The Ouk-rra-i-nah Story by Warren Metzler Table of Contents
4. Tasty buds
Lagidna contains vodka; plus alcohol tinctures of birch tree buds and sap, coriander, and sweet grass (also called Hierochloe odorata, buffalo grass, holy grass, and vanilla grass); and also port wine, sugar, and citric acid.
Elitna contains vodka; plus alcohol tinctures of birch tree buds, coriander, and sweet grass; and also cognac, sugar and citric acid.
Allow me to briefly describe birch buds and what an alcohol tincture is. Throughout each winter, the branches of each birch tree are covered with buds (as are the branches of many deciduous trees); each of which looks like a miniature pine cone (about 1/8 of an inch in diameter, and maybe a 1/4 inch long). In the Spring, from those buds springs the birch tree leaves and their stems. The birch tree buds used to make an alcohol tincture are picked in the spring, just before the leaves emerge.
Now to describe how the alcoholic tincture is made: After the birch buds are obtained, they are crushed, then placed in a closed opaque container and covered with ethyl alcohol. The container is closed and opaque to keep the mixture from being exposed to light or air. Ethyl alcohol is used because that substance does a great job of pulling the essence out of living substances (does a great job as a solvent). After several weeks of soaking, the liquid is filtered (to remove any solid material which is left), and the remaining liquid is a “birch bud alcohol tincture”.
By the way, this is the same process by which all herbal tinctures (such as those sold in health food stores) are made; except very few herbal tincture manufacturers here in the US soak their herbs for weeks; most soak their herbs for only a day or two, and often use water instead of ethyl alcohol.
Igor had never previously tasted the buds vodka, and he also liked them very much. I then decided I would include Lagidna and Elitna in my order.
Before the discussion was completely finished, Igor suggested we invite Liliya to dinner that evening and I agreed. He requested, and she replied she would call him later that evening with the answer.