Miestins

Miestins or Miestins ( Latvian. Miestiņš ) - Latvian national low alcohol drink. It is produced by fermentation from sugar-containing sources, for example, partially squeezed or full beeswax, hundreds of bees, berry juices and malt , often with the addition of berries ^[1] . It tastes like sweet beer ^[2] . Different sources classify this drink in different ways, attributing it to beer , wine or mead ^{[2] [3] [4]} .

Curves taught me how to prepare the myiestins of Latvians by mixing honey with warm water and keeping them in a warm, lit place for three days, and then filtering the drink through linen cloth. Miesstins was a traditional drink during the league celebration ^[5] .

It is first mentioned in 1685 in the Latvian-German dictionary of John Langius under the word Honigbier (honey beer). According to the Latvian linguist Konstantin Karulis, the word “ miestiņš ” may come from the verb “ miest ” (“knead”, “mixed drink with honey”), comparing it with the Lithuanian word “ miešti ” ^[3] .

In the book by N. Masulina and A. Pasope “Latviešu ēdieni”, published in 1986, the following recipe is given: 250 grams of honey, 1 liter of water, half a lemon and 5 grams of yeast.