Talk:Rakia

Medovina

How is medovina different from mead? Is there also a variety of rakia made from cherries called černovica? I think this article should be broadened to include all Slavic peoples instead of just those from the former Yugoslav countries. The Czechs and Slovaks also enjoy these drinks.   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 13:47, August 22, 2005 (UTC)

About the third point - what do the Czechs and Slovaks call it? We already made a compromise with using the title "Rakia", I fear that if we add a third and a fourth trivially different variant, it will become increasingly unfair to stick to one name in the title... --Joy [shallot] 14:29, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

It's a bad compromise. Czechs call it rakije, rakija. Poles call it rakija, Slovaks have a "Balkan beat" group called "Brigada Rakija". In a host of languages the word is spelled or transliterated as rakija: Bosnian rakija; Croatian: rakija; Serbian: rakija; Macedonian (transliterated) rakija; Polish: rakija; German: Der Rakija; French: Rakija (Wikipedia subheading rakija ou rakia). Also, Bulgarian Раки́я and Russian Ракия can be transliterated as rakija. There are more "Google books" hits for the word "rakija". A 1920s book reports that "the Pope had a weakness for rakija". The heading should read "rakija".

Fiery drinks for cold nights (Spectacular Slovakia travel guide)
Alcohol: Slovak national tradition claims ever new victims (The Slovak Spectator)
When I visited Slovakia, slivovica and borovička were the most popular of the home-grown spirits. I am an American who only knows a little about Slovakia, so don’t rely too much on what I have to say. Juro seems to be a pretty knowledgeable Slovak wikipedia user. He could probably supply you with a lot of first-hand information.

I think I discovered the answer to two of the above questions. From the Spectacular Slovakia article, medovina is mead. From the Slovak Spectator article, the correct Slovak name for the cherry brandy is čerešňovica.   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 14:54, August 22, 2005 (UTC)

As written in the article, medovina/medica/medovača is rakia with added honey, mead is however made solely of honey.

Rose Rakia

What about Rose Rakia? I sampled some in Kalofer, Bulgaria; I don't know exactly how much rose oil is in it, but you can certainly smell it—it's a like drinking perfume (not that I've ever done that.) --Froese 12:54, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

I have tasted it in Croatia too ( near Sinj ), the stuff is really made out of rose, it is not to be confused with "travarica"-like drinks that are actually plain rakija with addition of rose flower. --Rdavl 23:24, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Kom

I believe that lees is the correct English word that should be used in place of "kom" in the article.   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 15:04, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

I think it's pomace, i.e. including the skins, seeds, etc. of the grapes. Preslav 18:30, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

pelinkovac

Is pelinkovac considered to be rakija? --Dijxtra 12:26, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

No -- it's a liqueur, and it has lower percent of alcohol, which is not made on the fruit basis. One can add pelin into rakija, but it's something different, and would be called a travarica (IIRC, pelin is one of added herbs into rather famous "Stomaklija"). Duja 20:12, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Pelinkovac is absynth AFAIK --Arny 22:25, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Nonono, pelinkovac and absynth have nothing in common :-) --Dijxtra 09:09, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Was the smiley "intended" or... ? Well, pelinkovac [1] [2] [3] is a form of absinth (absinthe)... my Lord, there are even two articles. It's a mild one (28% alc. vol. in Arteska one, 31% in Badel's one), though, and probably with low level of that thujone thingo. Now, since Absinth(e) has a bad name in the West, rarely one producer will market it as one, (cf. Jaegermeister, Unicum) but that's a wormwood-based liqueur in essence. Duja 10:33, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Hmmmmmmmm... this is first time I hear that pelinkovac is a form of absinth... and I got drunk of both not once :-)) I mean, I thought pelinkovac has much less alcohol, and does not have the hallucinogen properties. Pelinkovac is brown/red, absinth is.. dunno, greenish or something, if I recall it correctly, it's been some time. But, then again, I am not an expert and I haven't read the sources, and therefore I better shut up :-) Please ignore my previous statemens on that issue. --Dijxtra 17:26, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Heheh, I believe smiley was addressed to my misspelling of absinth as absynth. Even if it wasn't I've deserved one ;) --Arny 14:07, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Noup, the smiley was not addressed at all, it just popped up for no good reason ;-) --Dijxtra 20:42, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

"I thought pelinkovac has much less alcohol,"

Obviously >:) Duja 09:53, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Now seriously, both are based on wormwood (pelin). The thujone thingo from wormwood is allegedly hallucinogenic, and allowed thujone contents in absinthe-(like) liqueurs are severely limited in Western markets. Now, I prefer plain old rakija, so I can't comment on the effects :-). Duja 09:53, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

I have never heard that Pelinkovac had any hallucinogenic effect on anyone that had got drunk from it including myself ( At least not from pelinkovac that is made in Zadar ). --Rdavl 23:31, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Merge with Ţuică

I think that two articles should be merged. This is the same drink, and 95% of information for Ţuică is also true for rakia and vice versa. Ţuică article has more information on production and consumption, while rakia article has more information on fruits used and ritual use, but that's it; I think that they would make a good article together.

I don't have a strong suggestion under which name they should be merged. I think rakia is better, as the spelling is more "neutral" (rachiu is also a Romanian word). Duja 08:18, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Sugar?

Do the flavored or unflavored versions of this liquor contain sugar? Badagnani 06:32, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Normally, sugar is never added to rakia. The only exception is "heated" rakia, drank only in winter times, which has honey or sugar added. As for production, sugar may be added to the fermented fruit mush (what's the English word btw?) to enhance strength; however, it is considered a malpractice and rakia produced in such way is of bad quality. The exception can be in types made of fruits with low fructose contents, such as quinces (although I think even that is preferrably made by mixing with apples rather than adding sugar; don't hold my word for it). Duja 14:56, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

The word you're looking for is "mash". (And you meant to type "drunk only in winter times", which applies, I suppose, to some people as well). "Malpractice" is used to describe doctors who misdiagnose or mistreat their patients; "bad practice" would do here. And we'd say "don't take my word for it". ==ILike2BeAnonymous 17:55, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Wow, thanks; although I'm not sure that "malpractice" was a totally wrong word :-)—everybody who make rakia out of sugar would swear to God and his children that it's pure, and that practice might have health effects as well. Duja 18:25, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Albanian raki

I am searching about the source of the best raki in Albania and anybody who has more information is welcomed to edit it in this article.

Whoever wrote the article claims that the best raki comes from the Durrës region.
Born and raised in Albania it is the first time I have ever heard this. As far as I know some of the best raki comes either from the Skrapari and Përmeti regions or specific villages around Tirana - Farka being one of them.

Is "Albanian raki" Raki (alcoholic beverage) or Rakia? If it really is rakia (and citation should be provided), then the spelling should be consistent with the rest of the article and not regionalized. If it is a regional variant of raki, it should go in that article. I think it should go in Raki (alcoholic beverage). Rakia did not come from the Ottoman Empire.   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 14:16, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

The Albanian variant, as we make it where I come from Shkoder, is Rakia, namely a form of brandy of 40-50% alcolhol, not sweetened. So it should go in the Rakia article. It is not to my knowledge that any Albanians make the Turkish variant. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.84.200.162 (talk) 23:22, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

It is quite common to (also) give local names for local variants of a food or beverage. I don't think the origin of rakia is well-established, and I wonder how you can state with such certainty that it did not come from the Ottoman Empire (which means it must have come to Albania either before 1478 or after 1912).  --Lambiam 00:11, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Rakia was around well before 1478. Rakia was developed along with many other sorts of European distilled drinks in the mid-12th century. (Medieval European Distilled Beverages).   — Chris Capoccia ^T⁄_C 09:51, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not to be considered a reliable source. The Distilled beverage article cites no source for the rakia claim.  --Lambiam 12:26, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Biska

In Istra and Primorje (Croatia) also popular drink is biska, made with addition of mistletoe (imela, biska), but I don't know if this would go here because it's more like pelinkovac - bitter liqueur.Martin 07:12, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

raki / rakia

How is rakia similar to raki/ouzo? Taste is totally different, way of drinking, way of producing... I think they should be removed from the list of 'similar drinks', the only way in which they remotely resemble eachother is the name... --83.128.23.133 15:38, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I agree. The section on Turkish rakı should be removed from this page. Rakı is similar to ouzo, pastis, other anise-flavored drinks. Rakı is usually (but not always) made from grapes. The difference between rakı and rakia is in the anise. If rakı is included on this page, shouldn't ouzo and pastis be included as well? As someone pointed out, at least Greece is in the Balkans (unlike France and Turkey)!

Farther down on this talk page is another section titled "Confusing rakia and Turkish rakı" saying essentially the same thing. Bryankeithwiki (talk) 14:01, 23 October 2023 (UTC)

what gives with "мускатова" and "aniseta" - peculiarly placed?

I find these under "grapes, in the "Bulgarian" column - they look like new headings to me, but if so they are a) mis-coded, and probably b) mis-placed (shouldn't they be under "With additions"? I don't know enough about these to move them myself. -- Martha 19:43, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

In fact, I question whether мускатова ракия really does contain "myrrh" - on the page myrrh I find: "Myrrh is a red-brown resinous material, the dried sap of the tree Commiphora myrrha..." and I really doubt that's what is intended. I also chased "muscat" to Muscat where I find a variety of links, including to Muscat_(grape_and_wine) and Nutmeg - which again does not look appropriate (although its Bulgarian name is indeed "мускатов орех"). I have had "Пещерска ракия - мускат" - it is simply a very fine rakia, I perceived no "exotic" flavors. See [Peshterska muskatova rakiya] - if you enlarge the label, you will see that they mention "мускатово зърно" (which I cannot find defined) and that is actually the brand that I had. I think we have some inaccuracy here - but I can't prove it. Can the person who entered this please speak up? Thanks - Martha 20:13, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Hi, Muskatova rakiya (that should be the correct spelling, I think) is just made from a certain sort of grape - Muskat (or Muscat, in English...) and specific technology. There are no outstanding additives (each rakiya has SOME additives). There is also wine called "Muskat" - made from the same sort of grape. - Peter —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.83.249.136 (talk) 22:13, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Rakia, Dubrovnik, and France

A citizen from Dubrovnik, who lived most of his life in this town, mentioned me that he never saw any aniseta (grappa with anis) in Dubrovnik. This aspect should be checked and eventually corrected.

Btw, the first line of the article mentions Rakja being "a popular beverage throughout [...] France" As a French citizen, I don't remember myself having seen any equivalent of Rakia in France, except if you consider any fruit alcohol as Rakia...

Oc.Gal. (talk) 00:24, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

main difference between rakija and italian grappa

the italian "grappa" is not resulting from fermentation and distillation of grapes but grapes POMACE (check 'pomace' on wikipedia). It's a fundamental clarification. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.56.102.3 (talk) 20:01, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

Yes, grappa, or 'trapa' as it is sometimes called in Dalmatia, is produced from pomace. As is a form of rakia called 'komovica' (komina being the usual ex-yugoslav languages translation of pomace). There is also a variant of rakia produced from the grape itself, called lozovača. So, in either case, the link between grapa and rakia remains valid. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.175.83.67 (talk) 02:56, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Rakia?

Does any nation spell it like this? I don't think so. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.137.145.101 (talk) 00:18, 3 August 2010 (UTC) It's a transcript of the Bulgarian name of the drink Ракия, which can be considered most neutral in my opinion, provided that the article clearly states the local names of the drink. Needless to say, the drink is best known and marketed in the non-slavic world by this name 78.86.82.106 (talk) 17:46, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

How is rakia neutral relative to the spellings in several countries? Bosnian rakija; Croatian: rakija; Serbian: rakija; Macedonian (transliterated) rakija; Polish: Rakija; Czech rakije, rakija; German: Der Rakija; French: Rakija (Wikipedia's main heading) Italian Rakija (main heading). Bulgarian Раки́я and Russian Ракия can be transliterated as rakija. English Wiktionary lists rakija as the main entry and "rakia" as alternative spelling. I cannot agree that in the "non-Slavic world" the drink is best known or marketed under the alternative spelling of rakia.

Kajsijevaca

Is there any source that Kajsijevaca really is one of the more common flavours? I would say that it should be moved to the part that says "fruits less commonly used". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Barababa (talk • contribs) 16:44, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Arak?=

As far as i know, Raki comes from an Arabian word "arak", and arak is a similar drink in arabic countries which was driking earlier than in Turkey or Bulgaria. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cemyildiz (talk • contribs) 22:45, 10 November 2011 (UTC)

• Source? Or Original Research?

Picture at header of article

Picture at header shouldn't contain country name, because in that way you suggest origin, although it is concluded that origin of "rakija" is from entire region, not one country (in this case croatian propaganda). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.198.224.17 (talk) 21:58, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

There's no propaganda as such in including the location in an image caption; but rather, I think the choice of image is poor for the lead section - most people recognize the drink for the final product, rather the cauldron. --Joy [shallot] (talk) 08:11, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

Rakia vs Grappa vs Calvados vs Brandy vs Cognac/Armagnac vs Conhaque

As a native of the region, I know that everywhere Rakia is produced from the grape Pomace. The technology is simple and as follows: using the discarded pomace from producing wine, some water and sometimes sugar is added. After fermentation reached it's peak the pomace is boiled in a pressurized container with serpentine dipped in cold water so as to induce condensation of the alcohol. The first alcohol content is discarded as it contains high volume of toxic methyl alcohol. Next, the ethyl alcohol is stored and aged in oak barrels, and after at least an year of aging it is ready for consumption. I guarantee to you, that from Portugal to Turkey, Rakia or it's alternatives are produced ONLY from grape pomace, and that this is the authentic way of producing all types of brandy. Brandy however indicates only grapes used, whereas rakia can be made from pears, plums, apples, apricots and peaches (you should try these) and other high-fructose fruits. DemonX (talk) 00:45, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

National drink

There is nothing in the article that supports the statement "widely considered to be а national drink". If you think there is, please provide a quote here from one of the cited sources. Kendall-K1 (talk) 15:59, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

Merger proposal

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.

The result of this discussion was not to merge --Phonet (talk) 23:53, 23 January 2018 (UTC)

---

Isn't Rakı and Rakia the same drink? Why are there two articles one with the Turkish and one with the Albanian name? Antondimak (talk) 18:06, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

But they are not the same drink, are they? I thought Rakı was made from grapes and flavored with anise, but Rakia was made from fruit (sometimes grape) and unflavored. Kendall-K1 (talk) 18:37, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Rakı mentions the Greek name (Ρακί or Ρακή or Τσικουδιά) and Turkish name (Rakı). Rakia mentions many other names and the Greek one which is the same. Where else did you see them separated? Antondimak (talk) 19:28, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Well of course the names all stem from the Arabic. I'm just saying they are not the same drink. Kendall-K1 (talk) 00:24, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Maybe the differences are regional? Antondimak (talk) 14:49, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

• Oppose – Raki is a specific alcoholic beverage, whereas Rakia is a collective general term for fruit brandy in the Balkans; they're topically distinct. North America¹⁰⁰⁰ 06:03, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

So you say that Raki is a regional variant of Rakia? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Antondimak (talk • contribs) 11:32, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

• Oppose. I've been to Serbia and seen rakija being made. It is not the same at all. As mentioned above, rakija is a brandy made from a variety of fruits, plum and pear being the most common ones I saw, and may have honey (my favorite) or any number of other flavorings added. There are even more variations since it is frequently made by individuals. Could part of the problem comes from the original rakija article using two spellings, "rakija" and "rakia?"

• oppose. Raki is a different drink. Color (always transparent), taste (not fruity or sweet in the sense of plum/pear distilled products), and smell (absence of sweetness) is different. The terms sound the same but have evolved through the centuries from the same Arabic root. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.74.237.246 (talk) 14:10, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

References

Trešnjevača, orahovača, džibra, 05/08/2016 edit

I have moved trešnjevača to basic types, though there are two spirits which bear the same name, in former Yugoslavia they are distinct drinks. One is rakija made by distiling fermented cherries, other is liqueur made with cherries. First one is basic type of rakija, second one is technically not rakija but liqueur. Also orahovača is liqueur, not rakija. Džibra and kom are not synonyms. Kom is leftover of pressing grapes for wine, while džibra is fermented fruit mash. Technically you must add water and sugar to kom to make džibra out of it. Once džibra is distilled it becomes kljuk. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.221.245.151 (talk) 15:45, 5 August 2016 (UTC)

Confusing rakia and Turkish rakı

There are several inconsistencies in this article, one of which has to do with the following. It's stated clearly that this drink (the mostly Balkan fruit brandy rakia/rakija/rachiu) is not to be confused with the separate anise-flavored rakı, related to arak, which . Most of the examples in the 'By Country' section are right, but the first one, pertaining to Turkey, seems to describe rakı, and should not be included right? It would seem to contradict other info in the article. So maybe it should be removed. Of course the etymology of both of these words is likely related (the Balkan languages having probably got the word through Turkish and ultimately Arabic); despite this, they seem to refer to two different drinks today. Word dewd544 (talk) 21:28, 11 October 2018 (UTC)

Incorrect information

"In 2007, the European Union awarded Serbia with trademarks for five different rakia brands (Šljivovica, Dunjevača, Medovača, Kruškovača and Jabukovača) making it the only country to have any trademarks for rakia brands."

This sentence here is not true at all. 12 brands of Bulgarian rakia have been protected with PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) and PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) since 2005. All of them can easily be found in the register of the EU's PDOs and PGIs. I'll cite the link. I am removing the latter part of the sentence and adding the correct info in the Bulgarian section. Also, I'm not sure what these "trademarks" the sentence talks about are, the EU protects its products via PDOs and PGIs and the only one in the register that is Serbian is Suboticko - Horgoska Pescara wine. The article cited as source just mentions negotiations that haven't even concluded. This entire sentence is probably incorrect.

Moreover, 3 other brands of Croatian rakia are also protected with PGI status, while Serbian rakia has none. I'm removing the entire sentence and adding the correct information on both the Bulgarian and Croatian paragraphs. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.204.7.206 (talk) 10:38, 16 October 2019 (UTC)

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/food-safety-and-quality/certification/quality-labels/geographical-indications-register/# https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/food-safety-and-quality/certification/quality-labels/quality-schemes-explained_en

130.204.7.206 (talk) 10:27, 16 October 2019 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed

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No mention of Greece?

Greece is in the Balkans. Greece drinks rakia. I don't understand why each country has a paragraph in the country section except from Greece.

To catch up to anyone who will say this. The fact that "there is an article for Raki and Greece is mentioned there" isn't an argument as turkey is mentioned there too as well as here. Lmagoutas (talk) 19:46, 2 January 2022 (UTC)