Rakia - An Emergency First Aid

This is an article that gives insight to rakia as an addition to the first aid kit. A very useful addition I must say for external and internal use.

What’s worse than getting bitten by a sheepdog? Realizing that you’re out of antiseptic.

Tour guide Ann Lombardi made this unfortunate discovery during a recent bike trip in Bulgaria, when one of the cyclists had a sheep dog run-in. Fortunately, Lombardi recalls, “our local support vehicle driver pulled out a huge bottle of Rakia - a potent Bulgarian hard liquor - and poured it over the leg of the traveler.”

“I don't know how practical it would be to pack spirits in a first-aid kit,” Lombardi adds, “but it sure helped in the dog bite case.”

Indeed, for cuts, scrapes, or bites, Lombardi likes good old iodine – “who cares about the orange blotch it leaves because it really works,” she notes – as well as hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol. Or, if you’re headed someplace outdoorsy, you might prefer packing an extra tube of antibiotic ointment.........

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,565600,00.html

An Negative Opinion Of Rakia The Drink

This is an article written by a Peace Corps Volunteer in Eastern Europe who use to work in Bulgaria for a time. An interesting overview of rakia from her. Of course is is a kind of generalisation from my view point. There are some jet fuel type rakia about, but the vast majority are produced from knowledgable Bulgarians and more than a palatable drink.

The Real Medicinal Purpose of Rakia… And Why I Don’t Drink It!

So last Friday it was a good friend of mine’s birthday. In the traditional fashion here we spent the day helping her get ready to throw a small party here at the municipality (Here you throw your own birthday party and treat everyone to food and drinks as opposed to have friends throw one for you). So we walk into the big conference room on the third floor to get things going and notice that there is something that looks like a flow chart written by an intoxicated 6-year-old on the white board. Being the good friends and savvy detail oriented friends that we are we decided that it would be a good idea to erase this and write something along the lines of “Welcome” and “Happy Birthday”, you know, to set the mood or whatnot. Well as we go to erase the board it is discovered that someone has made the mistake of using PERMANENT marker on the board.
Obviously this is annoying and not exactly easy to get rid of. After scrubbing and trying a couple of different wax-on wax-off techniques I leaned watching the karate kid we managed to uncover some cleaning solution and set to work. Much to our dismay the cleaning solution didn’t have much of an impact. In fact it would be a stretch really to say it had any sort of impact at all. This is when enlightenment dawned upon our gathering and one of my friends rushed off to her room for a couple of seconds.

She came back wielding a large 2L bottle of homemade rakia and a look of utter brilliance upon her face. She snagged a rag, soaked it good in a healthy dose of homemade jet-fuel and preceded to whip, with unimaginable ease, the permanent marker from the board. This is about the time where I thought to myself;

Wow that is amazing. That stuff really is powerful. You could easily fuel a car with that. People drink that. People drink a lot of that. Why on earth would anyone want to put something like that into their bodies. If it cleans permanent marker off a whiteboard that easily what does it do to my liver? That is it, no more raki for me!
And that is how the west was won… Good day to you.

Source: http://billyknox.wordpress.com

More Illegal Rakia Seized In Bulgaria

It is another capture of illegally distilled rakia that hits the news, to too far from where I live here. This is exactly what will give reason to ban rakia making totally in Bulgaria like the rest of the EU all because it is done for profiteering from a few crooks. The point of distilling home made rakia should be done entirely from the point of being used domestically and not used for blatant business. There will be many more illegal rakia seized as the recession hit s and other avenues for money making are sought. I just hope this doesn’t backfire into the legitimate rakia making being put into jeopardy, even with the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov being rakia fan.

Customs inspectors from Burgas Regional Customs Directorate have found four illegal distilleries for brandy production equipped with modern facilities in the municipality of Kotel, the Customs Agency announced. From the above-mentioned were seized 1392 liters of illegal ethyl alcohol.

Three of the closed off illegal distilleries of alcohol are in the village Yablanovo and the fourth in Malko Selo village, Kotel Municipality.....

......The check was carried out jointly with the Ministry of Interior – Sliven including two customs mobile groups, officials from Customs and Excise Operational control of Burgas Customs office and officers from Customs office in Sliven.

Total of 416 inspections were carried out by Burgas Regional Customs Directorate in recent months, 41 of which of specialized small distilleries. 15 violations of the excise law by small distilleries were found.

Source: www.focus-fen.net
Image via Wikipedia

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov - A True Rakia Fan

Boyko Borisov

Boyko Borisov (Bulgaria’s relatively new Prime Minister and rakia fan) will be the most popular person in Bulgaria with this news on rakia and duty. However the loophole is closing in with the monster EU in the wings just waiting to close the rakia tax free loophole up completely. This however would still not prevent Bulgarians making home made rakia in the sly, that's how it is here.

Bulgaria's new government abandoned plans to raise alcohol taxes due to public anger that this would threaten a centuries-old tradition of making wine and rakia brandy at home.

The centre-right government of the GERB party, which won July general elections, had hoped to raise an extra 60 million levs ($45 million) a year for the health and pension systems with the increase, which would have been imposed in 2010.

But Prime Minister Boiko Borisov backpedalled on the plan following the rising discontent among Bulgarians. "In order not to affect the average villager ... we will not raise the excise duty on alcohol," local media quoted him as saying on Sunday.

Bulgarian families are allowed to produce only 30 litres a year of rakia, a traditional grape brandy, without paying tax. Industry officials had also criticised the plan, saying it would boost alcohol smuggling and illegal production.

Last week, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said he wanted to raise the excise duty on alcohol by 15 percent to boost budget revenues, badly needed for funding the health care system and pension payments.

However, Borisov backed plans to raise duties on cigarettes by 43 percent next year in an attempt to curb smoking and relieve the health care system. Bulgaria ranks second after Greece in the EU in terms of number of regular smokers as a percentage of the population.

News Source: http://www.forexyard.com
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237 Litres Of Rakia Seized In Asenovgrad, Bulgaria

This piece of news on illegal rakia that has been acquisitioned was found recently. "The quality and type of the alcohol is yet to be analyzed." I can just imagine the fun that will be had when the analysing takes place!

Around 50,000 boxes of cigarettes and 237 liters of high-spirit alcohol have been seized by customs officers with the Operational Custom and Excise Control Department with the Territorial Customs Directorate Plovdiv, in cooperation with officers with the Economic Police to the District Interior Ministry Directorate – Plovdiv.

The excise goods were found at a commercial outlet – a store, located close to a residential building in the town of Asenovgrad (Central South Bulgaria). The goods used to be stored in violation to the Excise Duty and Tax Warehouse Act. The cigarettes and alcohol were found in the store itself, in the corridor of the staircase, and at am apartment on the second floor of the building.

2,819 of the boxes of cigarettes – GD, Marilyn, Marlboro, King, Kent, and others, were with old excise label with expired validity, while the rest of the cigarettes were without any excise label – Red Eagle, Victory and others.

The alcohol – 70 liters of 95% ABV and more than 160 liters of high-spirit liquid smelling like rakia (Bulgarian brandy), used to be stored in plastic tubes and canisters. The quality and type of the alcohol is yet to be analyzed.

The cigarettes with old excise label and the alcohol have been given for storage at the Customs – Plovdiv.

Administrative proceeding under Article 123, Paragraph 2 of the Excise Duty and Tax Warehouse Act has been initiated. Pre-court proceeding has been launched over the cigarettes without excise label.

Source: http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n196071

"Rakvocaat" The Rakia Version Of Advocaat

Advocaat is a drink that is enjoyed by thousand of drinkers, but it is expensive to buy in shops. The ingredients of advocaat are very simple so I thought I would try and make my own home made advocaat with Rakia. After a few experimentations I have now come up with a perfect recipe for homemade advocaat. In my opinion it is as good as if not better than you can buy in the shops. What’s more you can adjust the quantities of the ingredients to suit you own taste.

I used home made rakia but there is no reason why you can us commercially made rakia which can be bought at relatively low prices. The eggs I used were village free range chicken eggs no more than 12 hour old, the fresher the better even though the alcohol and sugar preserves them once made.

The finished product is a real treat and gives another very attractive option to serve guests and of course something else to talk about.

Here is the recipe I have made up for this delicious advocaat or should I rename it Rakvocaat?

Ingredients:

• 750 millilitres Rakia
• 8 fresh egg yolks
• 30 grams sugar

Method:

1. Beat the egg yolks and the sugar whilst over a pan of hot water. You should continue beating over the secondary heat until the mixture is thick and creamy. It could take up to 15 minutes for this to happen.
2. Leave the mixture to cool for an hour or two.
3. Add a few drops of rakia to the cool egg and sugar mixture whilst beating and continue to add small doses and beat until all the rakia has been added.
4. Bottle and seal the now Rakvocaat and leave in a cool dark place for one week.
5. Chill the bottle in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving cold with ice if you like it that way.

I will not give you a best before advice as the drink will disappear within a few weeks as your guest come back for more once it has been sampled. (Well that’s what happened to my first bottle!)