On my first visit to Moscow in a February in the 90’s I picked up a nasty cold on the flight in that manifested itself shortly after my arrival. This combined with the arctic like weather and jet lag must have made me look like a man on his last legs. My local hosts offered me a “certain cure”, Balzam. I was feeling bad enough to try anything and the immediate sensation of alcohol on my palate had me assuming I was ingesting a Russian version of Nyquil. I slept like the dead that night, and did feel better the next day. My improvement was attributed to the dose of Balzam, and i saw no reason to argue if it was good sleep, the elixir or both. During the visit some of my hosts routinely added a teaspoon of this medicinal wonder to their tea to ward off illness.

In the following article, you’ll see that at in the writers eyes, Balzam is considered to be a Liqueur.

If Russia is admired worldwide for its sophistication in some circles — epic literature, classical music, advanced rocketry — its drinking habits, critics say, have never been hailed for their subtlety. Russian drinking, these critics say, is about as subtle as a Russian circus, and Russian circuses dote on costumed bears riding tiny motorcycles.

But these critics have never heard of balzam. And they surely have never heard of Ms. Savostyanova’s balzam — Ussuriyskiy Balzam, the one with the contented Siberian tiger gazing languidly from the label. Ussuriyskiy Balzam is not just alcohol, though it is certainly that.

It is a tonic for life’s ills, Siberian Prozac, a nostrum whose uses are, a brochure says, ”as broad as your fantasy: juices, jellies, added to ice cream, tea, coffee.” It is a booster of low blood pressure, a lift for sufferers of chronic fatigue, a recommended medicine (the brochure says) for rescue workers, emergency physicians and anyone else ”in extreme situations.”

All that, and it tastes, well, subtle. Somewhere between a finely aged bourbon and a domestic burgundy with no breeding, but amusing pretensions.
For those who know nothing about balzam — which includes most everyone outside Russia and the Baltics — the premise can be summed up in an old Russian saying, ”I’m not drinking; I’m healing myself.” (New York Times)

Share This