Alcoholic herbal balms: list, admission rules, compositions, collection of herbs, benefits and harms

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

At the dawn of human civilization, when there were no injections or even pills, people were treated exclusively with herbs. Our ancestors noticed the benefits of some plants and actively used them.

Trust in herbal medicine has not disappeared even today. Interestingly, some medications also contain herbal extracts, infusions, and decoctions. In this article we will talk about alcoholic herbal balms. Photos of the most famous brands, recipes for homemade bitters and recommendations for their use will be given below.

Preparation of tincture begins with the collection of herbs. Here you also need to know some tricks. After all, even the phases of the moon can affect the beneficial properties of herbs. What reviews are there about purchased balms? Is it worth it to treat them exclusively? Read all about it below.

What are balms

Traditional medicine uses medicinal plants in many ways. You can dry herbs, grind them into powder and take them as a tablet. Herbal collection is poured with boiling water and drunk like tea.

You can make a decoction with herbs. But the heroes of our article are infusions on alcohol - balms. This word is of Greek origin. "Balm" is translated as "drug". Depending on the herbal collection, this alcoholic drink cures colds, banishes insomnia, normalizes metabolic processes in the body, and calms the nerves.

As a compress, the balm eliminates aching bones, gently warms cold muscles. With angina, gargle with a solution. Alcoholic herbal balms, with all their diversity, are divided into two large groups: bitters and sweet alcohol tinctures. In the latter, syrups, licorice or honey are added.

List of the most famous bitters

Consider the first group of alcoholic herbal balms. The word "bitter" in translation from English means "bitter". These spirits may have medicinal uses as they aid digestion. But they are also used as a digestif. In Italy, such drinking bitters are called Amaro. If taste is of secondary importance in medicinal drinks, then in bar bitters it is important that each component of the herbal collection is in harmony with the others. The most famous balms are:

• "Amaro Luciano" (Italy).
• Aperol (Italy).
• "Araucano" (Chile).
• "Benedectine" (France).
• Becherovka (Czech Republic).
• "Biirenburg" (Holland).
• "Bluetwurtz" (Bavaria, Germany).
• Campari (Italy).
• Gorki Liszt (Serbia).
• Jägermeister (Germany).
• Jeppson’s (USA).
• "Picon" (France).
• Unicum (Hungary).
• Chartreuse (France).
• "Gastric vodka" (Poland).

By the way, such drinks are called balms only in Eastern Europe, more precisely, in the countries of the former USSR. The most famous in the post-Soviet space is Riga Black Balsam (Latvia).

Russian balms

The benefits of medicinal plants were highly appreciated by the ancient Slavs. The herbalist was the most revered person in the village. Even now, certain herbal preparations are popular.

Many people consider the infusion of herbs in alcohol almost a panacea for all diseases. But there are those who simply perceive them as another type of alcohol. The most popular bitters in Russia are:

• Alcohol herbal balm "Altai bouquet".
• Bugulma (Tatarstan).
• "Legend of Italmas" (Udmurtia).
• Idnakar (Udmurtia).

Vegetable collection in these drinks is different. The number of herbs varies from 18 to 25 components. The strength of balms is usually forty degrees,but there are drinks and 45%.

Like most bitters, Russian drinks contain gentian, a useful plant that gives them a pronounced taste of the mixture. But, for example, in the "Altai bouquet" there is a lot of honeycomb. Therefore, the bitterness there is neutralized by the sweetness.

Benefits of alcohol herbal balm

First of all, vegetable collection is valuable for the body. Extraction allows you to extract useful substances from herbs and transfer them to alcohol (vodka, cognac or other distillate).

There are balms that are recognized as universal. They are drunk with overwork, general weakness, low blood pressure, to improve appetite (as an aperitif), to digest food (as a digestif), to warm up, etc.

Almost all balms contain tannins, glucosides, fats, carbohydrates and proteins. The composition of such drinks includes organic acids (malic, ascorbic, citric, polymitic, formic, oleic, tartaric, acetic, linoleic and stearic), as well as minerals (copper, cob alt, calcium, manganese, sodium, zinc, potassium, chromium, magnesium and iron).

To fully benefit from the drink, it is recommended to read the instructions for it. There are balms that are best added to tea or coffee. They increase sweating, remove phlegm from the bronchi.

Bitter Harm

People suffering from kidney or liver failure, it is better to stop using herbal balm. The benefits and harms of alcoholdrink dose dependent.

After all, its strength is from 30 to 46 degrees. Therefore, the balm should be used, especially for medicinal purposes, strictly according to the instructions for use. The daily dose should not exceed 20-30 milliliters per day.

Exceeding the norm is fraught with poisoning. Since the remedy contains alcohol, it should not be consumed by pregnant women and children. You should also take into account the properties of the herbs that make up the drink.

For example, Riga balsam or a drink from "Bitner" contains valerian and lemon balm, which pleasantly relax and drive away insomnia. But in order to cheer up, to cope with hypotension, they are not suitable. There is also an individual intolerance to the components of the herbal collection.

Cooking technology

The balsam recipe was fully honed to the smallest detail only in the 18th century. The technology of its preparation is rather complicated. Each ingredient is individually infused with alcohol for one to three months.

Based on the fact that in some balms the herbal collection consists of 25-45 components, one can judge how troublesome this process is. Then these numerous tinctures are distilled (some even double).

At the third stage, the components are also separately aged. During this period, which lasts about a month, the medicinal properties of plants pass into the drink. This is followed by blending mixtures.

It is important here that the components do not oppress each other, but complement each other pleasantly. Then the drink is filtered in three stages to remove the sediment. AND,finally bottled in dark glass (or ceramic) as sunlight destroys plant enzymes.

Before going on sale, balms are aged in sealed containers for some more time. It seems that making a drink at home is unrealistic. But, having simplified the technology a bit, you can make an alcoholic herbal balm with your own hands. How? Read on.

Balm "Volga"

How to simplify the technology so that it does not harm either the beneficial properties of the drink or its taste? The answer is obvious: we will not make tinctures on individual components, and then deal with blending, that is, mixing liquids.

According to winemakers in the reviews, alcoholic herbal balms do not lose anything if all the dry ingredients are combined together and poured with vodka. For a drink called "Volzhsky" we take 20 grams of hop cones, St. John's wort, sage, oak bark, 30 grams of lemon balm, mint and lime blossom.

Components need to be crushed and mixed. Then pour the vegetable collection with half a liter of vodka. Close the container tightly and leave to infuse for two weeks.

After that, you need to decant and carefully filter the drink. To improve the bitter taste of the balm, it is recommended to add 100 milliliters of cognac to it. Put another 14 days. At the end, add 30 grams of honey. Stir and set aside for two days.

Hangover Elixir

There are other recipes for alcoholic herbal balms. They havedifferent purpose. This is good to take in the morning when your body tells you that you drank too much alcohol the day before.

You need to prepare the Hangover balm like this. Burdock roots (50 grams) are washed, dried (possible in the oven), then chopped on a grater. Add the same amount of sorrel and 30 g each of mint, motherwort and horsetail.

Pour half a liter of quality vodka and keep in a cool and dark place for twenty days. Carefully filter the drink through several layers of gauze. Add warmed honey (about 40-50 grams).

Balm "Russian"

This drink can be made with both vodka and purified moonshine. Herbal collection in this alcoholic herbal balm is:

• oak bark;
• hop cones;
• dandelion root.

All ingredients must be taken in equal proportions - 30 grams per half liter of vodka. After two weeks spent in a dark and cool room, the drink is removed from the sediment.

And immediately combined with one hundred milliliters of sea buckthorn and 50 ml of viburnum juice. These drinks must be freshly pressed, so you need to prepare the Russian balm only in the season - in the fall.

To improve the taste and color of the liquid, let us pour one hundred milliliters of cognac into the mixture. Instead of honey, the recipe suggests using burnt caramel. To make it, you need to pour 50 grams of sugar into a dry frying pan.

Old Recipe

If you want your homemade alcohol balms toherbs came out not only useful, but also tasty, experiment with solvents. They can be not only vodka or moonshine, but also other distillates.

Cognac noticeably improves the color of the drink. Its delicate bouquet eliminates the smell of pharmacy medicine, and gives the balm a wine aroma. The "Old Recipe" instructs us to take in equal amounts:

• nettle;
• coltsfoot;
• valerian root;
• walnut kernels;
• lime blossom;
• marshmallow root;
• motherboard (aka oregano or oregano);
• chamomile;
• melissa;
• wormwood;
• rose hips and primrose.

All these components are crushed, mixed and poured with apple juice, cognac and honey. The proportions are simple: one liter of liquid - one hundred grams of vegetable collection.

After half a month, filter the balm and add alcohol to set the fortress at 45 degrees. We hold on for ten more days. This drink should be consumed on occasions and in doses, just like Bitner's balm.