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You may find national beverages made of berries in all northern European countries. In Russia, such beverage is called "mors".

We do not know exactly then mors was invented. It was mentioned the first time in the 15th century in the old Russian book "Domostroy". This book is a manual for family life and household. The word "Domostroy" may be translated into English as "How to build home".

But, historian scientists are sure mors is older than the 15th century. The word "mors" originates from the old Greek word "mursa"; it was the name of a beverage based on honey.

This fact shows us the idea of mors was adopted by ancient Russia from the Byzantine Empire, but in the 15th century this Empire was already gone. Based on these facts, historians presume mors appeared in our country in the 10th or 11th century. If you read our articles about Russian cuisine dishes, then you will find many of them came from the Byzantine Empire - buckwheat, sour cabbage, and syrniki.

Mors is a good method of preserving of berries, and that is why this drink became widespread in Russia. Because of a long winter, the conserving problem was very actual, and many of Russian dishes are the methods of resolving the problem - kompot, varenye, sour cabbage.

Ingredients and cooking technology

Mors is a very simple beverage. We need to squeeze juice from berries. Thereafter, the juice should be boiled for a short time - not more than 8 minutes. Juice is not boiling at all sometimes; it depends on a recipe. After, some sugar or honey should be added. Mors is ready.

In the old times, large barrels full with mors stored in cold places, usually, in a basement. Thanks to low temperature, mors roamed, but very slow. It could be stored all the autumn, winter and spring, and was the excellent source of vitamins until next summer.

The most popular base ingredients were cranberry, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and currant. There are also recipes of mors of fruits and even vegetables, but it is not correct to call such beverages by the word "mors".

In the old Russia, every good housewife used her own recipe of mors, and these recipes transmitted from mother to daughter. Some of them were rather unusual; for example, milk or some spices could be added.

How and where to taste mors in Russia

If you visit a restaurant with Russian cuisine, then mors will be in the menu. If you will not find it in such restaurants, then it will be better to stand up and go away. You can also find mors in the national fast-foods like "Teremok" or "Kroshka Kartoshka".

You can purchase mors in every supermarket. In the small photo gallery below you may see a large variety of brands and packages.

Some features of mors

In the old times mors contained some alcohol - from 1 to 2,5 percentage of ethanol, and it was necessary for long-term storage.

The modern beverage sometimes contains alcohol, but sometimes not. Unfortunately, manufacturers do not print any information about it on the package.

There are some sorts of mors designed especially for kids. You can see this drink in the photo on the right. You can be sure no alcohol inside. Kids can safely drink it from the age of 5 months.

We want to remind you one feature of Russian law. According it, then you drive a car, then your blood alcohol concentration should be less than 0,15. If you drink mors with small amount of alcohol and traffic police will stop you, then you maybe will have trouble.

If you plan to drive, then we will recommend not to drink mors or drink a kid's beverage. Or, you can wait for 30 minutes until ethanol will go out from your body.

Cranberry mors

Cranberry is one of the healthiest berries in the world. It increases immunity, cures hypertension and varicose veins. Cranberry cures stomach illnesses and kills bacteria, that cause dental caries.

Cranberry removes toxic substances from a human body. Even in case of poisoning or radiation sickness, cranberry is one of the best cures.

Cranberry has one negative feature - the taste is extremely sour. We do not know any person, who can eat pure cranberry.

We Russians usually eat cranberry with sugar. The taste is not very pleasant, even using this method.

The only pleasant way to consume healthy cranberry is mors. It is the most popular sort of the beverage in Russia. To tell the truth, some Russians find this type is also too sour.

Most popular brands

Many food companies in Russia produce juice and mors. It is also popular in Scandinavian countries - Finland, Norway and Sweden. You can find a lot of brands from Russia, Belarus and Scandinavia in Russian supermarkets.

In the photo on the right, you can see "Chudo-Yagoda". The English name of this brand is "Wonder Berry". This brand is well-known in Russia and rather expensive.

The interesting fact is the owner of this brand is Wimm-Bill-Dann (WBD) company, and 60% of stocks of WBD is owned by PepsiCo.

So, the most famous Russian brand of mors is owned by the US company. In addition, the beverage produces not in Russia; the manufacturing plant is located in Belarus. It seems very funny, when you see the phrase "Original Russian" on the surface of the package.

Who is the main opponent of PepsiCo? Of course, it is Coca-Cola. In the photo on the right, you can see "Dobriy" translates as "Good". This brand is owned by Coca-Cola.

"Dobriy" is a very popular brand of juices in Russia. It is about 30% of all sales of juices in our country. But, their position in selling mors is modest.

We may state, that nowadays, there is no leader in sales of the beverage. Maybe, future will show us who is the boss here.

There is a large difference between brands. Quality depends on concentration of berry juice inside. There was not less than 30% of the juice in the old classic drink. It is usually 15% or less in the modern mors.

We want to give a few advices. When you buy mors, please watch for information on the package. If this concentration is less than 15%, then do not buy the drink. If there is no information, then do not buy the drink. If there is no information in English, then do not buy the drink.

We hope you will like Russian beverages. Please, read our other articles about Russia (you may find links below and on the left column of this page).

See other interesting articles

► Kompot - Russian fruit or berry drink

► Zefir - light and healthy dessert

► Kissel - national dense drink

► Private guides in Moscow

► List of our best articles

► Pelmeni - Russian dumplings

► Blini - Russian thin pancakes

► Buckwheat - national side dish

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