What are the typical Ukrainian drinks? I assume that vodka is the first thing that comes to your mind, but it is just a general stereotype when it comes to drinks in Eastern Europe. In this post, I list the alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks most consumed by Ukrainians, which you find in restaurants, bars, supermarkets, and local stores. Of course, drinks I tasted while living in the country as an exchange student and visiting as a backpacker, which was part of my meals.
As in all of Eastern Europe, alcohol consumption is present in Ukrainian culture. Offering alcohol to guests is even a matter of good manners, and refusing is interpreted as an offense. Alcoholism is a serious problem in Eastern Europe, especially in the countryside where unemployment rates are high, but far from what I have seen in the Nordic countries. The Ukrainian population does not look at alcoholism favorably, and in all the time I was in the country, the ones I saw messing up with alcohol were usually students from the Middle East who saw themselves with easy access to alcoholic drinks and freedom they are not used to having. Ukrainians tend to be hard drinkers, like Russians, Poles, Serbs, Romanians, and all the people of the region. The trick is to accompany the shots with salty and greasy food, like the salo, and a few sips of water, respecting your alcohol tolerance. So, let’s get to the point and say cheers in Ukrainian: Budmo! (Будьмо).
Alcoholic drinks from Ukraine
Drinking pure vodka has always been understood as something indecent in Ukraine, so to speak. Then, most typical Ukrainian alcoholic beverages combine vodka with spices, herbs, fruits, and grains; as seen in the case of the drinks nalyvka, varenukha, spotykach, and medovukha.
Vodka in Ukraine is gorilka
We can’t talk about drinks in Ukraine without mentioning vodka, which there is called gorilka (horilka/Горілка), one of the most consumed drinks in the country, never with less than 40% alcohol. There is a huge variety of good quality vodka brands at cheap prices, bottles of the most popular brands are sold for around 3 and 4 euros in local supermarkets and liquor stores. The brands that I have tried, and bought, and that I recommend are Kozatska Rada (Козацка Рада), Getman (ГЕТЬМАН), Morosha (МОРОША), Khortytsya (ХОРТЧЦЯ) and Pervak (ПЕРВАК). In the university city of Kharkiv, there is the Ukrainian Vodka Museum, which is located in the largest distillery in Europe.
From my experience, the smart thing to do is to pack if you want to take home a few bottles, because in the Ukrainian mail service, the limit is 300 ml and at the borders, they do not usually allow to pass with more than 2L of alcohol, especially on the border between Ukraine and Poland. A well-known trick of the Russian mafia is to use additives to look like juice and pack as such, which explains the strict border control with drinks. Another tip, once you open the bottle, drink everything, or the next day, the vodka is no longer useful.
Nalyvka
Nalyvka, also called Nastoyanka, is a liqueur made from fruit or grains, usually homemade, in a mixture of vodka, honey, sugar, and fruit in a barrel. There is a list of dozens of different names for nalyvka in the Ukrainian language, as well as flavors, according to the fruit used for the preparation. The most used fruits include cherry, plum, apple, pear, and quince, among others. In Lviv, a liquor shop known for cherry nastoyanka is P’yana Vyshnya (П’ЯНА ВИШНЯ), which also has a bar in Kyiv and can be found in stores in other cities. P’yana Vishnya liqueurs usually have an alcohol content of 17% and are sold both in doses and in bottles.
Varenukha
Varenukha (варенуха) is a drink made from vodka or liquor, with the addition of cinnamon, dried fruits, honey, and other ingredients according to the preferences of those who prepare it. Basically, it is a combination of vodka with spices, mixed in a pan cooking between 10 and 12 hours over low heat.
Spotykach
Spotykach (Спотикач) is a drink made from vodka combined with spices such as cloves, cinnamon, and saffron, among other ingredients; which are processed for two weeks before being filtered and boiled. It is considered a “dessert drink”, it is sweet and aromatic, which is usually consumed in shots.
Medovukha
Medovukha (медовуха) is a honey-based liquor added to yeast water and other ingredients according to the preferences of those who prepare it. It is not as alcoholic as vodka, the content of medovukha is usually around 20%, even less. This drink is typical of the Christmas season, which in Ukraine is in January according to the Orthodox Christianity calendar. It’s also consumed in other former Soviet republics.
Ukrainian beers
The beer culture in Ukraine is much bigger than any stereotype you might think and craft beers have expanded across the country, in addition to the influences of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that are visible, especially in western Ukraine, in the region where the city of Lviv is located. The Ukrainian beers that every traveler should try are Chernihivske (Чернігівське), Obolon (Оболонь), and Lvivske (ЛЬВІВСЬКЕ), found by all establishments in the country.
Non-alcoholic beverages in Ukraine
Ukrainians do not live only in alcoholic drinks as stereotypes suggest, and in this section, we go with a list of the most consumed non-alcoholic drinks in Ukraine. Kvas, uzvar, kompot, and kysil are also popular in other Eastern European countries.
Kvas
Kvas is a drink made from fermented bread, also popular in Russia, Belarus, and other countries of the former USSR. This drink is also used to make okroshka soup, one of the typical Ukrainian foods. You can find kvas in restaurants, in kiosks on the streets during the summer, and in bottles in supermarkets. A brand of kvas that I always buy in Ukraine is Taras (Тарас).
Uzvar
Uzvar is a non-alcoholic drink made from dried fruits and grains, thrown in hot water, but without boiling. It is usually consumed after it has cooled down, with the addition of honey. You can also find uzvar in local restaurants like the Puzata Khata chain (Пузата Кната) that serves Ukrainian food and at kiosks.
Kompot
The kompot is made from fresh or dried fruits such as pear, apple, and apricot, among others; with the addition of honey according to the tastes of those who prepare it, it can be served cold or hot. I always had drunk it as a cold drink. Another of the most popular drinks in restaurants like Puzata Khata (Пузата Кната).
Kysil
Kysil, or kissel (кисіль), is a non-alcoholic drink made from fruit with starch or gelatin. In fact, it somewhat remembers the Tang juice. The mixture is usually boiled, it is one of the drinks most consumed by children in Ukraine, and a part of the Ukrainians I know describe it as “my childhood drink”.
What’s your favorite drink in Ukraine? My favorites are kvas, nastoyanka and gorilka. As the photos about the gorilka show, there is still a bottle of Kozatska Rada (Козацка Рада) and one of Getman (ГЕТЬМАН) that I managed to bring.
Originally posted 2021-04-25 00:06:00.
