Piołunówka

Piołunówka is a very bitter alcoholic infusion (so-called Polish "nalewka") made by macerating wormwood in alcohol. Its name comes from "piołun" which means "wormwood" in Polish. It is becoming popular due to the recent absinthe revival but has been well-known before absinthe. It differs from absinthe because it is macerated and rarely distilled (see the recipe below) whereas absinthe is additionally distilled. Piołunówka is not simply an amateur's version of absinthe but can be perceived as its predecessor. For centuries wormwood based elixirs have been used as digestive aids and disease preventatives.

Thujone

Piołunowka has much higher levels of thujone than absinthe because it is not distilled. Many people produce it today to try and feel the 'absinthe effect' because of its higher thujone levels although it is now known thujone plays little to no role in these purported effects.

Availability

Although piołunówka is very hard to find anywhere in the world, wormwood is available at any herb store but it does not always mean to be the best quality, though. As every Polish nalewka piołunówka requires knowledge, experience and patience and nowadays the one closest to the genuine one is made only by one particular company (Nalewki-i-inne, link below).

Recipes

The genuine recipe is one, dates back to the 17th CE as Piołunówka is the national Polish liqueur (mentioned already in Stanisław Falimierz' opus) and as such has been made in noble manors, if the recipes might have varied (the amount of wormwood, water, spirit and sugar). The last widely available piołunówka was distilled in Lwów by J.A.Baczewski distillery up to 1939. The modern version appeared with the same label released by Polmos in Stargard Gdański who discontinued the production in the 90's.

Anyone who would like to make Piołunówka should follow these steps:
#for 500 ml of water get 168g of sugar boil and add 7.91g of young wormwood (mainly flowertops). When cooled, add to it 500ml of Polish rectified spirit (98% vol or 196 proof) and filter it. If you wish, you can add some water to the alcoholate and the distill it up to 50% (the traditional Piołunówka strength).Piołunówka is NOT absinthe, so never aniseed and herbs alike are used in it. (as we can clearly see in e.g. Jan Cieślak's famous book or "Gorzałka" by Jan Rogala, not counting the works of A.Piątkowski (Kraków,1808) or J.N.Kurowski ( Warszawa, 1829). The Polish have their own aniseed- flavored liqueurs, these are Dubelt Annis (45%) and Kontuszówka (56%). All the aforementioned ones are drank after dinner for better gout.In Poland, nalewkas are usually served chilled in 50ml glasses.

References

Cieślak, J. "Domowy wyrób win" ,Watra, Warszawa 1999, pgs (273-274)

Falimierz, S. "O paleniu wódek z ziół", Kraków 1534

Kurowski, J., N., "Wypalanie wódki", A. Brzezina i Komp., Warszawa 1829

Piątkowski, A. "Gorzelnik i piwowar doskonały", Groblowskiey Drukarnia, Kraków 1808

See also

* Absinthe
* Mal%C3%B6rt