Rakija – fuel for a social tryst in Slovenia

Rakija is the local drink of the Balkans. Its the traditional drink around here and can fuel many a social interaction with the locals. A great conversation starter, its pure Liquid Magic.

I was in Ljubljana, the beautiful capital of Slovenia. In the previous few days, I had already had my fill of natural beauty at the serene Lake Bohinj and Lake Bled. That was all about jade-colored waters, surrounded by mountains (the Julian Alps). Steeped in rich lore & legend… And food…

It was now time for some intoxication with “liquid magic” as my new-found Slovenian friend called it. So, I set out to find a liquor store in the evening amidst a crimson sunset over the beautiful Ljubljana skies. 

The setting for the social tryst in Slovenia

I had chosen a place of stay that was a tad away from the city bustle. Hence a bit of a walk (quite a bit, actually) to find any sign of civilization. Just as I was about to give up and head back to my room, I spotted a small roadside shack. It was more like a tent set up with some chairs around it. I figured it would be better to ask a local person for directions to the nearest alcohol shop, instead of aimlessly wandering around. The only person I could find was the owner of this stall of sorts.

The man standing near this stall was an old man with gentle eyes. He had many fine lines on his face marking age and wisdom and an air of gentle kindness. As I walked up to him, he greeted me with a broad smile. I was probably his first customer for the evening. I noticed he was selling bottles of some sort of liquid. Some of the bottles were colourless, some had a golden colour and some had a golden-red colour. 

I managed to ask him where I could find an alcohol store with actions he could decrypt. He told me that there were none open nearby. As I stood there wondering if I could find a taxi, this man said something that I couldn’t figure. He then poured a small plastic cup from a huge vessel he had in his stall. And asked me to drink it. I trusted the child-like enthusiasm in this old man’s eyes and gestures though I was sceptical at first.

My first taste of Rakija 

For his satisfaction, I took a sip and, as I did, I could feel the warmth going down my chest. Alcohol! and pretty good stuff… It had quite an intense smell and along with the taste of the alcohol I got a hint of fruitiness. Love at first sip… I wanted more…  The taste reminded me of the Sake, Raksi, Raki and Tsiporo that I had tried earlier in other places, though it wasn’t the same… 

As I was slowly sipping the rest of the cup trying to savor every ounce of this marvelous liquid, another man came up to the stall and bought himself a cup. This man looked a little young – probably in his early thirties. He sat down next to me and sipped on his drink. He noticed me looking at me, smiled and asked “tourist?”. I replied with a yes and a broad smile. This man then began talking to me asking about how my trip has been and where I am from. 

We got talking and got on to our second cups. I asked Lukas what we were drinking and he began to tell me the history of the famous Balkan drink “Rakija” or “Rakia”. 

Rakija Tales

This drink is made from fermentation and distillation of fruits like grapes, plum, raspberries, peaches and more. The originally fermented liquid is colorless, but sometimes herbs and other ingredients are added to give it color. He told me that Rakija is considered to have a very high alcohol content that can range from 40% to 60%. The origin of Rakija is considered to be from the Balkans thanks to the middle eastern influence during the Ottoman Empire. This explains the cousin-ly resemblance to Turkish Raki, I guess.

So, we sat there, now drinking our fourth cup of Rakija. Our group of two had now become a group of four. A young man and another much younger man, brothers from a city in Slovenia called Maribor. They were on a road trip across the country. I had never been to Maribor. They told me it is one of the most beautiful cities in Slovenia. Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia and set amid the wine-region hills on the banks of the river Drava. From their pictures, it looked like it was adapted from an enchanted tale. I made a note to myself to extend the trip and visit Maribor before leaving Slovenia.

By now, we had all lost count of the number of cups we’d had. As a consequence, I began making fervent assertions of love for the drink. The kindly old man actually explained the process to me. 

Rakija making Process

As far as I remember, he told me that first the fruit is chosen, in its most ripened state. They then put the fruits in barrels along with a little amount of sugar, to speed up the fermentation process. The barrel is sealed for 3 weeks for the fermentation to happen. When the marc is ready, they place it in a cauldron and thus begins the “cooking of the rakija”. Then they pour the marc into a clean, washed cauldron with 3 – 4 litres of water. Some more steps are followed which involves draining and heating the liquid, mixing it with water and then leaving it out to age. The more the Rakija ages, the better the taste and more the alcohol content. 

Ritual of taking Rakija

The locals apparently imbibe Rakija most often as shots. So in homage to the popular tradition, we took the next cup as a shot. This ended up in us taking a few more shots which I have very less recollection of. 😉

The brothers, whose names I cannot recollect for the life of me, began telling us that they were planning to visit Novo Mesto the next day. I had been to Novo Mesto a few days back and I was excited to tell them about my experiences in Novo Mesto. It is a very interesting city in southern Slovenia and once an important military base during the Ottoman Empire. Novo Mesto now has an archaeological heritage of world importance.

The mysterious Gorjanci Hills and gentle wine-growing hills surround the place. It offers a mixed bouquet of history and idyllic moments amidst vineyards. It is a must-visit for all those who love learning about the rich history of places. 

And then it hit me that I had an early day the next day with a packed itinerary of the Postojna caves, Predjama castle and Triglav. My new friends dropped me off at the hotel and refused to let me pay for my share of the Rakija – “you are our guest”, they exclaimed! And best of all, despite the copious amounts of Rakija imbibed, I woke up fresh as a daisy the next day… 

The evening – stuff of great memories

What an evening it was – great liquor, fab company, interesting conversation… a first-hand experience of the rich Balkan culture and warm hospitality. Yes, the things to do in Slovenia are many, each more wondrous than the other – from natural beauty to adventure to castles to legends and wine and food… But this social tryst was my best memory of a lovely Slovenian sojourn. And Rakija was the gateway to that. I did try Rakija across the Balkans – it’s been uniformly good and does a fine job of loosening tongues, freeing minds and dropping inhibitions… A great social catalyst, don’t you think? 😉

In case you wish to travel to Slovenia and partake of this manna, maybe you could check out the itinerary that I traveled on, covering Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia.

For ideas on experiential travel to other parts of the world, visit Beyonder Travel.

(Experiences and stories from Anand Parameswaran compiled by Nikitha CV)