Alcoholic Drinks in Poland

Polish Beer, Vodka, Mead and Cider

Recommendable beer brands are Okocim, Tyskie, Żywiec, Lech or Tatra. You can also test the other names: Królewskie, 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 gorzałka (from the verb gorzeć - to glow). Wódka (related to woda - i.e. water) proved to be the best name for it. If you want to try the most famous brands, choose Żubrowka with the characteristic bison label, distilled in Białowieża, known throughout the world for the last bison reserve in Europe. Żubrowka 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 (miód 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 jabłecznik) 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.