I finally drank birch water.

[grasswire]

I finally had someone with me when near the Russian grocery today who was muscular enough to carry home a jug of birch water. So we decided to make a supper feast from the store. Here's what we bought:

a big smoked whitefish
a big jar of marinated tomatoes and cucumbers
three kinds of Russian cheeses
three kinds of salamis
a bag of frozen pork pelmeni (dumplings)
a jar of rose hip marmalade
a bunch of fresh dill
a loaf of heavy rye bread
a jar of birch water
cucumbers

The birch water tastes like lightly sugared water. I could not discern any other flavor. A bit disappointing, but now I know.

The whitefish was delicious. I liked two of the salamis, but the other one I couldn't even get near the smell of it. The pelmeni were very much like pot stickers.

Fun, fun. There's lots more to explore there.

[yellerpup]

1. I admire your adventurous spirit.

What an interesting meal you described. Is birch water birch sap? We've made maple syrup before and the sap doesn't taste very maple-y at all until it's been reduced for a few hours. What, no vodka? :hi:

edit for typo

[grasswire]

2. made from birch sap

....thinned with water, transported all the way from Belarus to U.S. in glass jars. There must be something mythological about those Eastern European birch trees.

[yellerpup]

4. I think you must be right.

Folklore and herbalism credit different parts of the birch with a variety of medicinal properties. The leaves are diuretic and antiseptic, and an effective remedy for cystitis and other urinary tract infections. They were also used to dissolve kidney stones and relieve rheumatism and gout. The sap (as wine or cordial) similarly prevents kidney and bladder stones, treats rheumatism, and can be used to treat skin complaints. The bark is said to ease muscle pain if applied externally.

"Beneath you birch with silver bark
And boughs so pendulous and fair,
The brook falls scattered down the rock:
and all is mossy there."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythfolk/birch.html

Edit to add link

[Warpy]

6. I vaguely remember birch beer from my childhood

and only to the extent that it was a little too subtle for a kid's palate and that I vastly preferred the sassafras taste of root beer.

[grasswire]

7. this is just slightly flavored water

No fizz.

[kestrel91316]

3. We have lots of Russian markets in my area. I'm kind of lost when

I go in there, but I DO know what to do with their big jars of sour cherries, lol.

[TankLV]

5. When I was growing up in Buffalo, we had Birch Beer.

It's a lot like Root Beer - but slightly less sweet.

Root Beer was made from Birch Trees originally...that's where the flavoring comes from - don't know if it was the bark or root...

Black Rock Beverages.

Used to have all sorts of flavors.

Got a case of small bottles (24 singles) and a case of the larger bottles (12 quarts).
Would go back with the bottles to return and fill up a new case every couple weeks or sooner during the summer.