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Get ready for the next Russian revolution
Reuters via MSNBC ^
| Feb. 3, 2006
Posted on 02/03/2006 2:54:29 PM PST by lizol
Get ready for the next Russian revolution
Drinkers unite! Bureaucratic snafu may cut off supply of vodka
Updated: 4:20 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2006
MOSCOW - Russians could suffer a shortage of their national tipple next week because a bureaucratic mix-up has brought every vodka distillery in the country to a halt, producers said Friday.
Distillers have been waiting since Jan. 1 for tax authorities to send them new excise stamps the anti-counterfeit stickers that by law must be attached to every bottle of vodka.
We are selling vodka left over from last year, but those stocks are getting smaller all the time, said Vera Bragina, a spokeswoman for Russias Smirnov Trading House.
The situation is pretty much under control, but if in the next week or so (we do not receive the stamps) then there will be problems, she added. There is a threat (to supplies).
The average Russian consumes 14 liters of alcohol a year most of it in the form of neat vodka, consumed in the traditional style by draining the glass in one gulp.
The stamp act It is illegal to produce or sell vodka without an excise stamp that corresponds to the year in which it was produced.
New excise rules that came into force on Jan. 1 led to confusion among officials about the procedure for issuing new stamps to distillers.
Because of that, no new stamps left the Federal Tax Services warehouses until Jan. 31 a month late. But by Friday some vodka producers had still not received them.
We ... do not have the new excise stamps at the factory, said Bragina. There is talk that maybe by Monday they will get the stamps but we have heard that before.
There have been no vodka shortages in shops because producers have used their reserves to keep them supplied.
Russian Alcohol Group, which has about 5 percent of the Russian spirits market, said one of its two factories had taken delivery of the excise stamps.
The warehouse will be empty But the other, the Topaz plant near Moscow, had not received the stamps, said group spokeswoman Zhanna Oleinik. At Topaz we have almost nothing left in terms of spirits. On Wednesday we expect to run out. The warehouse will be empty, she said.
Russias state-owned vodka conglomerate Rosspirtprom said some though not all of the more than 100 factories under its control had received the excise stamps.
We hope that by the start of next week the situation will be back to normal, said spokesman Dmitry Dobrov.
Alcohol has been a central part of Russian culture for centuries. Legend has it that 11th century Russian ruler Vladimir said: Russias mirth is drinking. We cannot live without it.
When former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev introduced strict limits on vodka sales in the 1980s to combat rampant alcoholism, some people turned to drinking eau de cologne.
Smirnov vodka has no connection to the Smirnoff brand owned by drinks giant Diageo.
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: russia; vodka
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1
posted on
02/03/2006 2:54:30 PM PST
by
lizol
To: lizol
They could buy some good Polish vodka but that may spoil them.
2
posted on
02/03/2006 2:56:02 PM PST
by
Camel Joe
(WANTED: Hot Tar and Feathers... I've Got a Rail)
To: lizol
Never mind the stamps: moonshine, colognes, technical alcohol, glue and laquer with the rest of it will surely tide them over. In the 70s I personally taught a bunch of Muscovites how to distill the alcohol-based wood paint ["morilka", sinister-looking brown-black liquid] to a water-clear, barely drinkable condition - and within 2 months that particular brand of wood paint disappeared from all hardware stores in Moscow. I still remember seeing people carrying large sacks of those bottles - they had pretty characteristic large blue labels, so one couldn't mistake them for anything else.
3
posted on
02/03/2006 3:04:09 PM PST
by
GSlob
To: GSlob
laquer=lacquer
4
posted on
02/03/2006 3:04:39 PM PST
by
GSlob
To: GSlob
laquer=lacquer
5
posted on
02/03/2006 3:04:40 PM PST
by
GSlob
To: GSlob
6
posted on
02/03/2006 3:09:56 PM PST
by
Disambiguator
(Making accusations of racism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.)
To: jb6
7
posted on
02/03/2006 3:14:06 PM PST
by
Wiz
To: lizol
Don't f*** with the peoples' vodka...could start a civil war.
8
posted on
02/03/2006 3:15:46 PM PST
by
Supernatural
(All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie! bob dylan)
To: lizol
The average Russian consumes 14 liters of alcohol a year And considering that vodka is roughly 50% alcohol, about that is 28 liters of vodka a year --for every man, woman and child. That is a lot of booze!
Alcohol has been a central part of Russian culture for centuries. Legend has it that 11th century Russian ruler Vladimir said: Russias mirth is drinking. We cannot live without it.
And pretty much every Russian over the age of 12 knows how to distill alcohol. I trust they'll get by.
9
posted on
02/03/2006 3:22:31 PM PST
by
Drew68
To: Disambiguator
I was referring to the practice of pouring alcohol-based lacquers and glues [like glue "BF-2", IIRC] into salted water, and then, after [most of] the dissolved materials from glues and lacquers coagulated, inserting in the mix a drill bit attached to an electric drill, and starting the drill - the gooey glob would adhere to the bit and could be withdrawn and removed. What remained, was drunk.
When I lived and worked there, every morning on my way to work I used to go past a pharmacy, and every morning on the steps leading to it there would be the same group of "alcanauts" waiting for it to open [colognes were sold in pharmacies, and were much cheaper than vodka per alcohol equivalent. By law the alcohol going into perfumes was not denaturated].
10
posted on
02/03/2006 3:23:36 PM PST
by
GSlob
To: GSlob
I had a feeling it was something like that, hence my equation. I wasn't correcting your spelling.
:^)
11
posted on
02/03/2006 3:29:48 PM PST
by
Disambiguator
(Making accusations of racism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.)
To: Disambiguator
Well, and here is a bit on the topic from "Moscow-Petushki" by Venedikt Erofeev:
"So, write down the recipe of "Canaan balsam". The life is given to man only once, and one should live it so as not to mistake the recipes:
Denatured alcohol 100 gms
Dark beer 200 gms
Purified wood lacquer 100 gms
And so, now you have "Canaan balsam" (people call it "brown-black bitch") - the liquid of brownish-black color, with moderate strength and strong aroma. It is not an aroma, it is an anthem. An anthem of democratic youth. Precisely so, because those who have drunk this cocktail become vulgar and overcome by dark forces. How many times I've observed it!
To avoid these dark forces, there are two ways: first, don't drink "Canaan balsam". And second, drink instead of it the "Geneva Spirit". It doesn't have a drop of nobility, but it has the flavor. You'll ask me: what is the secret of this flavor? I'll answer: I do not know. Then you'll think and ask: what's the answer to the riddle? And the answer is that the cologne "White Lilac", one of "Geneva Spirit" components, shall not be substituted by anything, neither by "Jasmine", nor by "Shipr", nor by "Silver Lily".
"There are no equivalents among the components" - as the old alchemists used to say, and they knew what they were talking about. "Silver Lily" is not "White Lilac" even in moral aspect, to say nothing about the bouquets.
"Lily", for example, stimulates the mind, worries the consciousness, and strengthens the discipline. "White Lilac", to the contrary, calms down the consciousness and reconciles one with one's life...
With me it was like this: I drank a whole bottle of "Silver Lily", and I was sitting and crying. Why was I crying?- Because I remembered my Mom, I remembered and could not forget my Mom. "Mom"- I said. And I cried. And again: "Mom" - and again cried. Another, more stupid person, would be still sitting and crying. But me? I took a bottle of "White Lilac" and drank it. And wouldn't you know - tears dried, stupid laughter overcame me, and as for the Mom - I forgot even her name. And so, I laugh at people who, while preparing "Geneva Spirit", add "Silver Lily" to the medication against sweaty feet!
Listen to the recipe:
"White Lilac" 50 gms
The medication against sweaty feet 50 gms
Zhigulevskoye beer 200 gms
Alcohol-based lacquer 150 gms
But if a man does not want to trample the earth needlessly, he should send to hell both "Canaan balsam" and "Geneva Spirit". He'd better sit down and mix himself a "Young communist girl's tear". This cocktail is smelly and strange. Why it is smelly, you'll learn later. At first I'll explain why it's strange.
A person drinking simple vodka either preserves both the sound mind and the good memory or loses both. But with the "Young communist girl's tear" it's outright funny - when one drinks 100 grams of that "tear", the memory remains good, but there's no trace of sound mind. After 100 more grams one is surprised: where did all this sound mind come from? And where did all good memory go?
Even the recipe of the "tear" is fragrant. And from the prepared cocktail, from its aroma, one can faint for a minute. I, for example, fainted.
Lavender 15 gms
Verbena 15 gms
"Forest Water" 30 gms
Nail polish 2 gms
Tooth elixir 150 gms
Lemonade 150 gms
This mixture should for twenty minutes be stirred with honeysuckle branch. Some people say that if necessary, the honeysuckle can be substituted by convolvulus. This is erroneous and criminal. You can cut me to pieces, but you won't force me to stir "Young communist girl's tear" with convolvulus - I'll stir it with honeysuckle. I break my sides with laughter when in my presence somebody stirs the "Young communist girl's tear" with convolvulus and not with honeysuckle...
But enough about the "tear". Now I offer you the last and the best. "The end of work is better than all prizes" - as the poet said. I offer you the cocktail "Bitch's Guts" - the drink eclipsing everything. What is the most beautiful thing in the world? - The struggle for the liberation of mankind . And this is even more beautiful (write it down):
Zhigulevskoye beer 100 gms
Shampoo "Sadko" 30 gms
Anti-dandruff medication "Resol" 70 gms
Medication against sweaty feet 30 gms
Desinsectal for extermination of small insects 20 gms
This mixture is for one week kept over cigar tobacco and is then served...
I received some letters where the readers recommended filtering the tincture thus obtained. Those corrections and additions spring from weak imagination and lack of fantasy - that's where these stupid corrections come from...
And so, "Bitch's Gut" is served. Drink it with the appearance of the first star, by large gulps. After only two glasses of this cocktail one becomes so spirited that you can come close and for the whole half an hour spit in his face from five feet - and he wouldnt say anything to you."
12
posted on
02/03/2006 4:35:05 PM PST
by
GSlob
To: Camel Joe
The only amazing Polish vodka I've had is Pravda, quite pricey.
Most run of the mill Russian vodkas are quite good.
Further it is unlikely that even weeks of stopped production would stretch the supplies of stores which pack an immense supply of vodka that surpases beer stocks in stores in America.
13
posted on
02/03/2006 6:25:31 PM PST
by
x5452
To: Drew68
A great point. I still remember home made samagon.
14
posted on
02/03/2006 6:27:43 PM PST
by
x5452
To: lizol
Ahhha, the joys of a Command economy!
To: x5452
Pravda? Polish vodka?
I've never heard of, never seen.
16
posted on
02/04/2006 1:10:30 AM PST
by
lizol
To: lizol
17
posted on
02/05/2006 8:55:35 PM PST
by
x5452
To: x5452
Doesn't change the fact, that I've not seen it before in Poland.
You know, I'm not such a big fan and expert on vodka.
18
posted on
02/06/2006 12:50:40 AM PST
by
lizol
To: lizol
Apparently you aren't, it has been around since the 1700s.
19
posted on
02/06/2006 6:27:58 AM PST
by
x5452
To: x5452
I signed up for the free minature. Thanks. hehe
20
posted on
02/06/2006 6:31:24 AM PST
by
1rudeboy
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