Product
Bison grass
The grass that flavours Polish Żubrówka vodka. It grows on forest glades and the bison feed on it. Almost nobody in Belarus gathers it for sale.
What it is
Why it works
- 01
Aroma
Vanilla, fresh hay and almond. Properly dried grass stays bright green.
- 02
Benefits
In folk medicine it is used for appetite and as a mild sedative. The aroma comes from coumarin, which is harmful in large doses, so the label gives a limit of 15–20 g per 0.7 l.
- 20 g pack8–12 BYN
- First incomeJuly of year 1
How we make it
How we make it
Gathering the grass is the simplest job on the list, but it has two tricks. It must be dried in the shade so it stays bright green, and packed at once, because the aroma fades in open air.
Know the grass
A grass 30–60 cm tall, with glossy lower leaves that smell of fresh hay when rubbed. Do not confuse it with sweet vernal grass: that one is shorter and finer.
Permission
We write to the forester and agree the harvest under forestry rules. It costs nothing.
Picking
June and July, before the leaves coarsen. We cut with a sickle 5 cm above the ground and leave a third of each clump. A glade gives 10–20 kg of fresh grass.
Drying
In the shade on mesh frames for 5–7 days, turning it over. 4 kg of fresh grass give 1 kg of dry.
How we serve it
How we serve it
Everyone knows Żubrówka vodka, but few have seen the grass itself. A pack for one bottle turns ordinary vodka into homemade bison grass vodka in a minute, and this is the main sales channel. Bars and craftspeople buy the rest.
- 01
Homemade bison grass vodka
A 20 g pack per bottle of vodka, and the tincture is ready in one to two weeks.
- 02
A blade in the bottle
One long blade of grass inside, as in Polish Żubrówka. It looks like a gift.
- 03
Tinctures in bars
Bars in Minsk and other cities buy 100 g for their own house tinctures.