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POLISH DRINKS

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ZUBROWKA
Pronounced 'Jubroovka' the traditional Polish vodka. This Vodka is widely available and can be found in vast quantities in both shops and supermarkets. Its produced in Bialystok, a city situated in the Masurian lakes national park in the north of the country. Inside the bottle is a blade of grass from the forest where the bison graze. This grass flavours the drink with the herb the bison love so much, hence bison vodka. Its traditionally consumed neat, in shots, or with apple juice. Delicious!!!

OKOCIM
Similar to the British Lager, Okocim, pronounced 'okochim' is my personal favourite. Like most Polish beer, its name is borrowed from where its brewed. In Poland they serve the beers in 0.5l glasses, just short of a British pint. Don't assume this means the Polish can't handle their drinks. You'd be very silly to think this.

ZYWIEC
The next in line of my list of favourites is Zywiec 'Jiviets'. Again named after where its brewed. Funnily, there is a type of mineral water which also originated in Zywiec, there's adverts that say, if you're driving, drink Zywiec. The water of course!

"This grass flavours the drink with the herb the bison love so much, hence bison vodka"

The world famous Zubrowka Bison Vodka

"If you're driving, drink Zywiec!"

WARKA
Guess where this ones brewed. Yes, Warka. Pronounced 'Varka'. I get the impression that this beer isn't too popular in Poland. But, I might be wrong.

Western beers are available here, but like with anything else from the wild west, they're expensive.

WARKA STRONG
The girls favourite. Strong is pronounced exactly the same way in Poland as in England, believe me, that's actually unusual. 'Varka Strong' is really strong, its somewhere between 7 & 9%. Because of this its sweet. Just what the girls want.

PILSNER
The cheap and very popular in student halls option. If there's a student party you're bound to find Pilsner. There are 2 kinds, normal and strong. The normal is like water (British beer) and the strong, I don't know because I don't drink it. With beer so cheap out here, you might as well buy the more expensive stuff.

During the winter months, when the temperature outside is almost unbearable, beer is served hot in pubs!

SPIRITUS
This stuff is dangerous. If you drink it neat, with a rating (what the Poles call 'Promille') of 95%, you're DEAD! They prefer to live, mix it half with water and then get you to try it by telling you its Vodka. Disgusting!

BOLS
A popular selection. Even though from Holland, this vodka is not much more expensive than Zubrowka. A bottle capacity of 0.5l would set you back about 25 Zlotys, that's less than £4.50!

WINES
Western wine and wine from Australia and Africa is expensive. Polish wines are made by a variety of means, including private producers for friends and family, and farmers making some money on the side.

SHOOTERS
Also very popular, especially with neat vodka. There are many varieties of shooter, with all sorts of creative names. Pop into a local Czestochowian pub and ask the barman, he'll tell you all about them. In Polish of course.

"During the winter months, when the temperature outside is almost unbearable, beer is served hot in pubs!"

"A 0.5l bottle of Bols would set you back about 25 Zlotys, that's less than £4.50!"

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