Rakia - Rocket Fuel?

Image via Wikipedia

Rakia is often called rocket fuel from those outside Bulgaria. This is a term used by many who haven’t even tasted Bulgaria’s national spirit! The concept of using rakia as rocket fuel would probably work as it happens, but then so would whisky, gin, vodka and any other spirit with a alcohol content of 40% +.

Why have I brought up this subject of rocket fuel? Well is came to pass that every day I use a camping stove that boils up the water to make myself a cup of tea at lunchtime. There isn’t any cooking facilities at work hence this system that works very well. It is fuelled by mentholated spirits, which I purchase at a local store priced at 1.50 BGN Leva for 300 ml. This works out at around 4.50-5 BGN Leva per litre. I never though much else about it until I made Hot Rakia Toddy one day for my work colleagues one lunchtime as we were working in sub zero temperatures without any form of heating. As the Rakia was being heated it occurred to me that this Rakia could be used as fuel in place of the mentholated spirits. The idea became even more acute as I realised that this particular Rakia cost only 2 BGN Leva per litre to make as it was worked out on my last grape distillation last month.

So now I use Rakia (a previous batch which is not as good as my current grape Rakia) as the fuel to heat the water each day with the costs at around 30% of the purchased spirit.

So to come round again to the description of Rakia as rocket fuel, well not quite but fuel non-the less. This is another use for this versatile drink that has endless uses.

No Hangover After Rakia Wine And Beer Mix - Act Of God?

I read this with amusement as my expectation was that a massive hangover was due not only form the rakia that was drunk but the mixing with wine and beer. Either this guy is a hardened drinker or it really was an act of God! Whatever you think it is another experience of rakia drinking that add to the mystery of the spirit that works in so many way. By the way Alex Waber’s blog http://awaber.blogspot.com blog is well worth visiting for other very entertaining articles!

The hangover of God

We went on a one day road trip to a town called Novi Sad where the people are refered to as Lala's because of the way they speak. It was a ncie town, very pretty, very sleepy, but thats not the point of the story. To sum up Novi Sad I can say we walked in a circle and ate.

The point of the story is about an hour earlier on the road when we saw a stand on the side of the road and pulled off the road and got out of the car and walked over to the stand and ended up with two bottle of home brew Rakia (Moonshine to the enth degree. A much shinnier moon than other Rakias as well.) One was just good ol' normal Apricot but the other... Ooooh the other... A beautiful gold liquid with a mooden cross floating inside. Supposedly the drink was blessed at the local church. A holy Moon Shine with a cherry flavour. Delicious. Needless to say that night when we got home it was soon popped open to accompany our game of cards. The toxic shining moon like flavour instilled the fear of god in our minds as we realized that the following day we may have a holy hang over the likes of which we can hardly comprehend. After the game of cards we continued the frivolities back in THE CAVE of wine where it seemed to be "lets break glass day" as one group of drunkards broke every bottle they finished. Glass everywhere. Our jackets were on the floor. T'was ridiculous.

After that we went to Grad for a sweet german DJ who is up for best DJ I've seen since Justice. Not bad, eh? And that was two years ago! Lots of dancing, ending with two sandwhiches because I was hungry.
And then bed.

The whole night was full of Rakia and Wine and Beer.

No hang over. Magical. Act of God

Source: http://awaber.blogspot.com/2009/12/hangover-of-god.html

Rakia Making In Bulgarian Growing Fast

I found this news report on the subject of rakia drinking in Bulgaria with no surprise that Bulagria is in the top bracket of drinkers with the produce grown here ideal to making home made alcoholic drinks like wine and rakia. Because it is so cheap to produce it will of course always be taken advantage of in Bulgaria, but respected at the same time. Little and often is the case here as I have found out.

Bulgaria, by tradition, occupies the places around the top of world’s-heaviest-drinker-nations charts. According to Forbes magazine, each year Bulgarians consume 60 million litres of alcohol. Recent media reports show that the prices of homemade stills for rakia (Bulgaria’s traditional hard drink) are increasing rapidly with the approach of the autumn season, in defiance of the global crisis and Bulgaria’s ambitious 2009-2013 National Program for Alcohol Abuse Prevention the last cabinet was promoting in the last year of its term.

Most of the 500,000 Bulgarians, who are officially having problems with drinking, are middle aged, in their teens or even children.

Data from a poll conducted among students of the town of Dobrich, showed that every 7th pupil between the age of 14 and 17 get drunk more than ten times a year. Further, an EU-wide research in early 2009 revealed that half of Bulgaria’s 15-16-year-old schoolchildren choose excessive alcohol consumption, which quite often adopts a competitive character, at least once every month. “Competitive” is also the number of drunk-driving accidents. The World Health Organization has reported that 5% of all road accident deaths across the globe are owing to alcohol abuse. Be it with a jest or seriously, Bulgarians like to say of themselves that they drink like they’re getting paid for it. Here is a typically Bulgarian drinking joke: “A beer festival takes place in Germany… And the person to have the most beer was a Pernik citizen watching the TV broadcast of the festival.”

Source: paper.standartnews.com

A Christmas Greeting

A HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL FANS OF RAKIA

-------NASTRAVE!------

Rakia In Bulgaria - A Brief Overview

Yet another find given an oversight of rakia and where it stands in Bulgarian culture. This gives an good accoutnb of spilled rakia given to the deceased and is still very much practised here in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria has a flourishing wine industry and beer is coming into its own, but rakia is considered the national drink.

Rakia, also spelled rakiya or rakija, is a clear alcohol similar to brandy, made by the distillation of fermented fruits (grapes, plums, apricots, pears, apples, cherries, figs, quinces). It has a high alcohol content and home concoctions sometimes exceed 60%, making it a potent drink. In Bulgaria, rakia made from grapes (like Italian grappa) is the most popular, but slivovitz (rakia made from plums) also is popular.

Sometimes rakia is mixed with herbs, honey, sour cherries (when it becomes vishnooka) or walnuts after distillation and it takes on a dark color.

Rakia is usually drunk with appetizers known as meze and salads. Then wine or beer is consumed with the rest of the meal. If a drop of rakia happens to be spilled while pouring, it is said "that's for the deceased." Indeed, after a funeral, a toast of rakia is made and a little is spilled on the ground for the soul of the departed. At weddings, the bride's father goes from table to table offering rakia and encouraging good wishes for the newly married couple.

It has been said, one can tell if someone had too much rakia the night before because he or she can be seen eating tripe soup and drinking cold beer for breakfast as a hangover cure.

In general, rakia is considered a sign of hospitality and every guest is offered a tiny glassful as a symbolic gesture.

Source: http://easteuropeanfood.about.com
Image by Boby Dimitrov via Flickr

Sore Throat? Rakia To The Rescue

Another medicinal used for rakia which was discovered when my Bulgarian partner’s son suddenly took and interest in the kitchen ingredients for once. It is very rare that he ventures there other than to eat at the table or get beer out of the fridge! It was a sick Bulgarian who clattered about in the cupboards which the aim to make a potion to cure his sore throat.

It was a mug he used to combine the ingredients and permission granted to use my home made rakia, then and a quick burst of heat in the microwave and the steaming potion was taken and sipped whilst watching live international football on television.

Needless to say there were no moans about being ill after the ‘toddy’ had been drunk. It had soothed his throat and everyone knew that it would do the trick as it works every time.

If you happen to have these ingredients around and possibly want to save money on prescriptions, give it a try first. The recipe is simple and given here.

Recipe For Sore Throats Using Rakia

Ingredients

5 tablespoons Honey
5 tablespoons Rakia
5 tablespoons Oil (Sunflower)

Method

Put all the ingredients in a microwave proof mug and give a 1 minute 30 seconds burst on full with 750-watt machine or 1 minute 40 seconds on 700-watt machines. Give a stir so the honey is fully diluted and leave for 2-3 minutes before drinking.

Tip:
This is best drunk before going to bed and will aid a good night of sleep with a soothed throat and warmed up body.

Image by DragonFreak via Flickr

Rakia Making Equipment - Helps Improve Your Rakia

Making rakia is as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Right from the points of picking the fruit that will end up as rakia it involves many step along the way to achieve a good spirit. It is a long learning curve that never ends.

Now in my fifth year of making rakia I am more equipment than I was in the first year as my collection of rakia making equipment such as barrels, chicken wire sieves, drill attachment mixer, various measuring bottles, pans and jars along with all the other bits and pieces that aren’t essential but help improve the end result. It is after all a science and measuring is an important part if success is to be made.

Most of the stuff that I have accumulated was bought form local markets, such as the plastic barrels, alcohol measurer and various kitchen reciprocals for storing and measuring. Some things I just can’t buy, such as the chicken wire sieve that is home made form wood and of course chicken wire.

There were a couple of items that I bought online in the UK when I was there last year I wanted quality rakia glasses to serve up our rakia to guests and just bumped into the site accidently. There are normallyquite hard to find online but we found a site that deals especially in wines and spirit drinking glasses and at a good price. Somehow it always tastes much better is served in purposely made for rakia and of course looks the part.

Looks like rakia gets more complicated as time goes on, but that's only because more tricks of the trade are taken on board and taken up when making it.

Rakia Wooden Drinking Vessels For Sale On Ebay

I caught site of a auction sale on eBay where four wooden drinking cups are up for sale. The buy now price is a staggering $49.99! I suppose it is an antique as they were made in the first half od the 10th century. They look well used and many Nastraves knocked out of them over the years. I see these types of drinking vessels in Bulgarian homes, it is a common way to serve the rakia. You can stiull buy these wooden type vessels in shops in Bulgaria but at a fraction of the price but new of course.

Here's the ad:

I am offering for sale this beautiful handcrafted set of 4 antique traditional Bulgarian wood cups for grape brandy and wall stand. All parts are very well preserved with some age traces and the measures of the cups are 45mm height x 40mm diameter, 30cm / 12 inches length of the stand. For additional details please look at the photos.

Free Rakia And Bulgarian Musical Entertainment In The USA

Seems like a good place to be other than Bulgaria that is. What's on offer isr free rakia to accompany a night of Bulgarian musical entertainment. This sounds a real Bulgarian treat in foreign lands. This is a home from home if you are a Bulgarian in Pittsburgh, America at this time. This is sure to make rakia a more well known drink to Americans who attend the concert.

Tuesday, December 15 - Dessy Dobreva in Concert - 8:00 pm at the Bulgarian Center
Dessy Dobreva, a talented Bulgarian singer with a broad range of musical styles, will be performing in Pittsburgh as part of her 13-city North American tour - A Trip to Bulgaria - to celebrate the holiday season with Bulgarians abroad, their friends and all music lovers. Be strongly cautioned: her music is addictive! Dessy is coming fresh from Moscow after promoting her new album Dorogoi Dlinnoyu (A Long Trip) with a great success. In her native Bulgaria,

Dessy is a well-known singer and TV personality. Her musical styles range from folk and popular songs in traditional and pop-dance renditions, through bossa nova, Latin jazz rhythm and salsa. Doors open at the Bulgarian Center at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $20. Tickets for students and seniors cost $15 and children have free admission.

A cash bar will be open and guests can enjoy free samples of a popular Bulgarian brandy - Slivenska Perla - provided by Plamen Karagyozov, the tour sponsor. You can contact Plamen at 412-398-0356 or at DessyVisitsPgh@gmail.com for more information or to purchase tickets.

The Angels Take A Share Of Rakia Alcohol

Image by janusz l

It was quite surprising to find that leaving rakia one month in the open barrel after distilling, the angels above must be having a party for all this time.

The alcohol content of the 42 litres of rakia was 58% when left to stand for the required month before being watered down to 44% and deemed drinkable. On checking the alcohol content after the month it had gone down to 51%! I was quite amazed that 7% of alcohol had evaporated into heaven. I knew that this happens but not to such dramatic loss. The rakia was made up to 49 litres with mineral water and now stands at 44% in sealed containers. This will ensure that it remains at this alcohol level for a lifetime and more.

This batch of grape rakia is the best I have made to date and should last through to next summer when the sliva rakia season starts again. Oh the beauty of cyclic nature!

Hot Rakia Toddy - The Best Winter Drink In The World

Drinking hot rakia is the traditional way of serving rakia during the pig slaughtering season in mid winter. My first taste was in my first year here actually during my first pig slaughtering experience as well. It sends a warmth within that can’t be touched by any other concoction in my opinion and is the only drink that could hit the mark with the extreme cold weather conditions that invariably encompasses the pig killing day. In a nutshell it is the best winter drink in the world.

The recipe is simple but has to be done in a precise way to get the distinct flavours of rakia and caramel to blend into something so memorable you will never forget your first taste.

I have given the recipe here actually given to me by three independent sources each one in this case was exactly identical in describing the process.

HOT RAKIA TODDY

Ingredients

300 ml Rakia
25gm White Granulated Sugar

Method:
Put the sugar in a saucepan and heat up until it turns a yellow/light brown colour, this is now the caramel set up. Then whilst still on the heat, stir in the rakia little by little. Continue heating until piping how but not boiling (do not boil!) Serve straight away in mugs to the pig slaughterers or of course on any other occasion that calls for you whole body to be warmed up and glow.

Tip:

This is a perfect way to welcome guests who have travelled to see you on a cold night and of course will more than break the ice not only in a conversation point. You might want to serve it in something more up market than mugs though!

Image by Boby Dimitrov via Flickr

The Third In A Trilogy Of Bulgarian Rakia Descriptions

A trilogy of rakis descriptions and this it the last and probably the most accurate. I hope all necomers over the last three posts are now more versed on what rakia actually is.

Image via Wikipedia

Rakia is a hard drink of Bulgaria. The ingredients required for Rakia are fermented fruits like plum, grapes, apple, fig, pear, quince and apricot.

Rakia has no color but when herbs or other additives are mixed with it then it becomes colorful. Milk salad, pickled vegetables, etc. are served with the popular drink Rakia of Bulgaria. Usually the capacity of alcohol used in Rakia is 40 % but the percentage of alcohol content goes up to 50 to 60% when they are made at home.

Rakia is made in a metal pot. The fermented fruits are distilled for making Rakia in Bulgaria. The pot is heated in a low flame. After heating you should throw away the thing that comes first as it becomes toxic. The ingredients used for making Bulgaria's Rakia should not be either too sweet or too sour or too bitter.

Among Bulgarian food Rakia holds a very special position.

Source: www.mapsofworld.com

Bulgarian Rakia - Another More Detailed Description

Another description on rakia for those who are unversed with it. this one is a bit more detailed than the previous post and comes form personal experience.

Rakia is an alcoholic drink that is found in the Balkans and is also classed as a national drink in Bulgaria. Rakia is made by distilling fermented fruits, Rakia can be made from many fruits like plums, grapes, apricots, pears and figs, I have only tried grape and fig rakia myself as they are the two my father in law makes. Rakia can be bought from the shops and is generally about 40% alcohol in volume but alot of the home made Rakia is alot stronger with about 60% alcohol.

Bulgarians tend to drink Rakia with traditional Bulgarian salads, normally you would drink your Rakia with your salad and then with your main course you would choose another tipple. While you are having your different meals you will often find small dishes of different appetizers on the table to pick at, these are called Meze and are there to compliment you Rakia.

Source: www.bulgarianguide.blogspot.com

Phot source: www.photos1.blogger.com

A Basic Description of Rakia

There are hundred of blog and websites that describe rakia. Every so often I get a few that do exactly this. There are a great variety of descriptions, which give a rundown on what rakia actual is and more. I have one selected today that I found. This is a very basic description giving a laymans account. For those new to rakia and visting this site for the first time it will give you a clear picture on what rakia actually is. (I disagree that factory rakia is the main source fo drinking in Bulgaria.)

Bulgarian Rakia

This is a traditional Bulgarian strong alcoholic drink. Although there are different types of it the most common one is grapes rakia.

Rakia is the traditional Bulgarian strong alcoholic drink. Originally it was home- made but nowadays it is produced in factories. There are different types of rakia depending on fruits used: plum rakia, apricot rakia, grapes rakia, cherry rakia and others. Rakia is consumed with different appetizers: cheese, lukanka, salads.

Source: www.cometobulgaria.org

Rakia Named After Hero Prime Minister Foils Rakia Tax

I must say I am not surprised at all by this accolade put on Bulagria's recently elected Prime Minister. Boyko Borisov is now not only the number one man here but a Bulgarian cult hero for this, I did warn you on a previous post about Bulgaria's number one rakia fan. I would be surprised if he is nominated as a Saint further down the line if the curfew on tax on rakia sticks. It is a curfew as the EU steamroller will get their way in the end.

Bulgarian villagers have named their home-made rakia brandy 'Borisovka', playing on the name of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov to thank him for stopping parliament from raising taxes on alcohol.
Last month, the Balkan country's new centre-right government abandoned plans to raise alcohol taxes after public anger that this would threaten a centuries-old tradition of making wine and rakia at home.
But the parliament's budget commission later proposed a hike from 2010 and parliament was due to approve the increase on Wednesday when Borisov, a firefighter by training with a black belt in karate, stepped in and asked deputies to scrap the plan.
To express their gratitude, the villagers of Kapatovo, 170 km (100 miles) south of Sofia, decided to call their 2009 rakia 'Borisovka', emulating Russian vodka brand 'Putinka' that plays on the name of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
'The people of my village and other villages are jubilant. But not because we are drunkards, this must be clear. We simply want to preserve this tradition of making rakia at home,' Standart daily quoted Kapatovo's mayor Ognyan Kukov as saying.
Bulgarian families are allowed to produce 30 litres a year of rakia, a traditional grape brandy, without paying tax.

Source: www.forbes.com

No Hike On Bulgarian Home Made Rakia

Hot off the press. There is to be no increase in the tax on home made rakia and many thousands of Bulgarians were sweating on the result! We can sigh a breath of relieve now and enjoy another season of harvesting crops without fear of a hike. It doesn't make much difference to most anyway as they don't pay the tax due to date anyway here!

Here the report: (Source www.focus-fen.net)

MPs failed to adopt the increase of excise duty on spirits and beer while voting the amendments to the Excise Duty and Tax Warehouses Act. The proposal was excise of the ethyl alcohol to be increased from BGN 1100 to BGN 1250 per 1 hectoliter pure alcohol, and the excise duty on the ethyl alcohol (home-made brandy) produced in small distillatory to increase from BGN 550 to BGN 625 per 1 hectoliter pure alcohol.

Rakia and Aspirin - A Magical Cure For Aches

Aspirin + Rakia = Health

There is a Bulgarian medical recipe that cures aches and pains and of course involves rakia. This was found out when our Baba had back pains and we knew there was some 2 litres of rakia kept to one side from the last distilling. This was the initial 2 litres and carried a substantial alcohol content of 70%+. This is deemed toxic to drink and customarily it is used for medical purposes.

We found that 300ml of this strong rakia was taken and put in a small capped bottle, then three aspirin tablets were crushed and added to the spirit and diluted by shaking for a minute or so. This concoction was then applied by hand to the ailing area of the body and rubbed in gently at first with ever increasing pressure until it is all absorbed.

In essence this is a massage lotion and by golly it works wonders! The next morning Baba was up and about like a spring chicken and the aching back pains had gone. It never fails to amaze what rakia can do and unlike the lies advertised about that dire beer called ‘Heinekin’ rakia reaches parts other drinks can’t reach – With the help of aspirin of course.

Image by jypsygen via Flickr

Yet More Reasons For No Tax On Homemade Rakia

Yet more resistance from high level oln why no tax should be shoved in homemade rakia in Bulgaria. It is quite clear that this is a major political hot potato. What I can't understand is why the suggestion was made in the first place or maybe I can. This is how politic works of course. The proposal of the duty on rakia was a conspiracy purposely designed to result on political heroes who quell the motion. It is for political popularity and Boyko Borisov is leading the action against the conspiracy. There will be more scar mongering in the pipeline but the duty on rakia was never intended become law due to the masterplan for political popularity.

Bulgaria’s agriculture grew by 3% in the previous quarter, which makes it the only economy sector with growth amidst the economic crisis.

This National Statistical Institute data was cited Sunday by Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, as an argument against the suggested hike of hard liquor excise.

On Thursday, the Parliamentary Budget Committee increased on second reading the alcohol and cigarettes’ excise duties from their values approved on first read. The hard liquor tax is proposed to be increased by BGN 0,72 per liter.

The increase also includes the traditional homemade grape and fruit brandy - “rakia” – where just the first 30 liters would be free of taxation.

Bulgaria’s Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, said Friday the increased alcohol tax would bring an additional BNG 60 M to the 2010 budget, which would immediately be invested into the education sector.

Agriculture Minister Naydenov, however, stated Sunday that the rise of the excise was hardly going to bring any additional revenues to the state budget.

In his words, the Bulgarian agricultural producers have been unable to sell 80 000 tons of grapes in 2009, and the rise of the excise will be an additional blow to them.

In addition, Naydenov said the whole issue with the homemade “rakia” had a psychological impact on the general population even though the suggested excise increase was not significant. He has made clear his conviction that the excise hike would be counterproductive.

Source: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=110265

1 BGN Leva Tax On Commercial Rakia For Increased Government Revenue

I was shocked when I first saw this report thinking that the Bulgarian government had gone back on their word. I quickly realised that this applies to commercial rakia distillers and does not affect home distilled rakia - PHEW!

1 BGN Leva however does not sound a lot of money but when you put it in a percentage of the cost of a 1 litre of local commercial rakia it works out at over a 12% increase (i.e. 8 BGN Leva to 9 BGN Leva.) This may well of course mean that more Bulgarians will turn to distilling their own in view of this with a litre costing around 2 BGN even with buying the sliva or grapes (see my post on the cost of making rakia without your own grapes.)

In turn less Bulgarians will buy rakia off the shelf and the increase in duty will be a false economy. I agree that Bulgarian will never be put off Brandy (rakia) it is their heritage after all. It's bit like the British giving up curry (tongue in cheek!)

Higher excise will not make Bulgarians go off brandy, and will not fill the revenue: BranimirBotev

If the parliament passes the decision of the Commission for Budget and Finances for raising the excise of hard drinks the increase will be over BGN 1 per 1 liter of 40-degree alcohol. The sum is determined by the raise in the excise duty and VAT and also the trade discount, which is a percent of the quote. I am not sure that the increase would be passed by the parliament, chairman of the Association of Producers, Importers and Traders of Spirit Drinks (APITSD) Branimir Botev said in an interview with FOCUS News Agency.

PM’s statement on the issue was quite clear and he approached to the problem as expert in psychology of the Bulgarians. Bulgarian will never go off his brandy – he purely and simply will look to buy something with vague origin but will never tend to the revenue, he said.

Source: www.focus-fen.net

Taxing Home Made Rakia Is A False Economy

This recent report repeats to a tee my own thoughts on the taxing of rakia in Bulgaria. It is a false economy and unfair taxation will give a knee jerk to the government coffers as the reaction will be tax evasion nationwide. All Bulgarians are praying that these politicians do the sensible thing and not pass this law. If it is passed the politicians that put it through will have committed political suicide or worse!

The strong public opposition to price hikes prompted Prime Minister Boiko Borissov to axe the Finance Ministry proposal to increase the excise duty on spirits, but the plan has been resurrected by Parliament's budget committee.

The 2010 Budget bill was passed by Parliament at first reading on November 17. The budget committee, meeting to discuss amendments before the second reading, passed the proposal to increase the spirits excise duty by 13.6 per cent to 1.25 leva a litre of pure alcohol, which will translate into a 0.7 leva to 0.75 leva a bottle increase in the retail price of spirits, Bulgarian media reported.

The amendment was tabled by MP Kircho Dimitrov from the Blue Coalition, which is backing the minority government of Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, but is not represented in Cabinet. Stoyan Mavrodiev, from Borissov's GERB party, opposed the proposal saying that it was unlikely to pass on Parliament floor.

Mavrodiev said that the increased excise duty would push more spirits producers to stop paying taxes and operate in the grey economy.

Former finance minister Plamen Oresharski, now an MP, echoed the sentiment, saying that collection of excises from spirits producers was one of the most difficult task faced by the National Revenue Agency. He said that rather than boosting Budget revenue by 60 million leva, the higher excise would have the opposite effect and cause spirits makers to stop paying taxes altogether.

The excise on home-made rakiya, which is set at half the size of the regular duty, will become 625 leva for 1000 litres. It was the increase in the excise duty on home-made spirits, a sensitive subject in Bulgaria, where home-made wine and rakiya are centuries-old traditions, that provoked public discontent. Households are allowed to make up to 30 litres of rakiya a year without paying tax.

An amendment to increase the excise duty on beer was rejected by the budget committee.

Source: http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/11/20/819018_bulgarian-mps-resurrect-proposal-to-raise-spirits-excise

Increase On Home Made Rakia Duty Proposed In Bulgaria

Here's the latest news on Rakia duty that was promised to be unchanged by Boris Boyko the Prime Minister. Well at least the first 30 litres of home distilled rakia anyway. This will not stop the production of over 30 litres and no duty being paid as is what happens currently. It is a tax increase of BGN 0.72 per litre over the 30 litres that is just a 'here say' law and not enforced. Bulgarian hasn't the infrastructure to cater for it especially the number of technically illegal home distillers in the country. At least on paper it will keep the puritans of the EU quiet for a while. Good one!

The Members of the Bulgarian Parliament offered Thursday the latest surprise regarding the alcohol and cigarettes tax increase.
The new excise duties were changed and increased on second read during the Budget Committee meeting from their values approved on first read. The move makes the Parliamentary Hall voting crucial for the final decision.
The hard liquor tax, according to the latest stakes, would increase by BGN 0,72 per liter. The increase also includes the traditional homemade grape and fruit brandy - “rakia” where just the first 30 liters would be free of taxation. Only beer tax remains unchanged.
The cigarette tax will be BGN 100 for 1 000 cigarettes plus 23% of the sales prices. This will reduce the price difference between cheaper and more expensive cigarettes, but all cigarettes will be sold for over BGN 4 for a pack.
The opposition voiced once again their opinion the price hike would lead to an increase of cigarette and alcohol contraband while tobacco makers believe the move would not lower the staggering number of smokers in the country and would rather lead to people rolling tobacco, smoking cheaper cigarettes, or buying them on the black market

Source: http://www.novinite.com

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Italian Rakia?

Italian grappa is made in exactly the same way as Bulgarian rakia. The finished product is almost a copy of the rakia, but worldwide it has a bigger following. I feel only because more is known about Italy than Bulgaria. The article fond here is interesting as the grappa does not seem to have the versatility that rakia has in Bulgaria. I feel that the Italians can learn quite a bit from Bulgarians about how to use the spirit not only for drinking. Perhaps reading past posts in this blog might lead the way!

ON A BUSINESS trip to the northern Italian town of Bassano del Grappa in the summer of 2000, Dennis Robertson and his wife, Tammy, took a shine to grappa. And though it didn't happen right away, it was the start of a whole new business with his boss.

Grappa (say GRAHP-pah) is the high-alcohol spirit that Italians traditionally serve as an after-dinner drink. It's made by distilling pomace — the skins, seeds and stems left after wine grapes are pressed — into a clear, colorless liquid that some refer to as aqua vitae and others as Italian firewater.

Once back to work as VP and general manager at Scrivanich Natural Stone in Woodinville, Robertson noticed that wineries in the area were regularly tossing out bins of pomace.

"The sweet smell of pressed wine grapes fills the air during the fall months," Robertson says. "I couldn't understand why this product was going to waste. In this 'green culture' it seemed a crime not to take advantage of it."

But the time wasn't right just yet for Robertson to build the quaint, family-oriented type of grapparias he had experienced in Bassano — tasting rooms where "the shelves were lined with uniquely shaped bottles of grappa, often bottled with a full fruit in them."

Licenses for "craft" or small-batch distilleries in Washington cost thousands of dollars, and antiquated state liquor laws left many wringing their hands.

Luckily for Robertson, Larry Scrivanich, his boss, shared his grappa dream. Scrivanich's family had a long love affair with the potent liquor, beginning on the Adriatic island of Susak, Croatia. Larry's dad, Pat, says his family owned one of six communal stills in the village. "We made a lot of wine but couldn't afford to buy flavored alcohol, so grappa was our alcohol," he recalls.

By 2008, the time for Larry and Jane Scrivanich and Dennis and Tammy Robertson to launch a grapparia in the heart of Woodinville wine country seemed ripe.

"Woodinville didn't need another winery, but a grapparia made sense," Larry reasoned. Besides, he says, "I'd grown up hearing my dad talk about grappa and unofficially making it, so I knew the process." And licensing fees had dropped to $100 a year. Looser state laws allowed distillers to make their spirits on site, offer samples to customers and sell their products directly out of their tasting rooms.

Soft Tail Spirits was granted its craft distillery license last fall — the third craft distillery licensed in the state and the first in Western Washington. In April, the tasting room/distillery opened up right between the stone business and DiStefano Winery. It's a sweet setup: DiStefano supplies high-quality pomace for the still and access to the ENOLAB for testing the pomace before it's processed.

Couples who happen by are doubly lucky.

"The wives look at granite countertops for their kitchens, and the guys drink our grappa," Larry Scrivanich says with a wink.

Grappa-making season coincides with winemakers' crush — mid-October through January — when pomace from Columbia Valley grapes is available. Larry Scrivanich credits Robertson with "doing mostly everything for Soft Tail, from licensing, construction, distillation and blending to graphic design and marketing."

Robertson, who makes about 700 gallons of grappa a year, considered a lot of things before ordering the company's traditional copper still online from Portugal.

They wanted the most traditional kind, yet one that could expand to produce vodka and whiskey. But in the end they chose a still that burns natural gas rather than the more traditional wood because it's tough to control temperature with wood.

The choice seems to have paid off, as Robertson's grappas are now sold at state liquor stores and in top restaurants such as The Herbfarm, Vertigo and TASTE.

And what's the reaction at the distillery?

"Italians come into the tasting room with a 'Show me what you got' sort of attitude," Larry Scrivanich says. "And then they walk out with a bottle of each of our grappas."

Braiden Rex-Johnson is the author of "Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining." Visit her online at www.NorthwestWiningandDining.com. John Lok is a Seattle Times staff photographer.

Source: seattletimes.nwsource.com

Buying Grapes For Rakia For Bulgarians Without Gardens

What do you do if you are in Bulgaria and haven’t your own grape production or your vines have failed you this year? Very simple, buy someone else’s grapes. There are so many people I know here who live in an high rise block apartment and just don’t have vines to harvest therefore now stock for rakia making. They still have their year supply of rakia before Christmas as it is made out of grapes that have been bought and some pretty good deals are around for grapes in the height of the harvesting season.

Even though I produced my own grapes, these were made into twine and I personally purchased 150 kg of grapes form a Bulgarian friend whose “Muscat” variety of grape was being sold at 30 stotinki per kilogram. This of course would add to the price of the finished rakia but even taking this into account the rakia produced would still be superior to commercial rakia and of course a fraction of the cost. This is why so many Bulgarians follow this ritual and fight hard to retain the custom that has been with them for as long as they can remember. The EU has other ideas and they have a massive fight on their hands even to the point of revolution over the issue, (Seriously.)

From a point of interest the cost of home produced rakia that include the purchase of grapes from a third party works out at around 2.22 BG Leva (£1 or US$1.50) per litre just for the drinking rakia. This would be reduced to around half (1.11 BG Leva (£0.50 or US$0.75)) if I used my own grape production in the process This compares to the retail cost of between 6 and 7 leva for the cheapest commercial rakia and in most Bulgarian’s opinion, ‘inferior’ compared to their own produced rakia that is created with tender love and affection.
Here are the costs of my grape rakia production this year:

• 150 kg Grapes 45 leva
• 20 kg sugar 28 leva
• Rakia house fees 15 leva
• Wood for the kazan 3 leva
• Salt 0.15 leva
• Bicarbonate of soda 2 leva
• Raspberry Flavoured Hard Boiled Sweets 2 leva
• Flour for sealing the kazan 0.50 leva
• Apples 3 leva
• Gas for transportation 2 leva

The total comes to around 100 BG leva and for the 45 litres of 44% rakia, plus 1.5 litres of 70% rakia for medicinal purposes and 10 litres of sub 40% rakia to be added to the next distilling session. You may think that this is a bargain if ever you saw one but this has increased overt he last few years and the 8 million Bulgarians who just don’t want to lose this massive perk of living here fell hard done by as their income has not risen in line with the increased costs.

DIT rakia making really is the spirit of Bulgaria in more than one sense. Without rakia making in Bulgaria is unimaginable for the vast majority of Bulgarians and the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov included! At least 20% of the conversations that take place at work are about rakia making.

Note: (This really should be read)
The 100 BG leva for this rakia production is equivalent of one week’s minimum wages in Bulgaria or nearly a month’s worth of pension payment so in relevant terms of the cost to the Bulgarian it is expensive just to put the cost in perspective.

Rakia Experience In Serbia

I just caught a blog of an experience form someone on a trip to Serbia. This expert was taken out as it refers to local rakia which was sampled. True to the point although it is drunk in all year round including the hot summer weather and not just as a winter warmer as well of course.

While there (Ed. Serbia) I sampled the local plum brandy or Rakia. Very tasty and boy ohh boy is it strong. You'll see old men sitting with their coffee, newspaper and cigarette in the morning and downing shots of Rakia. It is more than just an alcohol it is a tradition. I can tell it comes in handy when in such a cold country because it instantly warms you up.

Source: www.mauipirate.com

Illegal Rakia Stills Produce 50% Of Rakia In Bulgaria

I have to admit I see this goin on at ground level as many of my firend and indeed Bulagrian family here have home made still where rakia is brewed for domestic use of course. Event he law in villages are partisan to this going on, it's not doing anyone any harm as like I said it is for domestic use. The culprits are those who distill hundred of litres of rakia as an on going business and this is the area which should be arrested. Most Bulgarians who produce rakia do so as part of their self sufficient culture and so it should remain. He is a recent interview highlighting the problem, but too generalised for my liking. It makes out that all private stills are illegal, they aren't you can produce up to 30 litres a year for home use without duty being imposed. A Little sensationalising news if you ask me.

Illegal alcohol production leads to damage: chamber chairman

10 November 2009 | 09:00 | FOCUS News Agency

Sofia. We gave the customs and financial ministry documents that prove there are some 9,000 illegal entities in Bulgaria. 1,600 of them are the so-called village stills. The production of illegal alcohol leads to damage for the state and for everyone of us, because no excise duty is collected, Plamen Mollov, chairman of the National Vine and Wine Chamber, said in an interview with Bulgarian bTV television channel.
More than 50% of rakia (fruit brandy) is illegally produced in Bulgaria. The new government declared a war on contraband, he said.
We received a little bit more confidence that we can handle it in Bulgaria, he added.

Source: http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n199912