Thread: Kvass: Coca-Cola To Import Russian Fermented Beverage To US

KVASS: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Coca-Cola To Import Russian Fermented Beverage To The U.S. In Recognition Of President Dmitry Medvedev's Historic Visit To The United States

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/pres ... kvass.html

Here's the Russian kvass recipe if you want to make it on your own!

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

KVASS: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Coca-Cola To Import Russian Fermented Beverage To The U.S. In Recognition Of President Dmitry Medvedev's Historic Visit To The United States

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/pres ... kvass.html

I'm looking forward to trying it.

Scott

Originally Posted by fortheether

I'm looking forward to trying it.

You can get it in the closest Russian store. Don't have to wait.
By the way, the difference between the bottled kvas and the real kvas is pretty much the same as between a bottled beer and the real beer.

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Originally Posted by fortheether

I'm looking forward to trying it.

You can get it in the closest Russian store. Don't have to wait.
By the way, the difference between the bottled kvas and the real kvas is pretty much the same as between a bottled beer and the real beer.

or so:
1 Water
2 Sugar (to taste)
3 bread, preferably rye (dry up in the oven)
4 little yeast (desirable, but optional)
5 Put in a dark place
6 day-two, and you can drink

$2.5 for 0.5 liter bottle ??? As if they were shipped by cargo aircrafts from Moscow.

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Originally Posted by fortheether

I'm looking forward to trying it.

You can get it in the closest Russian store. Don't have to wait.
By the way, the difference between the bottled kvas and the real kvas is pretty much the same as between a bottled beer and the real beer.

I live in south New Jersey, there are no Russian stores here. We do have a Polish restaurant nearby though. Is Polish kvas different than Russian kvas?

Scott

They'll have sweeten it if they want to sell it!

Okay, stupid questions time!!!

Please help me to better understand this drink so that if I ever get back to writing my book I can include it in there and write about it properly!!

so.. what exactly does this stuff taste like??
Beer, bread?
Is it carbonated?
DDT seems to imply that it isn't sweet but the recipe posted show some sugar, how sweet or not sweet is it?

So, if Dmitri, (remember, main character) were to describe this drink from his youth to Valentina, what descriptive words would he use?

Boroda posted a recipe for it, who has made it before and how did it turn out? How often do/did you make it? What memories do you have about doing so?

Any and all information is welcomed!

Originally Posted by rockzmom

so.. what exactly does this stuff taste like??

Probably, something remotely resembling malt beer, but much better (to my taste). Again, the bottled version might ruin the experience.

Have you ever tasted okroshka?
It is cold kvas soup with chopped vegetables and meat.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

so.. what exactly does this stuff taste like??
Beer, bread?
Is it carbonated?
DDT seems to imply that it isn't sweet but the recipe posted show some sugar, how sweet or not sweet is it?
...
Any and all information is welcomed!

Nothing tastes better in a hot summer day than a glass of cold kvas . It has a light smell of rye bread. As for the taste… it tastes like… kvas. I don’t know how to describe it, you have to taste it yourself. It’s not bitter like beer. I didn’t understand the taste of beer until I was 20, but every kid loves kvas. But traditional kvas isn’t sweet either, the very little amount of sugar in it is for fermentation process, not for sweetness. Some people like a sweet kvas and put more sugar in it , but I prefer a traditional recipe. And of course it isn’t carbonated – it’s a traditional drink, how do you think they carbonated it, say, 500 years ago? But it has a small amount of gas in it due to fermentation.
As for making it yourself, it’s not that easy. I guess if you try Boroda’s recipe, you’ll just get some undrinkable slops. I tried to make kvas myself several times from kvas concentrate and yeast, but succeeded only a few times, usually I got some undrinkable stuff in result. So I prefer to buy it.
In SU and later in Russia kvas was traditionaly sold in so-called truck-barrels:



Now they are replaced now with booths like this (kvas is beeing sold from kegs (like beer kegs) there):



As for bottled kvas I agree with Crocodile, but there is a couple of brands that I rather like:



I don't like very much Cocacola's "Kruzhka& Bochka" kvas, it tastes somewhat... . Yes, it's drinkable but not too tasty.

So, if Dmitri, were to describe this drink from his youth to Valentina, what descriptive words would he use?

The best word to describe kvas is "refreshing". It's a nice summer drink, which is best served cold or cool (no ice cubes, please!). I've never tried to do it myself because the process is rather long (it takes a few days), and there are too many possibilities to mess it up, even if you use kvas concentrate.

Here bottled kvas costs about 1 dollar for 2 litres. Unfortunately, many producers distort the original receipt - they add too much sugar, use chemicals, even carbonate it - to the point where some kvas brands taste like bad Coca-Cola. I'm afraid that's what can happen in USA, if they decide to "improve" the unfamiliar taste.

Kvas barrels are still out there, and they look the same as 30 years ago. Barrels sell more authentic kvas, but its quality depends on the decency of seller, and they sometimes sell lvas even if it went bad. ((

Kvas barrel in Soviet Union:

Do not use bottled kvass for okroshka. It's sweet and you wouldn't like the taste of vegetables floating in a sweet liquid. A traditional kvass has a rather acid taste.
Honestly though, I'm not sure if Coca-Cola can bottle 'normal' kvass. The taste of the stuff they're going to sell, I fear, would be far from the taste of real kvass, but this remains to be seen.

Coca-Cola company won't be producing or bottling kvass. The press release says that they will be importing Krushka & Bochka Kvass directly from Russia.

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

Coca-Cola company won't be producing or bottling kvass. The press release says that they will be importing Krushka & Bochka Kvass directly from Russia.

Who do you think owns the brand name 'Кружка и Бочка' in Russia?
ООО “Кока-Кола ЭйчБиСи Евразия”

Originally Posted by Ramil

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

Coca-Cola company won't be producing or bottling kvass. The press release says that they will be importing Krushka & Bochka Kvass directly from Russia.

Who do you think owns the brand name 'Кружка и Бочка' in Russia?
ООО “Кока-Кола ЭйчБиСи Евразия”

That's what I suspected. If they didn't own it... it would make sense to buy them out
But the company is based in Russia and competes for the Russian consumer so the quality should be acceptable.

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

But the company is based in Russia and competes for the Russian consumer so the quality should be acceptable.

I tested the Coca-Cola's Kvass (Krushka & Bochka) it really has the taste close to the original one. Certainly better than Nikola, maybe close to Ochakovo. But it is far too sweet. It is sweeter than any other brands.

Originally Posted by Boroda

1 Water
2 Sugar (to taste)
3 bread, preferably rye (dry up in the oven)
4 little yeast (desirable, but optional)
5 Put in a dark place
6 day-two, and you can drink

Everyone who I know prepared kvass by putting the glass vessel with the drink onto the sunlight. Only after that it can be sealed in bottles and stored in the dark place for some sort of carbonation (if needed).

Here is another classical recipe (no sugar at all):

For 20 liters of kvass:
1 kg of shredded rye malt
300 g of shredded barley malt
600 g of rye flour
210 g of dried rye bread
1 kg of high-wash syrup (Treacle)
30 g of spearmint leaves infusion

Mix malt, flour with 3 litres of hot water till the mass becomes homogenous (without gobs) and cover the bowl with a clean towell.
Let it stay for 1 hour (so that sugar start to ferment)

Remove the mass and plase it into a fireproof bowl, close it with a cover and put it into a hot oven so that excess water is vaporized.
Then thoroughly mix the condensed mass, add water again and let it stay for 24 hours.

Remove the mass again and place it into a 20-25 liter vat, add 16 liter of hot water, drop in the shredded bread.
Mix thoroughly and let it settle for more 6 to 10 hours until the liquid brightens up.

Filter the mash into a sterilized barrel (or some other vat that can be hermetically sealed).
Add another 15 liters of water into the remaining residue and let it stay for 2-3 hours then filter the resulting mash into the barrel.

Add mint infusion and into the barrel and mix thoroughly.
Let it ferment for 24 hours in the warm place, then put the barrel onto the ice.

When the fermenting subsides a little, add treacle (1 kg per 30 liters of kvass).
Shut the barrel sealed and wait for 2-3 days. The kvass is ready.

This recipe will get you about 20 liters of kvass. It should be kept in a cold place (up to a year) or you can bottle it.

Originally Posted by Ramil

It should be kept in a cold place (up to a year) or you can bottle it.

Whut?? Up to a year??! I thought only pasteurized factory-made bottled kvas with preservatives in it can be kept for so long. Usually real kvas turns into undrinkable brew after a week or so.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Do not use bottled kvass for okroshka. It's sweet and you wouldn't like the taste of vegetables floating in a sweet liquid.

А если окрошку "зарядить" водкой? =)