Riga balsam

Riga balsam is a real brand and a visiting card of Latvia. This is a truly elite drink, for its 250-year history it has earned more than 30 national and international awards. A real miracle of pharmaceuticals and winemaking, designed for those who know how to choose, appreciate and savor drinks.

Riga balsam is a strong, saturated drink of dark color. The country of its origin is Latvia. Balm insists in oak barrels, due to which it acquires a unique bitter taste, noble and aristocratic.

He was the favorite drink of Alexei Kosygin and Charles de Gaulle, and today - in the special favor of the English royal family. It is especially appreciated in Russia, the USA, Denmark and Israel.

Today in Latvian cafe and bars, balsam is almost the most popular component of almost all types of dishes: desserts, salads, sauces, hot, cocktails, etc. It is ideal as a digestive. The Riga balm application has found both in cookery, and in pharmaceutics.

A bit of history

In the middle of the 18th century, the Riga pharmacist Abraham Kunze made this drink and in 1789 offered it to Catherine II as a remedy for colic, suffered by the Russian empress who just visited Latvia at that time. Catherine II evaluated the healing effect of balsam.

In 1845 industrialist Albert Wolschmidt became the founder in Riga of the starter-alcohol factory for the production of balsam. The main masters in the factory were the Schrader brothers, who owned the secret of making balm. They did not sell the original recipe even to the owner of the factory. With their departure to Germany, the recipe for a "miracle drink" was lost.

Almost two centuries the way of making balm was kept secret. In the USSR, after the Second World War, they began to collect the old recipes in bitterness, and in 1954 the production of balsam was established.

Riga balsam: composition

The composition of the drink includes 24 components, among which the main are specially prepared water, ethyl alcohol, plant extracts, balsamic Peruvian oil, raspberry, cognac, ginger, natural flavors and sugar. In addition, the drink includes mint, gentian, lemon balm, lime blossom, nutmeg, valerian, irga and hyssop.

Extract of 16 herbs, which is a biologically active component of balsam, is only about 4% of the drink. To give the drink the right shade, it is diluted with a special color - caramel syrup, raspberry or blueberry mors, and exclusively Armenian or French cognac.

"Subtlety of drinking"

The balsam has a bitter-sweet original taste, its strength is 45 degrees. Often a drink is served for dessert to coffee. Exact instructions how to drink Riga balsam, does not exist.

Traditionally it is used with small glasses in pure form or in combination with tea (coffee). If you prefer tea, then enough for a cup of 1-2 spoonfuls of balsam. The delicacy of brewing the most delicious tea is that the balsam needs to be added after it lightens a little from the lemon (it is desirable to remove the slice from the cup before the balsam is added there).

The most popular kind of this drink is Riga balsam with black currant. In winter it is drunk hot, and in summer - cold.

Features of storage

Balsam is produced in ceramic bottles made from a special type of clay, which can perfectly protect the contents from temperature drops and sunlight. Clay was chosen for making containers, not accidentally, because even Hippocrates established that only in pottery can the medicines best preserve their qualities. In addition, it is believed that only after standing in these bottles for at least two weeks, the balm acquires just such an inimitable taste, for which it is appreciated. In the bottling of the drink is not for sale and in any other container is not produced.

It is recommended to store balsam at a temperature of 10 to 25 degrees and humidity of air is not higher than 85 percent.