Tamara's father is a bit of an expert and aficionado when it comes to Rakija. I mean, on a good fruit harvest, he distills a good few hundred litres at home.

This year he wanted to produce some Travarica, a very Herby tasting Rakija variation. He used herbs from his friend, that were sourced from the Velebit mountain in Croatia.

Tam and I get asked a lot, about Rakija, so here's a paraphrase if what Rakija is.

"Rakija (rah-kee-yah) is the catch-all term for any kind of spirit distilled from fruit (and not just fruit) and it translates to ‘brandy’.

Read An Englishman in the Balkans in the new Substack app

Now available for iOS

Get the app

Just as there’s apple brandy, plum brandy, berry brandy and so on, varieties distilled from different source materials take more specific names. Here are a few:

Šljivovica – plum brandy

Loza – pure grape brandy

Jabukovača – apple brandy

Kruškovača – pear brandy

The king of all rakijas is Travarica, a sophisticated spirit acclaimed as a superb digestive aid and tonic.

It is quite simply an infusion of a variety of herbs in pure grape brandy, and there are as many recipes for travarica as there are people producing it.

Some contain as few as 10 herbs, while others can contain 20 or more.

Travarica often contains rosemary, chamomile, lavender, rose hips, matgrass, juniper, thyme, currants, mint or sage, but the list of possible additions is practically endless.

We used the following:
Marigold, strawberry, balm, sage, mint, mother's soul, juniper, coriander, aniseed, fennel, rosemary, marjoram, Oman Morian, brush, angelica, hyssop,

If you have any Rakija related questions drop us a message wherever you see us in social media or an email at: anenglishmaninthebalkans@gmail.com

Leave a comment