Oghi (beverage)

Oghi (sometimes oghee, Armenian: օղի òġi) is an Armenian spirit distilled from fruits or berries. Oghi, a clear fruit vodka, is also referred to as aragh, which is the generic Armenian word for vodka of all kinds.^[1] It is widely produced as moonshine from home-grown garden fruits all across Armenia, where it is served as a popular welcome drink to guests and is routinely drunk during meals.^[2][3]

Mulberry oghi is commercially produced and exported under the brand name Artsakh by the Artsakh-Alco Brandy Company in Askeran District in Nagorno-Karabakh.^[4][5]

Varieties

• Tuti oghi – mulberry oghi (commercial brand name Artsakh, from Nagorno-Karabakh)
• Honi oghi – from hon, a small red berry (cornelian cherry)
• Dzirani oghi – from apricots
• Tandzi oghi – from pears
• Khaghoghi oghi – from grapes
• Salori oghi – from plums
• Moshi oghi – from blackberry
• Tzi oghi – from figs
• Khundzori oghi – from apples

Oghi in the Armenian Diaspora

In the Armenian Diaspora, where homemade fruit vodka is not common, oghi refers to the aniseed-flavored distilled alcoholic drink called arak in the Middle East, raki in Turkey, or ouzo in Greece.^[6][7] In Armenia, however, aniseed-flavored spirit is virtually unknown.^{[citation needed]}.

See also

• Alcoholic beverages
• Flavoured liquor, which includes flavoured vodkas
• Vodka infusion
• Soju, a Korean distilled beverage, sometimes called "Korean vodka"
• Shōchū, sometimes called "Japanese vodka"
• Baijiu, a Chinese distilled liquor sometimes called "Chinese vodka"
• Vodka war

References

1. ^ Aragh, Armenian moonshine
2. ^ Oghi, an Armenian fruit vodka
3. ^ Oghi, homemade fruit vodka in Southern Armenia
4. ^ Artsakh mulberry vodka
5. ^ Artsakh-Alco Brandy Company
6. ^ Western Armenian Dictionary and Phrasebook, by Nicholas Awde and Vazken-Khatchig Davidian, Hippocrene Books, 2006, p. 131; ISBN 0781810485, ISBN 9780781810487
7. ^ The Heritage of Armenian Literature, Vol. III, p. 815, by Agop Jack Hacikyan, Gabriel Basmajian, Edward S. Franchuk, Nourhan Ouzounian, Wayne State University Press, 2000, ISBN 0814332218