Chouchen ( Breton: ''chouchenn'') is an

alcoholic beverage Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

native to

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. A form of

mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...

, it is made from the fermentation of

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of 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 pl ...

in water. Chouchen normally contains 14% alcohol by volume. Traditionally,

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum'') or common buckwheat is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. Buckwheat originated around the 6th millennium BCE in the region of what ...

honey is used, and this imparts chouchen's strong colour and pronounced flavour. Tuesday, August 18, 2020 In Brittany, the fermentation process is begun by the addition of freshly pressed apple juice. Yeasts can also be used, as in the beer-making process. To reach the required alcoholic strength, for a litre of chouchen, approximately a third of a litre of honey is needed. Chouchen is drunk chilled (though without ice), and generally as an aperitif. It can also be added to melon, in a similar way to

port wine Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...

, or as a hot wine in the winter. There are different kinds of chouchen in Brittany, some of which are prepared with a mixture of seawater as well as fresh water and honey. Originally chouchen was made of

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...

and honey. The historical reputation of chouchen as a powerful intoxicant arises partly from claims that its effects were boosted by the venom of bees that became mixed up in the brew. Bees and their venom are not ingredients of the modern product. There is another drink similar to chouchen, called chufere, which is made of honey and cider. It is generally of a lower strength in alcohol than chouchen, typically eight to nine percent alcohol by volume, and has become less popular and less common than chouchen.

Notes

{{French cuisine Mead Breton cuisine French alcoholic drinks