Let's remember what alcoholic drinks we have
always stood on holiday tables during the Soviet years.
Many of them have not been
are produced, but their taste is still preserved in memory.
At first I wanted to call this part in the spirit of the previous ones - “What we drank.”
But I thought about it and decided that this is a little incorrect :)
I tried alcoholic drinks for the first time when I was 15 years old.
I got seriously drunk for the first time when I was 16, on New Year’s Eve. "Port wine 777".
Fortunately, I did not become addicted to the “green serpent” and to this day I consider it evil.
If in excess. But high-quality vintage wines,
I occasionally respect cognacs and whiskeys.
I had one hobby in my childhood and adolescence. Collected wine (vodka, cognac) labels.
Agree, it’s a completely innocent hobby for a child. And I was just a fan.
Sometimes you find a bottle on the street, bring it home, put it in a bowl of hot water,
15 minutes - bang! and a new label in the collection. Friends (mother’s) helped
- they looked for treasured bottles from the deep Soviet period in cellars/attics and gave them to me.
Over the course of several years, an impressive stack has accumulated
. Then the hobby suddenly disappeared, as did the collection itself. But, fortunately, she was later found.
I carefully scanned it and now I want to show you :) Labels for me -
one of the doors to childhood memories.
Soviet drawings, fonts, prices, "I belt, II belt", "Price with the cost of dishes", packaging,
kilometer-long queues for wine and vodka, coupons...
Crimea, sea and grapevine, after all.
Don’t be lazy, take your time, look at each label -
she is able to tell and remind a lot of things.
So what was on our tables and refrigerators 20-30 years ago?
I'll start with aperitifs.
The lion's share of wine production in the USSR came from the Moldavian SSR. The inscription "MOLDVINPROM"
will appear on almost every third label.
Sherries and vermouths:
And “GOSAGROPROM” is on every second one :)
One of the pearls of my small collection is Hungarian vermouth.
Very popular in the 90s, live bottled beer from our native Ulyanovsk plant (R.I.P):
And this is the same Ulyanovsk plant, but still in the 80s:
The pride of our brewery!
Our plant soldered not only Ulyanovsk, but also its neighbors :)
Classics of the genre!
This also happens now. But it's not like that anymore...
Greetings from China. Their beer. These are the wild 90s.
We're done with aperitifs, let's move on to table wines, of which there were a great variety in the USSR.
Table (dry, semi-dry and semi-sweet) wines:
Guys, this is Checheningushvino! Quite a rare label.
Rkatsiteli is a popular light wine made from a highly valuable grape variety.
Greetings from Volgograd!
Azerbaijan:
Black Sea pink, with the inscription on the boat "Abrau-Durso". Apparently, it was produced at the same plant.
We brought this small bottle from my first trip to Crimea, in 1991:
Such a small bottle of wine stood in our sideboard for a long time.
Until the wine turned to vinegar.
I have many childhood memories associated with her:
In particular, the dream of the sea began with her.
Abkhazia. By the way, the label has been revived these days and can be seen on the shelves.
This one is from those Soviet times.
Here is the modern label of Abkhazian wine:
Bulgaria has always been famous for its expensive label printing.
Bulgaria 90s:
Algerian wine. I think ordinary people didn’t have this on their tables:
Fortified wines:
The boys and I found a pack of the next two “zero” labels in some basement.
Apparently, someone hid it there for an underground workshop.
This one has a very uneven print. Apparently - self-propelled. I will not believe,
that Abrau-Durso could afford such hackwork.
Did I mention that I first tried alcohol at 15? I lied.
In church, they poured a whole spoonful of diluted Cahors into us children:)
Well, who doesn’t remember the popular liqueur Amaretto in the 90s? :)) Sold in every "lump".
Like this fortified Moldovan wine:
Remember those troubled times, when alcohol could be bought anywhere,
just not in the store... In the "lumps", "at grandma's"... Creepy.
Here's something else sweet and foreign from those times. More like a chocolate bar.
Odessa Mama!
I like these monsters: "GLAVUPRPISCHEPROM GOSAGROPROM RSFSR ROSSPIRTPROM"
Probably those who worked there always took a long time to answer the question about their place of work.
Cossack wine:
Flavored wines:
And here there is even a back label with a cocktail recipe:
Port wines
I have always associated ort wine with something cheap and unworthy
self-respecting person. Like a triple cologne.
"Mom is anarchy, dad is a glass of port." Unfortunately,
the opinion was confirmed with the first experience of severe intoxication,
happened to me after the chiming clock in 1996. Bottle "777"
was destroyed practically in one gulp, between two and a friend
- hurried to see friends (Vitek, if you’re reading me, then hello). Hmm...
"Agdam" is still Soviet:
"Agdam" is no longer Soviet. And it went up in price. Price release....
3
And another variation:
Moldovenian :)
Georgian portveshok "Three bananas":
Sparkling wines (Champagne - New Year is coming!):
Champagne in the late 80s and early 90s, like everything else, was not easy to buy.
Some tricks were used to get a box or two for the wedding.
And you even had to show a certificate from the registry office that it was really for the wedding.
Because there’s no point in celebrating for no reason when there are “dashing” people in the yard
- drink water according to coupons...
I didn't like champagne. No, not because it is somehow different.
It’s just that bottles from it were very rarely accepted.
We can say that they did not accept it at all. From vodka and beer - easily.
And champagne bottles stood like dead weight in barns and on balconies.
The only use they have is for shooting with slingshots. Glass is strong -
did not scatter the first time, prolonging the pleasure for the second and third hit.
They also mixed carbide with water, plugged them with the original cork, and ran into the “bunker.”
Yes, car enthusiasts stored all sorts of liquids in them, such as diesel fuel, oil and electrolyte. Reliable capacity.
Here they are, dear to every Soviet citizen, labels.
They made it and bottled it everywhere.
Azerbaijan SSR:
Tolyatti:
What did not have the right to be called “champagne” was called “sparkling”.
Abrau-Durso, king of Soviet sparkling wines:
And note, one price - 6 rubles 50 kopecks with the cost of the dishes. How simple and clear everything was...
Cheap Moscow "fizzy" for two-piss:
Imported, from Bulgaria:
From Hungary:
Friends, sorry, I couldn’t resist :)
This is modern, “new world”. I haven't tried anything better...
Strong tinctures:
End of 10th grade. We are all very adults now, we can decide for ourselves what to drink and how much :) The choice always fell on this:
0.5 per 10 people - cool, let's go for a walk! :) Why lemon?
Apparently, on a subconscious level, they chose a compromise between childhood (lemonade) and supposedly already adult life (vodka).
It was still rubbish, but it was impossible to show it. And don't forget that this is 1996...
For some reason, tinctures were then made to look like lemonades. Did you involve children? :)
The only inscription “bitter” indicated that it was not tasty.
Strong tincture “Zubrovka”: Prepared on the basis of bison grass, it has a soft, slightly pungent taste and aroma of bison grass.
And the price is already a whole red chervonets.
Cognacs:
Our parents were lucky - they could still drink normal, “not scorched”
cognacs from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova.
How many types there were! But not everyone can afford it. More expensive than vodka by 5 rubles.
Moldavian SSR:
I found this bottle in some old basement, half full. Naturally, the liquid was immediately poured onto the ground :)
But it was someone’s stash.
Something that doesn't exist now. Georgian cognacs:
Azerbaijani:
Cognac of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Produced at the Moscow Interrepublican Winery.
Disgusting cognac drink "Strugurash": But for lack of a better one, he too went:
Vodka was as it is now - cheap and expensive.
The cheap ones were almost always sold in “Cheburashka” lemonade bottles, with a thick foil cap and a “tail”:
Dear - in long bottles, with a screw cap:
And this is how they bought vodka in the USSR:
First they handed over the old containers, then they used the money to buy new ones. If it was enough :)
"Gorbachev's Loop":
If there was not enough vodka, then they took port wine. When it ran out, they went to a nearby store for this:
Interestingly, the same type of vodka could be cheap and expensive at the same time.
I'll start with the cheap ones. This is how they usually paid the tractor driver in the spring for plowing work on their summer cottage:
This was usually placed on the table on ordinary holidays:
It was impossible to get the capital one (at least here).
Prepared with the highest purity alcohol with the addition of sugar in the amount of 0.2 g per 100 ml.
And finally, Tsar Vodka! Siberian:
Strength - 45%, price almost like cognac - almost 12 rubles!
This was what they ordered for weddings.
Kuban tincture, with the sacramental inscription RUSSIAN VODKA.
Gin, whiskey, brandy, rum:
The fact that in the USSR they usually didn’t drink, because... were not produced. But no one canceled business trips to fraternal countries,
so you could find the following drinks:
It is likely that you could buy it at Beryozka.
But this, apparently, was brought in barrels from friendly Cuba and bottled here.
Bulgarian brandy "Sunny Beach":
By the way, it is still produced with the same label today. A friend brought it to me recently and we used it :)
Scotch whiskey!
So what do you think? :) What did you drink from this?
Throughout the last week, the social network has been in a fever with a flash mob in memory of the 90s. Social network users posted their photos from 20 years ago or more. Medialeaks I decided to devote the material to one of the most striking phenomena in the modern history of Russia - the emergence of a free alcohol market.
Everyone loved the joyful, nostalgic photos. It is noticeable that in many photographs the characters are a little (or quite a lot) tipsy. We remembered ten iconic alcoholic drinks of the first half of the 90s. Where did they come from, why were they popular, what did they taste like and what were they used with? We did not include well-known Western brands here (with the exception of Smirnoff), since they were not available to most at that time. We did not write the price of drinks, because in 92-95. hyperinflation occurred and price tags changed almost every day.
Royal alcohol 96%
Origin: alcohol for technical needs from Holland. According to rumors, it was mainly produced in Poland, like many other illegal products, where the term “scorched” came from.
The secret of popularity: During Prohibition, alcohol became one of the shadow currencies; they even tried to extract it from denatured alcohol. By the beginning of the 90s, the rules were relaxed, but there was a catastrophic shortage of vodka in the country; it was sold using coupons. Royal appeared in 1991 and became the first affordable alternative to the products of USSR wine and vodka factories. Due to its cheapness, it remained widely popular until the introduction of excise taxes in 1996.
Organoleptic qualities: The alcohol was diluted in a ratio of 1:2 to obtain a strength of 40 degrees. Without additives and additives, even normal ethanol mixed with water is quite difficult to consume. Not to mention fake alcohol. As a rule, something was necessarily added to this mixture.
Additional Ingredients: At the same time, dry juices became widespread: Zuko, Yupi, Invite. The packet of powder suggested “just adding water.” Naturally, alcohol was also added. Cheap and cheerful.
Homemade fruit liqueurs and vodkas 25-45%
Origin: the marking of the place of origin was arbitrary.
The secret of popularity: The first Russian businessmen realized the magical power of marketing: it’s one thing when the consumer dilutes the powder with water, sugar and alcohol at home, it’s quite another when he buys the same mixture in a beautiful bottle with a bright sticker and some funny name in Latin letters. For example, the recipe for Russian Baileys of that time is known: alcohol, boiled condensed milk, egg yolks. Similar products also disappeared in 1995.
Organoleptic qualities: One of the recent studies showed that even experts evaluate the taste of wine differently depending on its price: the more expensive the drink, the tastier it seems by default. The same applies to the design: to Soviet citizens, accustomed to the same type of colorless labels, everything bright by default seemed attractive and tasty.
Additional Ingredients: A worthy accompaniment to such a drink were the fruit bubble gums that were widespread at that time: Mamba, Love is, Donald Duck.
Amaretto liqueur 21-30%
Origin: Italy, Poland.
The secret of popularity: in 93-94 in some retail outlets one could find about two dozen varieties of the famous brand. A characteristic feature was a square bottle. Perhaps it was in demand because it was considered a romantic drink and was often purchased for dates. Being sweet and quite strong, it had an effect on women quite quickly. However, it is difficult to understand why exactly the almond taste has become such a reliable tool of temptation.
Organoleptic qualities: dark brown sweet alcoholic drink with a bitter aftertaste and the smell of almonds. Naturally it was counterfeited in huge quantities. It was quite difficult to drink it warm and clean, but that didn’t stop anyone.
Additional Ingredients: The best addition to a bottle of Amaretto was another foreign sweet: a Mars or Snickers bar.
Vodka Rasputin 40%
Origin: Germany.
The secret of popularity: A completely incredible advertisement for that time, which still looks quite good today. The 1993 commercial, in which a “magical” holographic portrait of Rasputin winked at the consumer as proof of the product’s authenticity, became a true classic. However, holography did not save the brand from pirates, which undermined customer confidence in it. It is worth noting separately that the brand still has high recognition in Russia.
Organoleptic qualities: no one remembers, because while drinking it was customary to discuss the winking bearded man.
Additional Ingredients: At the same time, the practice of drinking vodka with lemonade spread. The most famous after Pepsi and Coca for some time was Hershey-Cola.
Origin: USA
The secret of popularity: In contrast to the 10s of this century, in the late 80s and early 90s of the past, the Made in USA inscription was the best advertisement for any product. The name Smirnoff was also captivating because it was a Russian surname, as it were, naturalized and recognized overseas. Surreal advertising also played an important role.
Following this, a lot of vodkas appeared on -off.
Organoleptic qualities: no one paid attention, the main thing was the bottle - a sign of success and new times.
Additional Ingredients: in 1992, an indispensable attribute of a decent drinking session was raw smoked sausage and some exotic fruit, say, pineapple.
Wine “Monastery Hut” and “Bear’s Blood” 10%-11%
Origin: Bulgaria.
The secret of popularity: After the civil war began in Georgia, wine from there practically disappeared from stores, replacing cheap Spanish and Chilean wine at that time. At some point, it was simply impossible to buy something normal: it was either port wine or some kind of swill. Meanwhile, in big cities there have always been plenty of wine lovers. Compared to others, “Monastic Izba” and “Bear’s Blood” stood out favorably in terms of price-quality ratio.
Organoleptic qualities: then it seemed like a pretty decent semi-dry wine.
Additional Ingredients: black tea and guitar songs.
Sangria 7-9%
Origin: Spain, Germany, Bulgaria.
The secret of popularity: The compote-like light alcoholic drink went well among young people, especially among those who liked to sit in company but did not like to get drunk, as an elegant alternative to beer. Another important advantage: a bottle of one and a half liters or even two liters cost the same as the usual 0.7.
Organoleptic qualities: A wine drink with a fruity aroma and minimal hangover effect. Many years later it turned out that this is a Spanish recipe for sweltering heat; fruit and a lot of ice are added immediately before consumption.
Additional Ingredients: grapes, fruits.
Vermouth “Bouquet of Moldova” 16%
Origin: Moldova.
The secret of popularity: Until 1997, fortified wine was represented exclusively by traditional “777” or “Agdam” bottles. At the same time, as it turned out, the unavailable Martini and Campari are the same vermouth, that is, “Bouquet of Moldova” is almost a noble drink. It turned out to be ideal for moderate drinking: it’s not a shame to treat a decent girl and everyone doesn’t get drunk so quickly and gloomily. The place of “Bouquet of Moldova” was successfully taken by Salvatore and other inexpensive vermouths in the second half of the decade.
Organoleptic qualities: a sweet drink with a pleasant herbal taste. Important feature: it was sold in liter containers. A bottle without a snack for two had a guaranteed effect.
Additional Ingredients: fried dumplings, Alenka chocolate bar.
This liqueur occupied a special place in the list of “prestigious” imported alcoholic drinks of the 90s. Its cost (in prices of that time), according to the recollections of contemporaries, started from 120 and reached 200 rubles and more. For comparison: in 1991 a bottle of vodka could be bought for 11-31, the next year its price exceeded 250 rubles. Galloping inflation forced the population of the former USSR to get rid of depreciating money, spending it, among other things, on outlandish drinks.
The homeland of Amaretto liqueur is Italy, and the root of this word is not “amore” (“love”), but “amaro” (“slightly bitter”): the 30-degree drink was a dark brown infusion of grape alcohol and almonds (or apricot kernels), vanilla, herbs and spices. “Shuttle traders” of the 90s write today on online forums that they brought flat bottles of Amaretto not only from Moscow, but also from Poland, where the liqueur was also produced. The viscous drink was generally intended for making cocktails, but in the 90s in Russia they preferred to drink it “just like that,” as something special. Although Amaretto was sold at that time in almost every commercial stall.
The degree of influence on domestic representatives of the fairer sex, especially those who love this liqueur, is evidenced by the popular nickname “Amaretto” - “baboval”.
This post is dedicated to those who drank it and lived to this day...
Golden autumn, 1 rub. 15 kopecks. - “Zosya”
Vasisubani, 2 rub. 00 kopecks. - “To the bathhouse with Vasya”
Port wine 777, 3 rubles 40 kopecks. - “Three Axes”, “Lowing”
Bile mitzne, 1 rub. 70 kopecks. - "Biomitsin" 
Import substitution, it turns out, was also relevant during the Soviet Union. 
Vermouth, 1 rub. 50 kopecks - “Vera Mikhailovna”, “Vermouth”
Aroma of gardens, 1 rub. 80 kop. - “The aroma of butts”
Autumn garden, 1 rub. 70 kopecks - “Fruit-profitable”
Port wine 33.2 rub. 15 kopecks - “33 misfortunes” 
Rkatsiteli, 2 rubles. 50 kopecks - “Cancer to the goal”
Caucasus, 2 rubles 50 kopecks. - "Beggar in the Mountains"
Anapa, 2 rub. 30 kopecks. - "Sunstroke"
Fruit wine, 1 rub. 30 kopecks - “Tears of Michurin”
The most legendary "babble" of the USSR 
Port wine “AGDAM”, alcohol 19 vol.%, price 2 rubles. 60 kopecks, - as soon as they were called - “As I will give”, “Agdam Bukharyan”, “Agdam Zaduryan”, etc., etc.
This hellish mixture of fermented grape juice, sugar and potato alcohol was drunk by everyone in the country of victorious socialism - homeless people, students, academics.
Agdamych completed his victorious march across the expanses of the country only in the 90s after the destruction of the cognac factory in the town of Agdam, the most famous city of Azerbaijan, which is now completely wiped off the face of the earth... 
At the request of workers in the alcohol field:
Dessert drink “Volga Dawns”, strength 12% vol., sugar - 24%, price - 1 rub. 15 kopecks - a glorious representative of the Soviet “shmurdyaks”.
As a rule, this “dessert” was tried only once, because... the second time, the urge to vomit began just from the mere mention. 
“A tincture of natural herbs with tonic properties” is the long name on the label of another legendary drink of the 70s - Abu Simbel Balsam.
Capacity 0.83 l., strength 30 degrees, price - 5 rubles. 80 kop.
As experienced senior students in the Tallinn dorm enlightened us, elementary students: “Abu” is the best “babolayer.”
The cork, they taught, must be opened very carefully so as not to damage it, and the bottle must not be thrown away under any circumstances: after emptying, you must pour regular port wine into it, carefully cork it, and everything is ready for the next romantic date! 
Well, and finally, one of the main “gifts” from N.S. Khrushchev to the Soviet people - the wine of Algeria, which, with the light hand of domestic “winemakers”, turned into “Solntsedar”, “Algerian” and “Rose Vermouth”.
The people who survived, having tasted this muck, dubbed it “ink”, “fence paint”, “bug pest”, etc., etc., but nevertheless, almost 5 million decalitres of this swill came to the Union by tankers, which with difficulty steamed after draining in the village of Solntsedar near Gelendzhik. It was all about the price: “Algerian” - 14% and 65 kopecks!!!, “Solntsedar” - 20% and 1 rub. 25 kopecks!
A 3-liter can of “Solntsedar” for 8 rubles. 80 kopecks is my first alcoholic experience with my 8th grade classmates in Moscow, it’s simply impossible to find decent words to describe the state the next day.
“Solntsedar”, which became a symbol of the era of stagnation, collected its deadly harvest in the vastness of the USSR until 1985, when Gorbachev, who went down in the history of the country’s wine consumption as the Mineral Secretary, began the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism. 
"Moscow special vodka"
0.5 l, 40%, price 60 rub. 10 kopecks,
Dishes 50 kopecks, cork 5 kopecks. 1944 - “Bitch”
“Vodka” 0.5 l, 40%, price 3 rubles. 62 kop.
1970 - “Crankshaft”
“Vodka” 0.5 l, 40%, price 4 rubles 70 kopecks.
1982 - “Andropovka”,
aka, “First-Grader” (released in early September),
aka, “Yurka’s Dawns” (based on the film)
“Vodka “Russian” 0.33l, 40%,
I don’t remember the price, in a Pepsi bottle - “Raiska”
(in honor of the wife of the “Mineral Secretary of the CPSU” Gorbachev)
“Vodka “Russian” 0.1 l, 40% - “Bum Yogurt”
I don’t remember the price. 
Vodka “Krepkaya-Strong”, 0.5 l, strength 56%.
This very rare vodka from the USSR period, 56% alcohol, is deprived of popular attention, because... sold mainly to foreigners. The legend about its appearance is connected with the name of Stalin: they say, the leader, who had a weakness for polar explorers, asked them at one of the receptions what they drink during the winter, to which they answered: alcohol diluted to the strength of the parallel at which they at the moment of consumption are at the Pole - 90%, Salekhard - 72%, etc., and already at the next Kremlin reception on the occasion of the award, Stalin treated the conquerors of the North with specially prepared vodka with a strength of 56%, which corresponded to the geographical latitude of Moscow. 
Pepper is not only for colds!
“And we walked together, like on a cloud,
And we came to Beijing hand in hand,
She drank Durso, and I drank Pepper.
For the Soviet family, exemplary!”
After these lines from Alexander Galich, I simply don’t want to comment tritely on this one of the most popular tinctures of the USSR, therefore, just facts from the labels:
Bitters tincture “Pepper”, 0.5 l, 1991,
35%, price with the cost of dishes 8 rubles. 00 kopecks.
“Ukrainian gorilka with pepper”, 0.7 l, 1961,
40%, price with the cost of dishes 4 rubles. 40 kopecks
There was also a tincture of “Pepper” in the USSR, 30%, produced already since 1932, but for more than 30 years of collecting, I never came across a single bottle of it, because it was not just an infusion of different varieties of allspice and the first a remedy for colds, but also a real holiday for all drinking citizens of the country of the Soviets. 
And Tariban port. This is death. It was impossible to break the bottle with anything, 0.8 liters were brought in, non-standard bottles were not accepted. 
Classic 90s)
The 90s are a thing of the not so distant past. You can remember and feel nostalgic about fashion, films of those years, and also remember the assortment of commercial stalls that proliferated. Remember, they then grew like mushrooms in all passable places? And the range of goods sold there was almost identical. Some of those products have caught on and are still sold in stores today. But something is irretrievably gone.
Let's remember!
I remember a lot of things well, because as a student I myself had to trade in such a stall near the Petrogradskaya metro station in St. Petersburg in those years.
This is what “supermarkets” looked like in the 90s!
The most popular products of those years were probably chocolate bars. This is just something that has caught on and can still be bought in any grocery store. Snickers, Mars and Bounty - three sweet whales of those years. And Milky Way, who joined them. Although, to be honest, this is far from a complete list of sweets sold in those days. Wagon Wheels, Kuku-Ruku, Fruit and Nut, Picnic, Nuts, Wispa and so on and so forth. And “everyone loves Mamba”
From Mamba it is logical to move on to chewing gum. Turbo and Love from, Stimorol and Juicy fruit, Wrigley and Boomer. What else were we chewing?
Well, drinks. First of all, of course, everyone drank Coca-Cola with Fanta, which then became available. But there were other drinks, like Dr. Pepper and Hershey's
Well, the main classic of those years was instant drinks. Just don't tell me you didn't drink them. Invite, Yupi, Zuko. Just add water
Cigarette "classic"
Well, it’s logical to move from drinks to alcohol. Whatever they drank in those days. But the three items I remember most are: canned beer (it doesn’t matter which one, the main thing is in the can), liqueurs (Amaretto comes to mind first of all) and Royal alcohol. Although we can make a separate post about alcohol in the 90s. But is it worth it?
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