Slyvyanka (слив'янка, plum nalyvka)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A clean 2 litre glass jar with a tight lid
• •A fine sieve
• •Muslin or coffee filters
• •Clean bottles with caps or corks

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the plums

   Wash the plums and dry them properly; water clinging to the skins only dulls the drink. Halve and pit about half of them, then leave the rest whole for a gentle almond note from the stones. Any bruised fruit goes into compote, not into the jar.

   Don't crack the stones. A few whole plums give aroma; broken pits can turn bitter and are not worth the drama.
2. 2

   Pack the jar

   Put the plums into a clean 2 litre glass jar with the honey, sugar, lemon zest, and the spices if you're using them. Pour over the horilka. The fruit should be covered; press it down gently with a clean spoon if it tries to sit proud.

3. 3

   Steep in darkness

   Close the jar and set it somewhere cool and dark, not in hot sun. Turn it over gently every few days until the honey dissolves and the liquid begins to darken. Then leave it alone. The plums will slump, the skins will fade, and the horilka will turn the color of late autumn.

   The timing flexes with the fruit. Start tasting after four weeks; six to eight weeks gives deeper color and a rounder plum taste.
4. 4

   Strain slowly

   Strain the nalyvka through a sieve, then through muslin or a coffee filter if you want it clearer. Don't squeeze the fruit hard unless you like a cloudy bottle. Taste a spoonful: it should smell of plum before it smells of alcohol.

5. 5

   Sweeten and age

   If it bites too sharply, warm a little extra honey just enough to loosen it, stir it in, and taste again. Bottle the slyvyanka and rest it for at least a month before serving. This is where it becomes itself: the raw edge softens, the plum comes forward, and the smell changes from spirit to orchard.

6. 6

   Serve in small glasses

   Serve chilled or cool in tiny glasses, alongside honey cake, poppyseed babka, or a wedding table crowded with cold plates and too many aunties giving advice. It should pour glossy and dark, sweet but not syrupy, strong enough that everyone respects it.

Chef Tips

• •Use plums with dark skins and real fragrance. Damsons, Italian prune plums, or small blue orchard plums are best; supermarket plums work if they smell like fruit, not cardboard.
• •Horilka is the spirit I reach for, but any clean 40 percent vodka will do. Don't use anything expensive or perfumed; the plums are doing the talking.
• •Honey gives body, sugar gives clean sweetness. All honey can taste heavy, all sugar can taste thin, so I use both and adjust after straining.
• •The steeping forgives you by a week or two. The aging after bottling is the step that matters; fresh slyvyanka tastes like separate ingredients, rested slyvyanka tastes like one drink.
• •Keep the spent plums. They are fierce. Chop them into a winter cake, spoon them over vanilla ice cream, or tuck one beside a slice of poppyseed babka.

Advance Preparation

• •Steep the plums for 6 to 8 weeks in a cool dark place, tasting from week 4 if the fruit is very ripe.
• •After straining, age the bottled slyvyanka for at least 1 month. Three months is better for a celebration bottle.
• •Stored cool and dark, the finished nalyvka keeps for a year or more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 55g)