domestic spicy plants, such as angelica, calamus, elecampane, lemon balm and thyme.

There is also a simplified version of this method: all the ingredients were mixed at once, boiled for 15-20 minutes and insisted.

At custard method a fermentation process takes place, and according to the recipe, in addition to the main ingredients, hop cones are added (it turns out hoppy sbiten with a special characteristic taste) and yeast.

Traditional sbiten is still a non-alcoholic drink. But when cooking at home, for a variety of taste, it was allowed to add berry and fruit juices, sweet syrup, vodka or dry red wine to it.

Many recipes traditionally involve boiling honey. To preserve useful properties honey product you can do the following: put it in a ready-made broth with herbs and spices, cooled to 40 ° C.

Recipes for making sbitnya at home

Having become acquainted with the basic cooking techniques, if you also have an unbearable desire to cook sbiten at home, you can safely get down to business. This is almost the same as, for example, making mulled wine (a very popular drink today). The technology of their preparation is very similar. The only difference is that mulled wine is always an alcoholic drink.

Read also: Cranberry sbiten: recipe and useful properties of the drink

At home, you can cook for yourself and your loved ones an intoxicating version, and make a delicious non-alcoholic drink for children, without any special knowledge in winemaking or home brewing. All ingredients are available. It remains only to follow the recipe. Although this is not necessary. Experiments and creativity welcome.

Classic sbitny recipe

Honey - 500 g
A mixture of spices (cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom) - 10 g
Water - 1.5 l
Herbs (mint, St. John's wort, sage, oregano) - 80 g

Boil honey in a liter of water so that part of the liquid evaporates. Separately, boil the spices and herbs in the remaining liquid for 15 minutes and let it brew a little. Combine liquid from two containers and heat slightly.

Slavic sbiten

Water - 1 l
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Honey - 50 g
Collection of herbs (mint, lemon balm, oregano) - a sprig of each
Hops - 3 g

Add spices and honey to boiling water. 15 minutes cook. We insist half an hour. We drink hot.

Sbiten is festive

This variant of a sweeter and spicier drink was drunk on major holidays.

Water - 1.5 l
Yeast - 50 g
Honey - 500 g
Cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, pepper

Boil honey by stirring in water. Boil again with spices. Add yeast to chilled drink. Bottling, keep warm for 12-14 hours. And then clean in the cold for ripening for 14-21 days. AT ready drink may be added before use. cranberry juice(500 ml). Warm up before use.

Fruit sbiten for children

Water - 7.5 l
Honey - 2 kg
Any juice, you can mix juices (strawberry, raspberry, currant) - 1 l

According to this recipe, all ingredients are boiled for low fire, removing the foam, two hours. After cooling and straining the drink, it is consumed immediately.

Sbiten is a fragrant and warming old Russian drink. Currently, it is cooked less and less, but several centuries ago, sbitnem was often warmed up on cold days. Almost every family knew how to cook it, and many even had their own secret of making a drink. Today, sbitnya recipes are available to any hostess.

Sbiten: what is it?

Sbiten (or, as it used to be called, “zbiten”) is a traditional Russian drink. Its name comes from the verb "churn", since the basis of its preparation was churning. The drink was served hot, it included pure water and bee honey, with the addition of various spices and medicinal herbs, cooked it in large samovars. The word "sbiten" can be seen for the first time in the annals of the Slavs, which date back to the 12th century (1128). Until the end of the 19th century. peasants and noble families drank this drink instead of tea.

There were even special establishments 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, the consumption of sbitnya practically disappeared. But now its popularity is growing again, and many housewives have learned to prepare a drink on their own.

Composition:

Water - 3 l
Honey - 350 g
Sugar - 250 g
Black tea - 100 g
Ground cinnamon - ½ tsp
Cloves - ½ tsp
Ground nutmeg - ¼ tsp
Celery stalk - 100 g
Lemon zest -5 tbsp.

Cooking:

So, first you need to boil the water. To do this, pour water into a deep container, after boiling, add sugar and honey. Mix the ingredients and cook until dissolved.
In a separate bowl, brew strong tea, then strain it and pour it into a saucepan with a sweet brew.
Put the celery, spices and lemon peel. The drink is brewed for about 10 minutes, then removed from the stove, covered with a lid and infused for several 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 in it. Such sbiten is good to drink with a cold.

Exquisite strawberry drink

Composition:

Honey - 300 g
Water - 5 l
Strawberry juice - 500 ml
Mint - 2 tbsp.
St. John's wort - 1 tsp
Sage - 2 tsp

Cooking:

Boil the water first, then pour in the strawberry juice and boil again. Add natural honey, mint, St. John's wort and sage.
Boil sbiten for about an hour, periodically removing the resulting foam. Strain the finished sbiten and serve to the table, spilling into beautiful glasses.
Strawberry sbiten will become great alternative fruit tea. Instead of strawberries, you can take other fruits and berries (currants, raspberries, blueberries, apples, pears), getting a completely different warming drink.

Gourmet Ginger Recipe

Composition:

Water - 3 l
Honey - 300 g
Ground cloves - 2 tsp
Fir - 100 g
Ginger root - 50 g
Sage - 4 tablespoons
Ground cinnamon -2 tsp

Cooking:

Take a large saucepan, put spices and herbs (fir, sage, cinnamon and chopped ginger root) in it. 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 medicine during a cold, as well as a prophylactic during a flu epidemic.

Classic cooking method

Composition:

Water - 3 l
Honey - 300 g
Sugar - 200 g
St. John's wort - 4 tsp
Chopped cloves - 3 tsp
Black peppercorns - 10 pcs.
Ground ginger - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 tsp
Mint - 3 tsp
Thyme - 1 tsp
Lemon - 1 pc.

Cooking:

Honey is poured with 2 tbsp. water and stir until completely dissolved. honey water pour into a saucepan and boil. Remove foam periodically, add sugar. Cook the mixture over low heat until homogeneous mass(do not bring to a boil).
Pour the remaining water into a large saucepan, put the spices and cook under closed lid about 20 min. Leave the boiled spices to infuse 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 wedges.

Homemade sbiten with wine

Composition:

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

Cooking:

To prepare this sbitnya, it is better to choose dry red wine (mostly homemade). Pour wine into a saucepan, heat it, but do not boil it. Add spices and honey, heat a little (do not bring to a boil).
Wine sbiten insist 30 minutes for richness and smell. Then the drink is recommended to filter.
This recipe for sbitnya tastes like mulled wine, is served hot and perfectly warms on cold winter evenings.

Moscow drink

Composition:

Water - 7 l
White molasses - 1 kg
Honey - 300 g
Carnation - 7 pcs.
Cinnamon - 2 tsp
Ground ginger - 3 tsp
Black peppercorns - 15 pcs.
Cardamom - 5 pcs.
Star anise - 5 pcs.

Cooking:

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

Sbiten- honey drink, an integral part of East Slavic cuisine. The vast majority of its varieties are non-alcoholic. These include: Stollushinsky sbiten, Belarusian sbiten, Suzdal, sea buckthorn, rye, cranberry and apple sbiten, as well as such exotic drinks as juniper sbiten, cedar sbiten or fir sbiten with ginger, sage and propolis and other prescription variations.

The history of the sbitnya

Honey drinks have been known to the Eastern Slavs for centuries. At the same time, unlike intoxicated meads, the ancient Russian sbiten was originally intended not for entertainment, but exclusively for quenching thirst in summer and warming in winter. The first chronicle mention of such a drink dates back to 1128, and the first known to us old recipe sbitnya dates back to the 16th century. By the way, the appearance in Eastern Europe of the prototype of later samovars is connected with its preparation.

The alcoholic version of the drink we are interested in became widespread in the 18th century, when the production of hop honey was in deep decline. Its strength was 4-7 degrees. Sbiten did not leave the stage until 1917, when he was supplanted by his closest relative - mead. Nowadays, alcoholic variety of the ancient Russian drink, although it does not experience an era of rapid renaissance, at the same time it feels quite confident. First of all, because its preparation, as a rule, does not take much time and effort. As you will soon be able to see, even the most intricate recipe for whipping at home will be very simple to implement.

There are generally recognized differences in sbitnya in serving temperature and in the method of preparation.

In the first case, it is divided into cold and hot, in the second - into simple and custard (made from fermented naturally honey). At the same time, all the varieties mentioned allow the presence of an alcoholic component in the drink.

What is the difference between sbiten and mead

It should be noted that the differences between alcoholic sbitnem and mead are rather conditional. Both drinks are often prepared using the same or very similar technologies. However, there are two fundamental differences between them. The first of the drinks is prepared without the use of yeast, the second excludes the addition of third-party alcohol.

Sbiten: useful properties

Unconditional benefit old drink due to five important factors:

Mandatory presence of honey;
The constant presence of spices (classic spicy sbiten, as a rule, contains cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, star anise, black or allspice, etc.);
A common practice of using fruit (fruit sbiten may include both fresh fruits, and dried fruits, an example of which is sbiten with prunes);
A fairly frequent addition of medicinal herbs (herbal sbiten involves the use of sage, chamomile, St. John's wort, mint, thyme, galangal, etc.);
The traditional use of the drink is hot.

Thus, the East Slavic honey elixir can not only have an anti-inflammatory, antiseptic or tonic effect on the body, and also serve as an indispensable remedy for colds, but with the addition of certain ingredients, it can have a beneficial effect on the functioning gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, liver, cardiovascular, nervous and even reproductive systems.

Shelf life

The question of the shelf life of the drink we are interested in is directly related to its variety. A simple hot sbiten, in general, does not imply the possibility of any long-term storage. It should be credited within an hour, getting the maximum pleasure from the process. If we are talking about drinks designed to be consumed cold or for later heating, then they can be stored quite freely throughout the year. At the same time, the main conditions for preservation are: stay in a cool dark room and being in a glass or wooden container.

Classic recipe for sbitnya

Let's start with how to make that same honey base that can serve as a self-sufficient drink or a field for further experiments. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the ingredients intended for sbitny should be cooked in two or even several separate containers, after which they should be combined (churned) together.

Ingredients

Honey - 300 g
Sugar or molasses - 350 g
Water - 3 l
Spices and herbs - 5-10 g
Vodka or cognac brandy - 500 ml

Cooking method

Boil 0.5 and 2.5 liters of water in two separate pots.
Boiling water from a smaller container pour spices. Add honey and sugar / molasses to a large saucepan, then boil them over low heat for half an hour, stirring constantly and removing the foam.
Then strain the spicy infusion and add it to the honey-sugar solution removed from the stove. Add alcohol there, mix everything thoroughly and leave to stretch for 15-20 minutes. Consume hot.

To heighten the effect, you can cook a similar sbiten from fermented honey. And enjoy, and valuable product should not be thrown away. At the same time, the alcohol component in such a drink can not be added.

Kumushkin or folk sbiten

Now we will tell you how to make sbiten with the addition of hops.

Ingredients

Honey - 1 kg
Fresh hops - 20 g
Spices and herbs - to taste
Water - 4 l

Cooking method

Boil in different containers 0.5 and 3.5 liters of water.
Pour boiling water from the first container with spices and herbs. Add honey to the second container and cook for 2 hours over low heat, stirring and removing the foam.
Add hops and continue to boil for an hour.
Remove the liquid from the fire, add the filtered infusion to it, mix the result, cool and bottle.
Store the drink in the cellar or in the refrigerator. Consume cold or warm.

Sbiten monastery

The name of the drink speaks for itself. The monks will not drink anything.

Ingredients

Honey - 1 kg
Fresh hops - 2 tsp
Spices and herbs - to taste
Strong black or green tea- 0.5 cup
Water - 3 l

Cooking method

Dissolve honey in water and cook on fire for 3.5 hours.
We spread hops, a large boiled pebble (it is necessary as a load) in gauze, tie it in a knot and lower it into the pan.
We boil honey together with hops for another hour, monitor the water level and add hot water if necessary.
Remove the honey from the fire and strain it into a wooden or glassware. In this case, the container should not be completely filled.
We leave the dishes in a warm place for the fermentation of honey. Usually, fermentation begins a few days after the hop honey has been boiled.
When the fermentation stops (stops hissing), pour half a glass of strongly brewed green tea into it.
We filter the liquid several times through a dense cloth and our monastic sbiten is ready.

Sbiten beer

A pleasant refreshing drink served cold.

Ingredients

Honey - 100 g
Molasses - 100 g
Beer - 500 ml
Water - 500 ml
Mint - 5 g

Cooking method

For 15 minutes, simultaneously brew beer with mint and molasses with honey, sequentially added to boiling water.
Next, mix the strained beer with the honey-treacle solution. Leave the resulting drink for an hour at room temperature, then bottled and kept for a week in the refrigerator or cellar.

Classic raspberry sbiten

Raspberry sbiten

Ingredients

Water - 3 l
Fresh raspberry juice - 500 ml
Honey - 1 kg
Yeast - 25-30 g yeast
Cinnamon - a pinch

Cooking method

Boil water, dissolve honey completely while stirring, add raspberry juice.
Cook on low heat for 2 hours, stirring and removing the foam.
Remove from heat, let cool until slightly warm.
Pour diluted into 100 ml warm water yeast, stir and cover.
Leave for 10-12 hours.
Pour into a jar or wooden barrel, put in a cold place for 25-30 days.
Pour the finished sbiten into prepared bottles, keep in a cold place in a horizontal position.

Raspberry sbiten with liqueur

In principle, this drink does not have to be raspberry. It all depends on the type of fruit used and the liqueur added.

Ingredients

Honey - 150 g
Water - 500 ml
Raspberry liqueur– 250 ml
raspberry juice– 250 ml
Allspice, cloves, ginger - to taste
Linden blossom, mint, thyme, St. John's wort - to taste

Cooking method

Pour boiling water over herbs and spices. At the same time, boil honey in raspberry juice for 10 minutes.
After that, boil it for another 5 minutes with liqueur, then mix with filtered water and let it brew for half an hour.

Sbiten wine

This recipe will allow you to prepare not mulled wine with honey, but a honey drink flavored with wine.

Ingredients

Honey - 500 g
Water - 1 l
Dry red wine - 1 l
Spices - to taste

Cooking method

In separate containers, heat the wine and boil the water.
Add spices to the wine and hold the substance for 10 minutes over low heat, without bringing it to a boil.
In parallel, add honey to the water and boil the resulting solution for half an hour (this is also done on low heat with constant stirring and removal of foam).
Then mix the honey base with strained wine and let the drink brew for 15 minutes.

juniper sbiten

Ingredients

Honey - 100 g
Water - 500 ml
Juniper berries - 10 pcs.
Lemon - 1 pc.
Cayenne pepper - 1 pc.
Carnation - 3 pcs.
Ginger (root) - 1 cm
Star anise - 1 pc.

Cooking method

Mix all ingredients in a suitable container, add lemon juice and zest.
Then bring the container to a boil and boil for 30 minutes.
Strain and pour into mugs, the drink can be drunk immediately.

Important! You can only use common juniper berries, which are often found in the wild. The fruits of other species are considered poisonous and it is better not to experiment with them.

Sbiten with prunes

One of the brightest options for honey sbitnya. The taste will directly depend on the quality of the prunes. Choose good, unprocessed dried fruits.

Ingredients

Prunes - 100 g
Rosehip - 10 pcs.
Carnation - 1 pc.
Water - 1.5 l
Honey - 4 tbsp. l.
fresh ginger– 5 g

Cooking method

Rinse the prunes, throw in a pot of water, put on the stove.
Break the washed rose hips, add after the prunes.
Enter chopped ginger root, add one clove. It's minimum. If you like the clove flavor, then you can throw up to five stars.
Boil all this for about half an hour, but do not let it boil actively, cook over low heat with a slight boil.
We turn off the stove and wrap the pan in a warm blanket, imitating a thermos. In the old days, the dishes were placed on a warm stove.
We leave for two hours.
We stir the sbiten so that the dried fruits give the maximum taste. We filter.
You can add more honey or sugar if there is not enough sweetness. Ready!

The drink is universal, you can drink it immediately in a warm form or cool it in the refrigerator.

Homemade sbiten with cranberries

Ingredients

Cranberries - 200 g
Water - 1 l
Honey - 2 tbsp. l.
Carnation - 1 bud
Nutmeg- pinch

Cooking method

Pour boiling water over cranberries if the berries are whole. If they are already grated, then just lay them in the pan. Whole berries are also laid, rubbed with a pestle.
Add water, you can immediately take boiling water, throw a clove.
We put on fire, bring to a boil, boil for a couple of minutes.
We insist cranberries for about half an hour.
We filter the broth through gauze, carefully squeeze the cranberries.
We throw a pinch of nutmeg into the broth.
Let the drink cool down to 60 degrees, so as not to destroy the vitamins in honey.
Add honey, stir until dissolved.
Refrigerate or use warm. If desired, you can add sugar for more sweetness or add a couple of tablespoons of honey.

Sbiten with sea buckthorn and calendula

Ingredients

Sea buckthorn berries - 200 g
Honey - 150 g
Ginger root - 10 g
Water - 1.6 l
Oregano - 1 tbsp. l.
Calendula - 1 tbsp. l.
Carnation - 2-3 pcs.
Cinnamon - 1-2 sticks

Cooking method

Put the sea buckthorn berries in a saucepan. If they are frozen, thaw a little first. Crush with a pusher.
Add water to the drink, put on the stove, boil for ten minutes.
Add chopped ginger.
Pour in all the herbs and spices, you can remove something or add more to your liking. Stir, turn off the stove.
Cover the pan, leave for half an hour to make the broth more saturated.
Strain, squeeze herbal cake with berries.
Add honey to the still hot liquid, stir until it is completely dissolved.

Sbiten with mint and apples

If desired, mint can be omitted or replaced with lemon balm.

Ingredients

Apples - 2 pcs.
Honey - 150 g of honey;
Chopped mint (can be dry) - 1 tsp.
Carnation - 4 pcs.
Water - 7 glasses
Ginger root - 1 cm
Cinnamon - 1 stick
Lemon - ½ pc.

Cooking method

Cut the apples into quarters and remove the seeds and hard parts, then throw them into the pan.
Add water and finely chop the ginger root, add to the total mass.
Add cloves with mint and cinnamon.
Remove a little zest, add to the pan.
Boil together for 15 minutes after boiling water. We let the sbitnya stand for the same amount of time.
We filter. We introduce liquid honey into the drink and stir it until dissolved in the total mass.
The leftover lemon can be used to decorate the serving of sbitnya.

Currant sbiten

Ingredients

Honey - 1-2 tbsp. l.
Raspberry and currant leaves (dry) - 1 tbsp. l.