Karelia in the summer is a popular tourist destination. Countless lakes, rivers, white nights and a peculiar northern nature ... But I want to bring home something in memory of this wonderful land: something so authentic that you can’t buy in stores in other regions of Russia. An excellent choice would be Karelian balm. Reviews of him claim that he is good as a souvenir to his beloved, but also suitable as a gift to friends or colleagues
am This liqueur is produced both in ordinary bottles and in beautiful, souvenir ones, in the form of bells,
chess pieces or in ceramic jugs.
There are several types of Karelian balms. All of them are healthy and tasty. There is a "Valaam" produced in an elegant pot-bellied faceted bottle, "Kizhi" and, in fact, "Karelian". But if the first of them is really liked by the beautiful half of humanity because of the greater sweetness and aroma of orange zest, the latter carries a spicy bitterness, and therefore is suitable for men, and also serves as the basis for a variety of cocktails. This strong alcoholic drink (40%) will be an excellent accompaniment to cigars. They drink it from small liquor glasses, and also add it to coffee or tea.
In the northern region there are two distilleries that produce Karelian Balsam - in the capital of the republic, and in the small town of Lochdenpohja. The products of both alcohol factories are worthy of all respect, but since the Petrozavodsk plant has more opportunities to participate in world competitions in the bitter market (40-45% are called bitter hard liquors abroad), the label on the bottle of this plant is full of all kinds of medals. As a souvenir, you can choose a bottle with Kizhi on the label.
Karelian balm is a wise gift for elderly parents, since it has numerous medicinal properties and at the same time is not sold in the pharmacy. Thus, older people will not get the impression that you have given them medicine. The composition of this strong drink includes more than thirty types of roots and northern herbs, including chaga - a universally recognized means of modern medicine that prevents the development of cancer. The taste of alcohol is softened by mountain ash, lingonberry, cranberry and raspberry fruit drinks and clear water from deep wells. Fragrant Karelian honey gives the bitter an indescribable taste.
In addition, Karelian balm has other beneficial properties. Plantain and St. John's wort eliminate inflammation, galangal normalizes the stomach, sage and linden have long been used for colds, and lingonberry leaves normalize metabolism. Well, rosehip berries are just a storehouse of vitamins. Naturally, one should not forget that the drink has a strength of 40%, therefore it is necessary to use it with caution. For older people, it’s best to add a teaspoon of it to tea, especially at night,
since bitter reduces the stimulating effect of caffeine, it relaxes and warms well.
But as an additive to coffee, "Karelian Balsam" has the opposite effect. Try making the Northern Viagra cocktail: add 50 g of bitter and a little ground roasted walnut kernels to a cup of freshly brewed coffee (100 g). This strong drink is an excellent ingredient for a variety of alcoholic cocktails. It is best combined with vodka, but also with cranberry and cherry liqueurs. You can also make a "non-alcoholic" cocktail by simply pouring the balm into a glass with Coca-Cola or cherry juice.