Becherovka - Russian for Belch or Czech Spirit

I was in Prague last year for work. The first time back in the country since 1991. Things a changed a little. Gone were the fabulous meals in French restaurants for budget travelers. At least the old clock tower, or Prague Orloj, was still there and as impressive as ever. The city was cleaner and the buildings brighter as I walked the streets of old town.

When it was time to go I asked a colleague who lived in Warsaw but visited Prague regulalrly what to buy. He didn't hestitate, "Becherovka." Becher-what?

There wasn't time to debate the issue since we were late to catch a train. I stopped by the nearest liquor store and grabbed two pint bottles of the traditional variety and a 0.75 liter bottle of lemon flavored Becherovka, known as Becherovka Lemond. With bottles clanking I raced for the train.

I knew nothing about this Czech treasure when I bought it, but it only took one taste for me to be hooked.

Becherovka is an herbal bitters flavored with 34 herbs (the exact mix is a 200 year-old trade secret). Despite an alcohol content of 38 percent (76 proof) the drink is smooth and goes down well straight, usually chilled. I've also read that the original can be served with tonic water, a drink known as "beton," though I haven't tried it yet. As much as I enjoyed the original, the Lemond version was even better.

Becherovka, like Prague-itself, seems to get better with time. I look forward to returning to the country and, hopefully, visiting the distillery itself to get an even better taste of the spirit of the Czech Republic.

You can purchase Becherovka online at http://www.melandrose.com/ for $29.99 for a 750 ml bottle. This was the best price I could find and seems to be a bargain.

For those who refuse to take their spirits straight, there are a number of cocktails that can be prepared with Becherovka. For a sampling of the possibilities check out the following link.
http://www.ultimate-brands.co.uk/products/becherovka_cocktails.htm

Wuliangye - China's Most Famous Baijiu

My post yesterday mentioning Wuliangye made me nostaligic for the fiery alcohol and the memories that went with my first taste of the stuff. My wife is from China so after we were married in the U.S. we boarded a plane with ten of my friends for a second wedding celebration in China. After touring the country (Beijing, Xian, Guilin, Shanghai) we ended up in my wife's home town of Wenzhou. Not quite the tourist Mecca of the other destinations, we got our first taste of the real China.

The wedding celebrations in the U.S. and China could not have been more different. We had the Chinese lion dancers and the firecrackers. We also went through rituals of serving all the guests.

The main attraction was not a ceremony though (there wasn't one), it was the dinner. With ten tables of ten guests each, my wife and circled the room doing shots or sipping Wuliangye with her friends and relatives. The status of the guest determined the extent of the drinking.

Bottles of Wuliangye covered the tables along with box after box of Marlboro cirgarettes (it's hard to understand all the traditions). By the end of the evening at least one of my friends, who shall remain nameless, was hurling in his hotel room having hit the alcohol and the disco floor way too hard.

Wuliangye has a distinctive odor, more like white lightning than vodka or other clear, white spirits. The taste burns in the throat which is why most people, including the Chinese, sip it. Only occasionally do you hear shouts of gambei (bottoms up)!

Baijiu, literally white alcohol, is the most popular drink in China and Wuliangye is king. With 45 percent of the market share it dwarfs the competition (Moutai with 30 percent market share), though I may do a taste comparison some day for fun.

The name Wuliangye means five grains (rice, glutinous rice, broomcorn, wheat and corn), which is what goes into making the spirit. The price is not cheap at over 500 RMB, or around $75, a bottle. However, if you only buy one baijiu in China, there really isn't much choice. Wuliangye is the spirit of China.

What to buy when you get there

I like to travel... and I do it a lot. Sometimes more than is good for me, at least according to my would like. But how can I say no. I enjoy the food, the culture, the experiences and the feeling of being in some exotic locale, especially when it's for the first time.

There is nothing quite like sitting at the Long Bar of Raffles Hotel in Singapore and sipping your first true Singapore Sling. The challenge for me is always what to bring back from my adventures abroad to refresh the memory and transport the spirit back to that distant land.

Several years ago I began collecting beer, wine and, especially, spirits from my travels. Over the years I've found that there are limitations to collecting beer and wine (I will return to this in a future post) and I have now focused my attention, and my searches, on spirits.

This blog is devoted to the quest for the perfect spirit to bring back from each of your adventures abroad. What should grab if you only have space for one bottle when traveling to China or Vietnam, for example? The answers, respectively, are Wuliangye and Hanoi Vokda. Why? Well that's another thing I hope to cover in these posts.

I hope that others share a love for travel as well as the occasional shot of a strange new liquor. Whether you love the new spirit it or hate, you will never regret buying it because a bottle of spirits will provide countless stories as you imbibe with friends. It will also provide the opportunity to make some new ones.