The black balsam of Riga

When I set out to explore a new city, I tend to look for the odd things that will expand my horizon. Some day someone will say that I should be careful what I wish for.

The capital of Latvia is home to a lethal brew with the somewhat mysterious name Black Balsam (or Melnais Balzams in Latvian). It seems like the Latvian lovechild of a witch’s brew and a Soviet hangover.

Riga Riga by night.
At first glance, it’s a dark liquid that tastes like someone distilled despair, mixed it with dragon breath and set it on fire. It’s supposedly a traditional herbal liqueur composed of 24 different ingredients such as flowers, roots, oils, berries and other funny things you may or may not find in a forest. Topping it off is the herb wormwood, which you may recognize from absinthe. The original recipe was created by pharmacist Abraham Kunze in 1752 and said to be used as medicine (for the record, you probably shouldn’t trust 18th-century medical advice).

It is an acquired taste, to say the least. Like the city itself, the Balsam is bitter, beautiful and unapologetically Baltic. They don’t drink it for pleasure. Because Riga, with its Soviet scars and Art Nouveau curves, demands something darker than umbrella drinks.

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Posted in category Travel destinations.

2 comments

  • avatar
    bollman
    27 Aug, 2008
    Well, I'm sitting at a hotel in Bergen, craving for some alcohol, but my wallet says no. 45NOK för a small bottle of boring beer, no thanks. Go out? Uh, no, not really, it's pouring down and the beers are if possible even more expensive. They obioulsy don't want people to use "drugs" in this country, a pack of cigarettes costs 80NOK, about 95SEK I bet you paid somewhat less for that interesting drink ;-) On a side note: absinthe is marvelous!
  • avatar
    Reine
    29 Aug, 2008
    Yeah, it cost 3,50 lat (roughly 50 sek). A beer was about 10-14 sek. :) Absinthe is odd but nice. In Gothenburg we got a club entirely devoted to the brew, aptly named Absynth.

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