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Polish Housewife

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

Liqueur

Polish Bitter Vodka for the Stomach (Żołądkowa Gorzka)

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Polish Bitter Vodka for the Stomach (Żołądkowa Gorzka) is part of the long tradition in Poland of infusing vodka with fruit and herbs known as nalweka. The process, I which I absolutely love, dates back to the 16th century.

Originally popular and exclusive to the manor homes, by the mid 1800s, everyone was making nalweka and many books on the subject were starting to appear.

two shot glasses of zoladkowa gorzka on a patterned cloth with a small crystal decantor in the background

Popularity of Żołądkowa Gorzka

This particular flavored vodka has the added benefit of being good for the health. Or at least that’s what every one I’ve talked to in Poland believes. It is accepted as fact. I came across one Polish blog that went on for a full paragraph promising that Żołądkowa Gorzka is what is needed to fix many a digestive ailment.

Improved digestion aside, we drink it because we like the taste. We like it so much that we took a bottle on a trip to Ireland where we rendezvoused with our niece and her fiance. They loved the stomach vodka, and were excited to tell us they had found it stateside when they returned.

On one visit to the USA while we were living in Poland, I knew I would visit the restaurant of a chef I had connected with online. I brought along a small bottle of Żołądkowa Gorzka that I picked up in the duty-free shop at the Poznan airport. He loved it.

It’s become our go-to gift from Poland.

What flavors the vodka in Żołądkowa Gorzka?

My usual reference from tinctures the  Great Book of Tinctures, uses black coffee and honey to flavor Żołądkowa made with spiritus and rum. For this recipe, I’m ignoring the great book and taking inspiration from a couple of Polish websites, Polki.pl and Wielkie Żarcie.

The bottle of stomach vodka we purchased stateside says it’s an orange and clove flavored vodka. Both of those flavors are present in my recipe, but there are other spices too. And while I think clove is often needed, I like it in very small doses, so you may choose to give it more prominence than I do.

I think the spice combo will be one to play around with. I’m thinking the next batch might include star anise and a few raisins.

A word of warning – the ground spices will sink to the bottom and become kind of a sludge, much like when I make chai with ground spices. You’ll lose some of the liquid volume because of this.

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Cocktails with Żołądkowa Gorzka

If you’re looking for a use other than sipping a chilled shot of Żołądkowa Gorzka after dinner, I have a few ideas for you.

  1. Żołądkowa Gorzka and tonic water, garnish with a slice of orange
  2. Żołądkowa Gorzka with lemonade and sparkling water, garnish with mint or fresh ginger slices
  3. A martini of equal parts Żołądkowa Gorzka and orange juice, finish with a dash of ground cinnamon and a squeeze of lime
  4. Muddle 4 slices of cucumber, add Żołądkowa Gorzka and lime juice, top with lemon-lime soda

Two shot glasses on printed fabric with decanter in background

Have you tried Żołądkowa Gorzka? If you haven’t been able to find it near you, now you can make your own!

Na zdrowie!

Lois

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Polish Bitter Vodka for the Stomach (Żołądkowa Gorzka)

  • Author: polishhousewife
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Description

An orange and spice liqueur reported to be good for the stomach

Ingredients

  • 750 ml vodka
  • zest of 1 orange
  • 1 whole clove
  • 2 whole allspice
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup water

 

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients
  2. Cover and store for a couple of weeks to two months
  3. Swirl or shake occasionally to dissolve sugar
  4. Strain and then filter through a coffee filter
  5. Serve chilled

Notes

Optinal: add a tablespoon of raisins and/or 1/8 teaspoon of ground star anise

Vary the sugar amounts and water based on your taste

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.

IMG_2402

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.

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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.

IMG_2451

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