Blogger alexio-marziano writes: 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. You used to 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 (my mother’s) helped - they found 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 it to you :)
For me, labels are one of the doors to childhood memories. Soviet drawings, fonts, prices, “I belt, II belt”, “Price with the cost of dishes”, containers, kilometer-long queues for wine and vodka, coupons... Crimea, the sea and the vine, in the end. 
Don’t be lazy, take your time, look closely at each label - it can tell and remind you 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” - on every second :) 
One of the pearls of my small collection is Hungarian vermouth. 
Beer: 
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 don’t 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 these troubled times, when alcohol could be bought anywhere, just not in a store... In “lumps”, “at granny’s”... Creepy. Here’s something else sweet and foreign from those times. More like a chocolate bar. 
Odessa Mama! 
Anapa: 
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 (highlighted separately): 
I have always associated port wine with something cheap and unworthy of a 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, which happened to me after the chimes in 1996. The bottle of “777” was almost destroyed in one gulp, for two people with a friend - they were in a hurry to visit friends (Vitek, if you read me, then hello). Hmm... 
"Agdam" is still Soviet: 
“Agdam” is no longer Soviet. And it went up in price. Price release… 
And another variation: 
Moldovenian :) 
Georgian portveshok “Three bananas”: 
Sparkling wines (Champagne - New Year is coming!): Champagne in the late 80s - 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 the “dashing” people are in the yard - drink water with 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. The glass is strong - it did not shatter the first time, prolonging the pleasure for the second and third hit. They also mixed carbide with water, plugged it 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 container. Here they are, dear to every Soviet citizen, labels.
They made it and bottled it everywhere.
Bitter: 
Azerbaijan SSR: 
Tolyatti: 
What did not have the right to be called “champagne” was called “sparkling”. 
Rostov: 
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 made back then 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 burnt” 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: 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: Something that was not usually drunk in the USSR, 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 them 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. Recently a friend brought it and we used it:) Scotch Whiskey! 
So what do you think? :) What did you drink from this?
In the photos one was muttering. Where did Stark go, Herods?
And a lot more is missing:
1. Vodka “Moskovskaya Special” - This is a 40% drink prepared with purified alcohol with the addition of soda and sodium acetate.
2. “Stolichnaya vodka” 40% And “Ukrainian vodka” 45%- prepared with the highest purification alcohol. Sugar was added to Stolichnaya vodka, and honey was added to vodka. Both drinks have a mild vodka taste and smell.
3. Vodka 56% And Vodka 50%- both drinks are prepared with the highest purity alcohol and are distinguished by their burning taste and pungent odor.
4. "Soviet rum" 45% and "Soviet whiskey" 45%- Rum was made from sugar cane, and whiskey was made from rye and barley malt.
5. “Kurskaya White” tincture 40% And "Kuban Amateur" 40%- both drinks are prepared with aromatic alcohol. Flower petals were added to the “Kurskaya tincture”, and citrus peels were added to the “Lyubitelskaya” one.
6. “Caraway bitters” 30% And “Cinchona bitters” 40%- “Caraway” tincture is prepared with aromatic alcohol of caraway seeds with the addition of juniper infusion, which gives it a bright taste and aroma. “Chinna” - made from cinchona peel and spices.
7. “Starka” 43%- tincture of leaves of certain varieties of apples and pears with the addition of cognac and port.
8. Tincture “Excellent” 40%- prepared with caraway essential oil with added sugar. It has a sweet taste and wine aroma.
9. “Rowanberry with cognac” 24%- a sweet and sour tincture prepared with an alcoholic infusion of rowan with the addition of sugar and cognac.
10. “Sea buckthorn” tincture” 20%- a sweet and sour drink with a pronounced smell of sea buckthorn, prepared with an alcoholic drink of fresh sea buckthorn.
11. “Slivyanka Ukrainian” 18% And "Ukrainian cherry liqueur" 20% - sweet and light liqueurs made from fruit-alcohol liqueurs.
12. “Cherry plum liqueur” 20% And "Dogwood liqueur" 18%- prepared with natural alcoholic juices.
13. “Raspberry liqueur” 18% And "Blackcurrant liqueur" 20% - prepared with natural alcoholic juices of berries.
14. Liquor “Transparent” 40% And Liqueur "Crystal" 45%- “Transparent” liqueur prepared with essential oils of cumin, coriander and lemon. “Crystal” - an aromatic alcohol made from cumin seeds, coriander and orange peel, the bottle is decorated with sugar crystals.
15. Benedict liqueur 43% And Chartreuse liqueur 44%- strong liqueurs prepared with aromatic alcohol with the addition of herbs and other types of aromatic raw materials.
16. “Cherry plum liqueur” 25% And Dogwood liqueur 25%- liqueurs with rich color, prepared with alcoholic juices.
17. Liquor “Yubileiny” 27%- aromatic liqueur prepared with aromatic alcohols of lemon and orange peels.
18. “Spicy liqueur” 39%- prepared with aromatic alcohol and 12 herbs.
19. “Almond liqueur” 27%- liqueur prepared with aromatic alcohol of bitter almonds, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.
The New Year holidays continue, but I can still look at vodka and I can eat it, so I propose to remember Soviet vodka.. Or, more precisely, remember about Soviet vodka brands and their prices.
In those distant times, vodka was made from three types of alcohol: “Highly purified”, “Lux” and “Extra”. “Highly purified” alcohol was distilled from a mixture of grain, potatoes, sugar beets, molasses, raw sugar and some other liquor in arbitrary proportions. “Lux” and “Extra” - only from grain with an admixture of potatoes and something else, but with varying degrees of purification. Cheap varieties of vodka were then made from “Highly Purified” alcohol, and more expensive ones from “Lux” and “Extra”, hence the difference in vodka prices.
Below are prices in 1981-1986. in the period between the rise in price of vodka under Brezhnev in September 1981 until the next rise in price of vodka under Gorbachev in August 1986 with the cost of a bottle (the “deposit” price of glassware in 1981 rose from 12 kopecks to 20 kopecks) per 0.5 liter bottle . to those Soviet vodkas that I tried.
We’ll talk about Soviet vodka bitters and sweet liqueurs, wines, cognac and beer separately, but about vodka I remember (or it seems to me that I remember) that:
« Russian vodka"- before the price increase in 1981 it cost 4 rubles. 12 kopecks, after - 5 rubles. 30 kopecks The most common, mass-produced and disgusting vodka, with a sharp and unpleasant smell and the same taste (despite all attempts to flavor this product with cinnamon). I drank out of hopelessness and lack of money as drunks and students.
« Extra" And " Starorusskaya" - before and after the price increase, they cost the same, neither in taste nor in smell they differed in any way from "Russian" and gradually disappeared from sale.
« Moscow special"- before the price increase in 1981 it cost 4 rubles. 12 kopecks, after - 5 rubles. 30 kopecks The oldest of the Soviet mass vodka brands (the pre-revolutionary brand was restored in the USSR in 1925). The “special” thing about it was the addition of baking soda and acetic acid. It was better than “Russian”, but not by much, and all other things being equal, “Moskovskaya” was chosen from these two brands.
« Stolichnaya"- before the price increase in 1981 it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks In the 30s, at the instigation of Mikoyan, the USSR decided to expand the Soviet vodka range, and in 1938 the recipe for a new vodka was registered in the USSR. It was this vodka that was actively imported to the West, and if the bourgeoisie wanted truly Soviet vodka, he took Stolichnaya, which is why it appeared in many Hollywood films. The quality of the export Stolichnaya, of course, could not be compared with the domestic Soviet one and was several orders of magnitude higher, but the internal one was also good. Strength is 40% vol., but there were also variations of 37.5% vol., 45.7% vol., and even 57% vol. I don’t remember how this affected the price. I drank mostly at the festive table.
« Wheat"- before the price increase in 1981 it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks It appeared in the late 70s and became a very common vodka. It was believed that it was based on wheat raw materials and had a special “wheat” softness. At first, they say, she did. But when I started drinking vodka, “Pshenichnaya” was no longer much different from “Russian”, although it was more expensive. I drank better when there were no others.
« Posolskaya"- before the price increase in 1981 it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks Very soft and good vodka, but for some reason it was not appreciated by men. Sometimes it was purchased specifically for ladies, with the aim of their subsequent seduction.
« Hunting"- before the price increase in 1981 it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks I didn’t drink much of it, but I remember that it was good vodka. The strength of this vodka came in several variations: it was produced with 45% vol., 51% vol., 56% vol. She rarely met and drank rarely.
« Siberian"- before the price increase in 1981 it cost 4 rubles. 42 kopecks, after - 6 rubles. 20 kopecks At a higher strength (45% vol.), it had a very mild taste, but it did not belong to classic vodkas, not only for this reason - some kind of mineral water was used to dilute the alcohol. Very good vodka, and therefore also rare.
« Ukrainian vodka" (or similar " Drevnekievskaya") - were sold in original green square bottles of 0.75 liters, and I don’t remember the prices for them. Although they were Ukrainian, they were not much more common here than “Okhotnichya” or “Sibirskaya”. They were often ordered by visiting business travelers and guests from the fraternal republics, and taken there as a present. Their strength was also 45% vol., and some aromatic alcohols with honey were added to them. Good vodka was also drunk mainly at the festive table.
« Stark» - imitation of Polish starka. At first it had the inscription “Old Vodka”, which later changed to “Bitters.” Strength - 43% vol. Not for everyone. I wasn't a fan of it, so I don't know the price.
« Golden ring“- very expensive vodka (I don’t know the exact price, but 10-15 rubles) in a cardboard box. They said that it was being exported, although it was on sale. I tried it once while away - it seemed like it was just an export version of Stolichnaya (which was also on sale in Berezki and special distributors).
Vodka labels of the same brand differed depending on many factors: time of production, place of production, export version, etc. In addition, some regional distilleries of the Union republics produced local vodka, which did not go into trade beyond the region. I wanted to post labels of Soviet vodkas that I had never tried, but there were too many of them.
Well, the very last mass-produced Soviet vodka “Andropovka”, which was distinguished by the extreme laconicism of the label: the word “Vodka” and a finely-fine line of various GOST numbers (it resembled the label of the old Soviet “Vodka” of the 70s, which in the early 80s disappeared). This vodka was introduced by Andropov when he came to power and it cost 4 rubles 70 kopecks (the price decreased from the cheapest vodka by 60 kopecks, although before that vodka prices in the Union had only risen). This decline then had nothing to do with the real economy, and was pure populism aimed at winning people's love for the new Secretary General.
This vodka was a Soviet vodka hit in the 1983-1984 season, but it lived just as short as General Secretary Andropov, and quietly died during Gorbachev’s time.
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
- they were in a hurry to see their 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 a 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?
To me, as a person who drank deeply in the past, it became interesting not only in terms of the nostalgic component, but simply in the opportunity to highlight a not-so-dark period of our history, our recent past, which was presented by our partners exclusively as a hat with earflaps, vodka and a balalaika .
When I was young, I heard that in New York alone you can buy about two thousand varieties of whiskey. This surprised me greatly. Well, how can this be, when the unforgettable Ostap Bender, the one who knew four hundred relatively honest ways of taking money, knew one hundred and fifty ways of making moonshine, even from a stool, and he was, one might say, an expert in this matter. It was he who discovered and sold for only two hundred Soviet full rubles, the secrets of the homeland to two citizens of the city of Chicago, exhausted by Prohibition, or as they are now called, our partners, these recipes, after which the era of moonshine in the USA acquired truly epic proportions..... From several recipes with the help of enterprising Americans, the quality of simple Russian pervacha TM has turned into quantity, namely two thousand varieties of whiskey in one city......
In order not to be unfounded, here are some recipes, here are some recipes, from the lost notebook of the Great Combinator
MOONHOON SUGAR
Take 6 kg of sugar, 200 g of yeast, pour in 30 liters of warm water and mix well, add a bunch of dry dill and currant leaves for flavor.
Infuse in a warm place for 6-7 days, then distill.
Yield: 6 liters.
It is widely believed that 1 kg of sugar produces 1 liter of moonshine. If you use effective devices, 10 liters of good moonshine is obtained from 7 kg of sugar.
In this case, excess sugar is not required, since it will still go to waste.
MOONHOON STARCH
Take 10 kg of starch, dilute with 20 liters of water and brew like jelly, add 500 g of yeast and 1 kg of sugar.
Leave for 3-5 days. Then distill.
Yield: 11 liters.
No, of course, there were other attempts to export batches of moonshine from Odessa to overseas democracy, but they ended in failure....and that’s not what I’m talking about.....
The 80s... What nostalgia for this time is experienced by everyone who saw it. Who remembers. Who knows what I'll talk about today.
Before turning directly to the subject of our today's memories, I really want to look there at least with one eye... Into the past, at the time when... But this WHEN is different for everyone.
But the city was completely different. And in this other city everything was different. Although he is certainly ours, modern, he seems to be from a parallel reality. What are these types worth:
Having inhaled the air of a parallel world, it’s time for us to feel its taste... Much water has flown under the bridge since then, they have invariably tried to fake the taste - but it remains. The same, and forever. And so that our excursion does not look too superficial, I am ready to provide tastes with a little “spice” of history. So, let's begin:
In 1938, the recipe and trademark were registered in the USSR vodka "Stolichnaya". Vodka began to be produced only a few years later, in 1941, and the first bottle of Stolichnaya was released in Leningrad.
Since 1971, vodka began to be sold in the USA. The American company PepsiCo (we all know Pepsi-Cola!) received the rights to distribute vodka in exchange for the right to build a plant for the production of carbonated drinks in Novorossiysk. In America, our “Stolichnaya” received the stable name Stoli.
In post-Soviet times, there was, and is still happening, a terrible confusion with the owners of the Stolichnaya brand. At the moment, this vodka is boycotted by gays and lesbians in the USA and England (as a Russian product), and vodka is produced in Latvia. There is no official production of this brand of Russian vodka in Russia.
Moscow special vodka or just Moscow vodka
is a national brand of Russian vodka, introduced in 1894 by the Russian State Vodka Monopoly. Its production was stopped (along with other spirits) with the introduction of a ban in Russia after the outbreak of the First World War. The brand was reinstated in the Soviet Union in 1925. Throughout its history, the Moskovskaya bottle has been characterized by a green label.
In addition to water and alcohol, the standard recipe for Moscow includes small amounts of baking soda and acetic acid. Moskovskaya is the only variety of Soviet vodka produced from grain alcohol.
Vodka "Wheat"
The history of Wheat Vodka dates back to the 70s of the 20th century. In fact, this is a new brand developed for domestic Soviet consumption. It was with this vodka, according to Leonid Parfenov, that a screw cap was first used, and only with this vodka did the understanding begin that you don’t have to finish the bottle, leaving it “for later.”
The label of this vodka was decorated with a picture, according to the same Leonid Parfenov, “simply copied from an ABC book.” The same native open spaces, the same fields, stacks and village... Everything is completely in the Russian style.
Siberian vodka
It appeared, like Pshenichnaya, in the 70s. It was distinguished by its increased strength compared to the “Pshenichnaya” one and, like the “Pshenichnaya” one, had a screw cap. Originally intended for domestic consumption, it found excellent markets overseas. The traditional design with three is to blame for this, the name is associated with the wild Russian region, or what else - now it’s impossible to say for sure. However, it was at Sibirskaya that the technology for purifying vodka with activated carbon was first tested and then put into mass production.
Kubanskaya
Although it was officially called vodka, it was always a bitters. At first the label said “Russian vodka”, but then, in the process of development, the words about vodka disappeared. And “Bitters” appeared.
Russian
Let's just say it was a mass model. This vodka had a sharp and unpleasant taste and smell, despite all attempts to flavor the product with cinnamon. But it was produced everywhere; each republic had its own “Russian”. What’s interesting is that it was also exported. The brand became dilapidated and dilapidated, deteriorating. but... But the reincarnation of Russian vodka is currently taking place. And this is not the fault of alcohol producers. The Olympics in Sochi is the main catalyst. I won’t say anything more, I suggest you look at the photo:
So we remembered the tastes from the old world. The forbidden doors opened slightly for a second, but alas, it’s time for us to move on. Where to go?
1. Initially, it was planned to depict knights on the “Russkaya” label
2. Double label with a necklace from a souvenir bottle
3. Classic “Russian” label - the so-called “heroic”
4. The second classic option. This label has been issued unchanged for a quarter of a century.
5. “Russian” - “two stripes”
6. A label with a printing defect was also useful
7. Label from Gaidar’s times - without medals and indication of the vodka manufacturer
8. Label for a 0.33 Pepsi bottle
The first vodka in the top row is produced by Asfalt JSC!
Post-Soviet “Russian” in all its diversity
1. “Moscow special” - one of the first options
2. First medal: Bern, 1954
3. Classic “Moscow Special” label
4. “Moscow Special” - a rare Central Asian version of the 1960s
5–7. Export options
8. When label printing did not keep up with prices, they put a stamp
9. Another classic label option. Vodka with such labels was produced in all Soviet republics
1. “Moscow Special” from a special series released for the 850th anniversary of Moscow
2. Label from the last year of the existence of the USSR. Due to the lack of normal paper, it was printed almost on blotting paper.
3–8. Post-Soviet labels. At first the label was recognizable, then new design solutions came
9. “Mordovian special”... An example of mimicry of a famous brand
1. Classic “Wheat” label
2. A special “Wheat” was produced for restaurants
3–6. Post-Soviet metamorphoses of Pshenichnaya
7–9. Vodka based on the idea of “Wheat”
1. Initial - strict - version of “Stolichnaya”
2. Classic label version.
3. Option with “two stripes” - and even with a quality mark!
4. Special message for Aeroflot
5–8. "Stolichnaya" for export
9. “Stolichnaya” from a special series released for the 850th anniversary of Moscow
Post-Soviet variations on the theme “Stolichnaya”
1. Classic “Posolskaya” label
2–7. Post-Soviet labels, including those with “two stripes”, which were absent on the Soviet “Posolskaya”
8. Ladies' "Posolskaya"?
9. This, of course, is not “Posolskaya”, and yet...
1–2. “Golden Ring” is one of the most successful Soviet labels
Label and back label
3–7. Modern label options
8. Vodka “Podmoskovnaya” - mimicry of the “Golden Ring”
1–6. Soviet variants of the Zubrovka
7–9. Modern "Zubrovka"
1–3. Starkey labels from the 1960s and 1970s
4–5. "Stark" in the 1970s-1980s
6. Stark 1990s
7–9. Post-Soviet vodkas “under Starka”
1. One of the first variants of “Kubanskaya”
2. Classic label
3–4. Soviet "Cossack" drinks
5–6. Post-Soviet vodkas
7–9. Soviet versions of "Lemon". Each republic issued its own
1. All-Union version of “Lemon”
2–8. Post-Soviet “Lemon” - both classic 40 degrees, and “ladies” 28 degrees, and 63-degree infusion...
1–6. Soviet "Pepper"
7–9. Modern varieties of “Pepper” with enhanced strength. In fact, this is no longer “Pepper”...
1–2. Soviet "Pertsovka"
3–4. Post-Soviet “Pertsovki” in Russian and Moldavian versions
5–9. Modern versions of tinctures of the “Pepper” type
1. Classic “Hunting” label
2. Classic “Hunting” label. Export version
3–5. "Hunting" 1960-1970s
6. Post-Soviet Arkhangelsk “Okhotnichya”
7–9. Variations on the theme of hunting
More hunting variations...
1–4. 50% vodka
5–9. "Drinking alcohol." Labels 1960-1980s
1–6. “Drinking alcohol” from the time of perestroika
7. Forty-degree “alcohol”
8–9. Variants of alcohol "Royal"
10. American spirit
1. 56-proof vodka. Thanks to the label, it was popularly called “Tuchka”
2. Vodka for 3.62. The legendary "Crankshaft"
3. "Andropovka"
4–5. Simultaneously with “Kolenval”, a new vodka of higher quality was released - “Extra” at 4.12
6. Label from “Raiska” from a bottle with a capacity of 0.33
7–9. Vodkas "Yubileinaya" and "Strong" trace their history back to 1937
1–5. Transformations of the “Moscow Special” in the post-Soviet space
6–9. Metamorphoses of “Russian”
1. Ukrainian vodka “Rosiyska” (that is, “Russian”) with a knight at the crossroads...
2–5. "Stolichnaya" in post-Soviet Ukraine and Belarus
6–9. "Wheat" in Ukraine and Belarus
1–2. Ukrainian vodka from Soviet times. In the export version it is designated as “Russian vodka”
3–6. Post-Soviet vodka
7–8. Post-Soviet Belarusian vodkas
9. Export version of the “Original Belarusian”
1. Estonian vodka “Viru Valge” from Soviet times
2–4. Lithuanian vodkas from Soviet times
5. “Lietuvishka Kristadine” from the 1960s
6–7. "Lietuvishka Kristadine" 1970-1980s. Label and back label
8. “Lietuvishka kristadine”… made in Crimea. 1990s
1–2. Latvian vodka "Crystal Dzidrais" from Soviet times
3. “Crystal Dzidrice” made in Kyrgyzstan
4. Ukrainian “Russian vodka” “Crystal Dzidrice”
5–6. Post-Soviet - real, Latvian - "Crystal Dzidrais"
7. Post-Soviet transformation of “Crystal Dzidrais” into Uzbek arak
8. “Crystal Dzidrais”, bottled in Rostov-on-Don
9. Forty-proof wine drink “Kristall Kubansky”, suspiciously similar to “Crystal Dzidrais”
1–6. Bilingual Soviet labels
7–8. Post-Soviet Russian “Stolichnaya” without Russian language in the Baltics
9. Turkmen “Rus Aragy”
1–7. Varieties of modern Kazakh “Russian”
8. Kazakh “Russia”
9. Kazakh “Russian vodka” “Motherland”
1–2. Tajik "Stolichnaya"
3. “Stolichnaya” Kazakh
4–6. Uzbek "Stolichnaya" with different labels
7–8. Uzbek "Stolichnaya" and its transformation into the "Star of the East"
1–2. Kazakh and Uzbek labels, they are also lottery tickets
3–5. Uzbek license plates on paper with watermarks
6. Uzbek label of “Osobaya” vodka with the Humo bird
7. Tamerlane on the label of Uzbek vodka
8–9. Uzbek labels with Tashkent chimes
1. Tajik vodka “Sim-sim festive”
2–8. Modern Uzbek vodkas
1. One of the first Gzhelka labels
2. The “Gzhelki” label, which has become a classic
3. “Gzhelka” winter. Varieties of “Gzhelka” were released for each season
4. “Gzhelka” New Year’s
5. Vodka named after one of the main fighters for the Gzhelki brand
6–8. Mimicry of a successful brand: dessert drink “Fairytale Gzhel” and vodka “Gzhelia”
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