Cranberry Sbiten with Red Wine

⏳ Time

30 minutes + 8 hours

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

The ancestor of the samovar was the sbitenik — a vessel for preparing a traditional hot drink, sbiten made from honey and medicinal herbs. Even when the samovar became the center of the Russian tea universe, sbiten was still brewed and sold (often at winter fairs, it warmed people better than tea did).

Ingredients

Cranberry - 8.8 oz
Water - 20 fl oz
Clove - 3 pieces
Cinnamon - 2 pieces
Cardamom - 3 pieces
Nutmeg - a pinch
Honey - 3.5 oz
Red Grape Juice - 7 fl oz

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Extract the juice from the cranberries and place the pulp in a pot.

Step 2

Pour water over the pressed pulp, add spices, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 3

Add honey, stir well, and immediately remove from heat.

Step 4

Allow the drink to cool and then refrigerate for 8 hours. After that, strain it.

Step 5

Pour the wine and cranberry juice into the resulting broth, place it over low heat, and stir until it is nearly boiling. As soon as the first bubbles appear, remove it from the heat. Taste the sbiten and, if desired, stir in a little more honey. Let it steep for 10 minutes.