Riga Black Balsam Original - Herbal Bitter / Herbal Liqueur - 45% Vol. 70cl (700ml/0.7 Litre)

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The recipe vanished along with them, but a few years after World War II, a group of former employees managed to piece it together. The Riga Black Balsam was first introduced in Denmark at the end of the 18th century by merchant ships from Marstal trading with Riga. During the Latvian SSR there was a deficit of Riga Black Balsam, which became a valuable souvenir and gift that was sometimes even regifted.

Riga Black Balsam Cocktail: Find your ideal cocktail Riga Black Balsam Cocktail: Find your ideal cocktail

You can even say that in wintertime Balsam replaces the sun; it warms your body and mind when mixed with hot blackberry juice.A 45 ABV solution is infused with the botanicals and aged for 30 days in oak barrels to create the Riga Black Balsam essence, which is then blended with honey, caramel, natural juices and other ingredients, and filled in clay bottles. Industrial production of Riga Black Balsam started in 1900 and, since then, the becerage has preserved its best qualities.

Riga Black Balsam Original - Herbal Bitter / Herbal Liqueur - 45% Vol Riga Black Balsam Original - Herbal Bitter / Herbal Liqueur - 45%

The original recipe was lost in 1939 after its last keepers, the Schrader brothers, repatriated to Germany. For the first six months after bottling the flavour of Black Balsam will to develop as the ingredients interact with the clay. In 1969, a joint team of specialists from Latvijas Keramika and Riga Polytechnical Institute designed the very first ceramic bottles for the balsam. More than 2 million bottles of Riga Black Balsam are produced each year and exported to 30 countries. Its aroma is described as ranging from acetone to liquorice to chocolate and the flavour is characterised as a combination of birch, lime, ginger, cocoa, liquorice baking spices and berries.It continued the production of Riga Black Balsam even after Latvia declared its independence in 1918. Nowadays, the Riga Black Balsam is also used in traditional medicine as a cold remedy and to treat digestive problems. newspaper advertisement for the balsam listed its numerous purported internal and external uses at the time: healing gunshot, puncture and stab wounds by stopping bleeding, relieving pain and preventing infection, relieving and healing burns, frostbites, sprains, and erysipelas (red and white), treating swelling, tooth-, and headaches, stopping colic and labour pain, reducing menstruation bleeding, treating severe chills, painlessly healing rabid dog and poisonous reptile bites, preventing oozing from psoriasis, alleviating pain, preventing inflammation and fever from fractures, curing scurvy and ulcerative stomatitis and safeguarding against infection and contagious diseases by strengthening the heart and boosting vitality. From there it spread to Danish sailors and the medicine chests of Danish ships throughout the country, remaining an essential component of the medicine chests for the Royal Greenland Trading Department ships until the early 1920s.

Riga Black Balsam | LiveRiga Riga Black Balsam | LiveRiga

It is unknown when or how he acquired the recipe, but Leluchin was the one that transformed Kunze's 16 ABV white-coloured medicinal drink into a stronger black balsam intended for general consumption. In 1766, a glazier from Riga, Peteris Adams, claimed to be the actual inventor of the balsam, having supposedly invented it ten years before Kunze, who was accused of taking his formula, however Riga City Council rejected Adams' application, arguing that he had come forth with the allegations only after Abraham Kunze's death. In 1789, Semyon Leluchin, a merchant from Vyazma, obtained a patent for the balsam's production and sales.

Slightly bitter scent reminding of summer even in mid-winter, golden brown colour and unmistakeable taste - Riga Black Balsam is Latvia's most characteristic alcoholic drink. As Riga Black Balsam contains volatile oils, dissolved resin and other scented mixtures, it can be used not only for relaxation, but also for healing yourself; the drink is especially useful in comatting colds. On Friday night I felt like death and went to bed, the next day I sipped it all day and kept warm in bed. Black Balsam Black Currant, on the other hand, is used in cocktails such as "Stairway to Heaven", whereas Black Balsam Cherry is added to Cherry Soda.