Alcohol museums of the world: museums of strong drinks

If you are tired of drinking alcoholic beverages just like that, then you should definitely go to one of the many museums dedicated to alcohol, good, there are many such in the world now.

One of the largest and most interesting museums is the Museum of Alcohol in Tel Aviv. The exposition presents antique bottles, drinks of many years of aging, the museum hosts exhibitions of Israeli wines and even a bartender school.

Another universal. museum The Historical Museum of Wine and Alcohol in Stogcolm. It is open in an old distillery, but tells not only about the production of wine, but also about stronger drinks. A separate part of the exposition is devoted to mulled wine and punch: here you will be introduced to ancient recipes and tell what spices are best suited for different versions of these drinks.

Other museums are dedicated to a single drink. For example, in Amsterdam there is a museum of Jenever, a Dutch gin. This strong juniper liqueur is the main ancestor of classical English gin. Jenever is weaker than other gins, but has a richer and brighter aroma. Initially, gin, like many such beverages, was used exclusively as a medicine - it was believed that it helps against kidney diseases. Dutch gin has been produced since 1664 by the Bols Company, so the museum is called the House of Bols. The exposition tells about the history of the company and about the technology of gin production.

Another Jenever museum is located in Hasselt, Belgium, which is also very popular in Belgium.

In the heart of the Scottish capital Edinburgh opened a museum of whiskey. Whiskey is the national Scottish drink, it has been known since the end of the XV century and was originally called “water of life”. Modern technology of production of classic Scotch whiskey is known since the beginning of the XVIII century. The museum tells about the history of whisky making, shows several films - about the areas of Scotland, producing different varieties of this "living water" and the art of blending. Many travel companies offer even a whole "whiskey tour" to Scotland - with a visit not only to the Edinburgh Museum, but also to a number of whiskey factories in the vicinity of Glasgow and Speyside.

In Karlovy Vary there is a museum "Becherovka" - the famous Karlovy Vary balm on herbs. This balm, like gin, was initially used exclusively for medicinal purposes, and only in our time it began to be used as an aperitif. The recipe of Becherovka is carefully hidden – only two people know the exact recipe at the factory, which tourists can visit.

In Riga opened a museum of black Riga balm - the hallmark of the city. Riga balm, originally known as “Kuntz balm”, has been produced since the middle of the XVIII century. The museum is located in the basement of the company "Latvijas balzams" - the main modern manufacturer of the drink. However, the original recipe was lost, after the war, the employees of the factory restored the recipe from memory, so that the current Riga balm is still not the “elixir of youth”, which was treated by Goethe.

In addition to the balm museum, fans of this drink can visit the Riga Black Magic bar, opened in the former pharmacy of Abraham Kunz, and taste more than a dozen cocktails based on the balm he invented.

In Serbia, there is a museum of national fruit vodka – rakija. The most popular type of raki is slivovitsa, it is chased everywhere, and in peasant farms and monasteries. The production of rakia here is a whole art: it varies in strength, aging, method of distillation and various additives. The taste also depends on which barrel rakia was aged - in oak or acacia. You can learn about all this in the museum and taste various types of rakia: plum, pear, apricot, apple, fig and many others.

In Paris in 1994 opened a museum of the most mysterious and cult drink of the late XIX-early XX century - absinthe, which has long been banned. At the beginning of the XX century, prohibitions were abolished, but the current absinthe is produced according to a slightly different recipe and no longer has hallucinogenic properties. In the museum you can admire a collection of paintings created on “absinthe” themes (for example, the classic “Absinthe Lover” by Picasso), advertising posters, all kinds of bottles of the past and the last century; present in the exposition and current absinthe manufacturers, among which, by the way, there is Russia.

In Russia, of course, there is also a museum of the main national drink – vodka. There are three of them. The first is the Museum of the History of Vodka in Izmailovo in Moscow. One of the halls there is decorated as a tavern of the last century, and the exposition presents the very first moonshine machines, bottles, lubricated engravings and paintings telling about the history of vodka.

Recently, the National Museum of Russian Vodka was opened at the Kristall plant, a leading domestic producer of alcohol.

Finally, there is a vodka museum in the small town of Uglich. It is called the Russian Vodka Library. In the exposition, old moonshine machines and even a pood “medal” with the inscription “For drunkenness”, which in Peter’s times was hung around the neck of impenetrable drunks.