Horilka ( uk, горілка, be, гарэлка, ro, horincă) is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol that acts Alcohol (drug), as a drug and is produced by Ethanol fermentation, fermentat ...

. The word ''horilka'' may also be used in a generic sense in the

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state lan ...

to mean

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...

or other strong

spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

s and etymologically is similar to the Ukrainian word for burning - ''hority''. Home-distilled horilka,

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

, is called ''samohon'' ( uk, самогон, literally 'self-distillate' or 'self-run' - almost identical to the Russian and pl, samogon). Horilka is usually distilled from

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

(usually

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

or rye), though it can, exceptionally, also be distilled from

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...

es, honey,

sugar beets Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

etc. One type of horilka, called ''pertsivka'' ( uk, перцівка), is horilka with chili peppers. Historically, outside Ukraine, pertsivka is generally referred to when people speak of horilka, although pertsivka itself is just one type of horilka. It is believed that horilka was not as strong as today with about 20 percent alcohol by volume (40

proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a c ...

). However, today nearly all industrially produced horilka is 40 percent (80

Derivatives

Ukrainian tradition has also produced various derivatives of horilka. Some of these are available as commercial products, but most are typically home-made. This includes various kinds of fruit infusion, ''nalyvka'' and spiced ''spotykach'': ''malynivka'' made with

raspberries The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with ...

, ''tertukha'' (

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

), ''agrusivka'' ( gooseberries), ''ternivka'' (

blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...

berries), ''kalynivka'' ( snowball tree), ''shypshynnyk'' (

rose hip The rose hip or rosehip, also called rose haw and rose hep, is the accessory fruit of the various species of rose plant. It is typically red to orange, but ranges from dark purple to black in some species. Rose hips begin to form after pollina ...

s), ''horobynivka'' ( ashberries), '' zubrivka'' ( bison grass), ''vyshnyak'' or ''vyshnivka'' from

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus '' Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The ...

, ''slyv”yanka'' (

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found ...

s), ''morelivka'' (

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus '' Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are al ...

s), ''tsytrynivka'' (

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

s), ''mokrukha'' (

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

s and

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...

s), ''mochena'' (citrus rind), ''

kontabas Kontabas is a purely Ukrainian potion, an ancient Ukrainian alcoholic beverage. widespread throughout Ukraine. In different regions, this drink is known as Kantabas ( Western of Ukraine), Kantabas and Kontabas ( Center of Ukraine), Kontabas and K ...

'' (

blackcurrant The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, whe ...

buds). ''Horikhivka'' is flavoured with nuts. Horilka is also made with

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

(called ''Medova''),

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAE ...

, or even

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

. In some cases whole fruits of red peppers (

capsicum ''Capsicum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae, native to the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their chili pepper or bell pepper fruit. Etymology and names The generic name may come from Latin , me ...

) are put into the bottle, turning horilka into a sort of

bitters Bitters (plural also ''bitters'') is traditionally an alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter for a bitter or bittersweet flavor. Originally, numerous longstanding brands of bitters were developed as patent medicines, but now ar ...

; it is then named ''horilka z pertsem'', or ''pertsivka''. (One should be mindful of the usage: ''horilka z pertsem'' refers to ''horilka'' bottled with hot chilli peppers, whereas ''pertsivka'' typically refers to ''horilka'' spiced with the essence of pepper. ''Horilka z pertsem'' always refers to a Ukrainian spirit, whereas ''Pertsivka'' or Pertsovka may refer to Russian vodka.) ''Medova z pertsem'' is the combination of ''horilka'' with chili peppers and honey. Most of these preparations are aged with fruit for several weeks or months, then strained or decanted. Some recipes call for the jars to be placed on the rooftop, for maximum bleaching by the sun. Many include the addition of home-made syrup for a strong

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyon ...

, others yield very dry, clear spirit. Some involve the

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

of fruit as well as addition of horilka. Preparations which are baked in an oven, in a pot sealed with bread dough, are called ''zapikanka'', ''varenukha'' or ''palynka''.

Traditions

Horilka plays a role in traditional weddings in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

And bring us a lot of horilka, but not of that fancy kind with raisins, or with any other such things — bring us horilka of the purest kind, give us that demon drink that makes us merry, playful and wild! —''
Taras Bulba ''Taras Bulba'' (russian: «Тарас Бульба»; ) is a romanticized historical novella set in the first half of the 17th century, written by Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852). It features elderly Zaporozhian Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons And ...
'', by
Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

Etymology

The word ''horilka'' is attested in 1562 (горилка) and 1678 (горѣлка). Dialectic variants are ''harilka'', ''horilash'', ''horilytsya'', ''horilets’'', ''horilukha'', ''z·horivka'', ''zorivka'', ''orilka'', as well as Western Ukrainian ''horivka'', ''horychka''. The word comes from the same root as the verb ''hority'', ‘to burn’, similarly to Belarusian ''harelka'', south

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

''gorelka'', Czech ''kořalka'', and Slovak ''goralka'', ''goržolka''. It is considered to have come about following the Polish example ''gorzałka'', possibly as an abbreviation of a compound word like ''horile vyno'' (‘burning wine’; compare the older word ''horěloe vyno'', горѣлое вино, attested in 1511) or ''horila(ya) voda'' (‘burning water’; compare early Czech ''pálená voda'' → ''pálenka'' or Hungarian/Transylvanian '' palinka''). It may be an adaptation of the early Old High German ''der brannte Wein'' → ''Branntwein''. Also compare English ''

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

'', short for ''brandywine'', from

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

''brandewijn'', ‘burning wine’.

Pertsivka

A ''pertsivka'' or ''horilka z pertsem'' ( en, pepper flavoured horilka) is the most widely associated type of horilka outside of Ukraine. It is made with whole fruits of

put into the bottle, turning horilka into a sort of

. Sometimes perstsivka can be made also using honey, which is then called ''pertsivka z medom'' or ''medova z pertsem'' (honey-pepper flavoured horilka).

Nemiroff Nemiroff is a Ukrainian vodka brand, one of the world's largest producers of alcohol. The products are sold in more than 80 countries. The company is one of the top3 world leaders in supplying vodka to duty-free shops (Duty Free). The brand is ...

is a Ukrainian brand actively promoting pepper horilka worldwide through the heavy use of

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

. The brand and company don't have long traditions but pertsivka production itself does.

Production of Horilka

Horilka that is bottled and sold by companies is usually distilled from

or rye. Horilka may also contain honey or be distilled from honey, or contain chili peppers, mint or birch bud.Example of horilka made from grain: "Soft" horilka advertisement.
standard horilka distilled from grain and "soft" mineral water
from the Olimp website" The self-distilled alcoholic beverage is called samohon (literally "self-run", "self-steered") and is the homemade variety of horilka, akin to

Brands

Hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military ...

* Khlibnyi Dar *

Khortytsia Khortytsia ( uk, Хортиця, Hortycja, translit-std=ISO, ) is the largest island in the Dnieper river, and is long and up to wide. The island forms part of the Khortytsia National Park. This historic site is located within the city limi ...

* Kozatska Rada *

* Vozdukh (brand)

References

External links

* *
Ukrainian Alcoholic Beverages
{{Alcoholic beverages Ukrainian distilled drinks Ukrainian alcoholic drinks