About brandies

The word brandy is of Arabic origin and comes from the word “al-rak” which in free translation means sweat. She arrived in our neighborhoods with the Turks in the 14th century like “raki”. Alcoholic beverages have been used in China since prehistory. The Chinese thought of alcohol as spiritual food, not body food. What’s known for sure is that in the 15th century starts the production of the first “national” alcoholic beverages began: gin in England, schnapps in Germany, aquavita in Scandinavia, vodka in Russia and Poland, and brandy in the Balkans.

It is inevitable at weddings, funerals, but also in a home pharmacy, as a common remedy. Brandy, in addition to its therapeutic role in mood repair, has always been used for medical purposes.

Our national drink is plum brandy.

The specific relationship that Serbs cultivate towards brandies is explained by the long tradition of cultivation of plums, and therefore the making of brandy. Serbia has long occupied the leading if not first place in the number of plum trees.

In the people known as “heated” or “shumedian tea”, it is a tradition to cook plum brandy on a winter days on toasted sugar. Depending on part of Serbia, soft brandy is cooked, or toasted with water.

The effect of one shot of real natural plums, in the morning on an empty stomach, has been known since the 15th century. Brandies first disinfects the mouth and teeth, and then when the brandy comes down to the stomach, it reaches through the blood to the heart, where, under its effect, peripheral blood vessels expand, which seems relaxing. Another positive effect of brandy in popular medicine is the making of linings that are placed on traumatized places, joints and muscles, which affects the proliferation of blood vessels and reduces pain.

Moderate alcohol consumption increases the concentration of good, and lowers levels of bad cholesterol, and that those who use the drink sparingly are less frequently diagnosed with cardiovascular disease – heart attacks, heart failure, elevated blood pressure and stroke.

In Serbia, brandy is thought to treat many diseases but has a strong and beneficial effect on the whole body. In the past it was most used as the only anesthesia in the pretentious procedures, for cleaning wounds, in stomach aches and also given to women in childbirth, hence the saying “Drunk as a mother”.

Brandy is obtained through the distillation process, where the fermented liquid mixture heats up, alcohol is extracted in the form of steam and cooling again becomes liquid. Alcohol is extracted from the mixture as a compound with a lower boiling point. The alcohol content in the pre-essence liquid can be increased by re-distillation, while reducing the overall volume of fluid.