Rakia

From Freepedia

The drink rakia or rakija (in Cyrillic alphabet: ракия or ракија) is hard liquor similar to brandy and vodka, made by distillation of fermented fruits that are popular throughout the Balkans. Its alcoholic contents is normally 40%, but in home-produced rakia it is higher, typically 50 to 60%. Prepečenica is a doubly distilled rakia, with alcoholic content sometimes more than 60%. Brlja is a low-quality, low-alcoholic-content rakia.

Rakia is considered to be the national drink of Bulgaria and Bosnia-Herzegovina where the drink is produced mainly from grapes. Slivovitz (Šljivovica) is the national drink of Serbia and is produced from plum.

There are many kinds of rakia, depending on the fruit it is produced from:

Fruits	Rakija in former Yugoslav countries	Rakia in Bulgaria
grapes	loza, lozovača	гроздова (grozdova) мускатова (muskatova)
plum	šljivovica (slivovitz)	сливова (slivova)
apricot	kajsijevača	кайсиева (kaysieva)
pear	kruškovača/kruškovac, vilijamovka	крушева (krusheva)
quince	dunjevača	дюлева (dyuleva)
kom[1]	komovica	–
fig	–	смокинова (smokinova)
with herbs	travarica	билкова (bilkova)
walnuts	orahovača/orahovica	–
with honey	medovina medeno žganje (in Slovenia)	греяна (greyana)

^  Kom is the fruity grape mash that remains after wine-making. It contains up to 5.5 litres of pure alcohol per 100 kg, and at least 40% of dry matter.

Some of the types of rakia/rakija are kept in wooden barrels (oak or mulberry) for an extra aroma and the colour (golden brownish).

Rakia/rakija is supposed to be drunk from the special small glasses (0.3 to 0.5 dl).

In Bulgaria it is generally served with shopska salad, milk salad or pickled vegetables. Other type of serving is "greyana" rakia, which is heated and sweetened with honey or sugar.

Compare

• Rakı, an anise-flavored liqueur
• Ţuică, a similar drink in Romania.