Alcoholic Drinks in Poland

Polish Beer, Vodka, Mead and Cider

Recommendable beer brands are Okocim, Tyskie, �ywiec, Lech or Tatra. You can also test the other names: Kr�lewskie, Heweliusz, Warka, EB, Piast, Kujawiak, Brok or Dojlidy. It is fairly popular to mix beer with raspberry or black currant juice (piwo z sokiem) and drink it using a straw.

Vodka is considered the drink which makes human contacts easy-going and enables discussions about more difficult topics. The name for vodka has changed over centuries. Formerly it was called okowita (from aqua vitae - the water of life in Latin) which changed into gorza�ka (from the verb gorze� - to glow). W�dka (related to woda - i.e. water) proved to be the best name for it. If you want to try the most famous brands, choose �ubrowka with the characteristic bison label, distilled in Bia�owie�a, known throughout the world for the last bison reserve in Europe. �ubrowka has a long leaf of special grass in the bottle, which gives the vodka a green colour and a special flavour. The most common vodkas are Wyborowa or Sobieski. Very special is krupnik, vodka with honey or Vodka Goldwasser - vodka with pieces of real gold in it.

Two other traditional drinks, which may now take some finding, are mead and cider.

Mead (mi�d pitny) is considered the oldest o Polish alcoholic drinks. It has a very delicate, sweet taste and as it is made using just honey, water, yeast, and a lot of time, it's completely natural.

Cider (cydr or jab�ecznik) is another traditional drink produced in the rural parts of western Poland. In past times, Schwerin (Skwierzyna), a small town close to the present German / Polish border, was the centre of the cider making industry.