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Polish Housewife

Polish recipes served up with tidbits of folklore, customs, and history

Liqueur

Herbata Góralska Polish Highlander Tea

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One area that everyone raves about is Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains in the southeast of Poland. It’s all about the great outdoors. In the summer, everyone treks down there to hike the beautiful green mountains.

In the winter, snow sports rule. Many folks who visit Zakopane mention having Herbata Góralska Polish Highlander Tea. It’s  often referred to as tea laced with vodka.  Reader, Mage, is one of those who sampled Highlander Tea in Zakopane and asked if I had a recipe for the delicious tea. A little research and now I do!

The recipe may be a well kept secret. While there are many mentions of Herbata  Góralska Polish Highlander Tea and many photos of snow bunnies enjoying a mug of Highlander Tea, I found only one recipe online, and that was on polki.pl.

It’s seems like each cook puts a personal spin on traditional recipes. So if you and your family have a variation of Highlander Tea, please share it in the comments! I’m curious and want to hear about your experience with the winter beverage.

I’ve adapted the recipe a bit by doubling the amount of tea added. The original proportions are 2 parts vodka to 1 part tea. You can, of course, adjust to your own taste.

Na Zdrowie!

Lois

PS – you may want to take the shortcut suggested by a reader and just add a shot of cherry liqueur to your tea.

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Herbata Góralska Polish Highlander Tea

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Yield: 2 quarts
  • Category: Beverage
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Tea leaves with vodka from the Polish mountains

Ingredients

  • 4 cups boiling water
  • 8 black tea bags
  • 6 tablesonns raspberry syrup
  • 4 cups vodka
  • 1/2 cup rum
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • Juice of one lemon

Instructions

  1. Add tea bags to boiling water
  2. Steep 10 minutes before removing the tea bags
  3. Add raspberry syrup, vodka, rum, sugar, and lemon juice
  4. Stir until sugar disdolves
  5. Bottle and store for two months (this is from the Polish recipe, we enjoyed the same day)
  6. Serve warm

 

Krupnik, a Polish honey liqueur

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The Polish pastime of making flavored vodkas has caught on in our home in a big way. There aren’t many fruits in season now, so I made Krupnik, a vodka sweetened with honey and infused with spices.

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Krupnik originated in the area that is now Belarus in the 1600s, it was then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Legend has it Krupnik may have first been made at a Benedictine Monastery in Niasviz. This distant cousin of mead or miodowka has endless variations, with the taste changing based on the variety of honey used and the spices and or herbs added. Another Krupnik recipe in the book uses, orange zest, nutmeg, and a bit of strong coffee, in addition to the honey, vodka, allspice, vanilla pod, clove, and cinnamon.

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Wielka księga nakewek

The honey flavored liqueur can be served at room temperature, chilled, or heated. My recipe, which I’ve translated from Wielka Ksiega Nalewek (The Big Book of Tinctures) suggests that if you serve Krupnik heated, try adding a small piece of chocolate and a dab of butter.

I’ve tried it warm and found the fumes overpowering. I’ll stick to room temp or chilled.

If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment and rate it 5 Stars. Thanks in advance.

Na zdrowie,

Lois

(Amazon pays me a few cents for purchases via these links)
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Krupnik, a Polish honey liqueur

★★★★ 4 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Yield: 1 quart
  • Category: Liqueur
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A honey and spice liqueur recipe that dates back 400 years

Ingredients

  • 2 cups clover honey
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • zest of 1/2 lemon, remove with vegetable peeler
  • 1/4 vanilla bean pod, sliced open
  • 1 allspice berry
  • 2 cups vodka

Instructions

  1. Pour honey into a saucepan
  2. Add cloves, cinnamon, lemon zest, vanilla, and allspice
  3. Warm (keeping under a boil) and steep for 10 minutes
  4. Add vodka
  5. Remove from heat and let steep for a couple of hours
  6. Pour through strainer
  7. Pour into bottles
  8. Seal bottles
  9. Serve warm, at room temp, or chilled

Notes

If serving warm, add a small piece of chocolate and a small dab of butter

You can make this with spirytus, If using 2 cups of spirytus rather than 2 cups of vodka, add 2 cups of water to the honey before heating.

 

 

Cherry La La

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You never know where you’ll find your next cherished recipe. Ed’s buddies, brothers he knew from high school and college, paid us a visit in Arizona one winter, a golf outing for residents of Pennsylvania and Ohio. They were fun house guests, and I would have said that before Mike jotted down his recipe for Cherry La La, a specialty for which he and his wife, Janice, are known.  They’ve made it often enough over the years that Mike was able to write the recipe from memory as we sat around the our kitchen one evening. I got the feeling that their family and friends get to enjoy Cherry La La around the holidays every year. This cherry liqueur recipe is perfect for after-dinner sipping, and it makes enough to share with friends, so start saving pretty bottles. You know, maple syrup bottles, fancy vinegar bottles, etc.

When I first mixed up a batch, it smelled by strong and boozy, whiskey and red wine fumes were overpowering. As the days go on, the smell become milder and more mellow. After three days, the flavors have blended and become delicious!

The flavor is very similar to Polish wiśniówka, which is simpler and more natural but takes longer than three days to age. I’ve never had them side-by-side to do a taste test, but just sipping one of these cherry liqueur recipes, I’d be hard pressed to identify which one I was sampling.

Cheers!

Lois

cherry la la cherry liqueur recipe 
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Cherry La La

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Category: Beverage
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Description

In just a few days, these ingredients become a smooth, delicious cherry liqueur

Ingredients

  • One gallon red wine (Paisano works well)
  • One quart cheap whiskey
  • One pint cherry syrup
  • One cup sugar
  • One jar maraschino cherries (8 – 10 oz.)

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients
  2. Cover, age 3 days or longer
  3. Stir daily until bottling