Chef Lesia
Berezovyi Sik (березовий сік, birch sap drink)
Birch sap looks like water until you taste it: cold, faintly sweet, mineral, and gone almost as soon as spring admits it has arrived.
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Uzvar z Shypshyny (узвар з шипшини, rosehip infusion)
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The brightest winter drink in the house is made from the roughest little fruit: dried rosehips, crushed open, steeped overnight, and strained until the liquor glows red as a cold January sunset.
Beverages
Ukrainian
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
10 min
Active Time
0 min cook•8 hr 10 min total
Yield2 litres, enough for 8 cups
Dried rosehips look like something swept from the bottom of a hedge, hard, wrinkled, full of scratchy seeds, and then they give you this ruby drink that tastes of cold air, lemon peel, and old jam jars. The trick is restraint. Don't boil them. Pour hot water over crushed hips, cover the pot, and let the night do the work.
That is the one why that matters here: heat pulls color and sourness quickly, but a rolling boil bullies the freshness out of rosehips and dulls the vitamin-bright taste people drank them for all winter. Aunt Nadia wrote only, "not angry water," which took me an embarrassing number of attempts to understand. You want water just off the boil, quiet in the kettle, not leaping about like it has somewhere to prove itself.
By morning the uzvar is sharp, floral, and deep red, with a little pucker at the back of your mouth. Sweeten it only after straining, when it's warm rather than hot, so the honey keeps its smell. Make a big jug. There is no tradition of a small one, and someone will always ask for another cup.
Uzvar is one of the twelve dishes traditionally placed on the Ukrainian Sviata Vecheria table for Christmas Eve, usually made from dried orchard fruit gathered before winter. Rosehip versions belong to the same preservation logic: wild hips from field edges, ravines, and village lanes were dried for cold months when fresh fruit was gone and sour, bright drinks mattered. In many households the method sits closer to infusion than compote, because rosehips give their best color and tartness when steeped covered instead of boiled hard.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried rosehips
Quantity
80g
rinsed and lightly crushed
water
Quantity
2 litres
just off the boil
honey
Quantity
2 to 4 tablespoons
or to taste
lemon zest (optional)
Quantity
1 strip
dried apple or pear slice (optional)
Quantity
1 small
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried rosehipsrinsed and lightly crushed | 80g |
| waterjust off the boil | 2 litres |
| honeyor to taste | 2 to 4 tablespoons |
| lemon zest (optional) | 1 strip |
| dried apple or pear slice (optional) | 1 small |
Equipment Needed
- •A 2-litre heatproof jug, covered pot, or thermos
- •A mortar or rolling pin for crushing
- •A fine sieve with muslin or a clean tea towel
Instructions
- 1
Crush the hips
Rinse the dried rosehips quickly, then crush them just enough to split the skins. Use a mortar, the side of a rolling pin, or the bottom of a mug. You're opening the fruit so the water can reach the tart flesh inside, not grinding it to dust.
- 2
Pour hot water
Put the crushed hips into a heatproof pot, jug, or thermos. Pour over water just off the boil, when the kettle has gone quiet but the water is still very hot. Add the lemon zest or dried fruit if you're using them. Cover tightly.
- 3
Steep overnight
Leave the covered uzvar until the color deepens to clear garnet and the smell changes from dusty berry to sharp, floral fruit. Overnight is the easiest way, but trust the cup: it should taste tart, rounded, and alive, not thin like pink water.
A thermos gives a stronger infusion because the heat fades slowly. A covered pot works too, just wrap it in a towel if your kitchen runs cold. - 4
Strain carefully
Strain through a fine sieve lined with muslin, a clean tea towel, or a paper coffee filter. Rosehips have tiny irritating hairs around the seeds, and they do not belong in your throat. Let the liquid drip through without pressing hard.
- 5
Sweeten and serve
When the uzvar is warm rather than hot, stir in honey until the sharp edge softens but still fights back a little. Drink it warm from thick cups, or chill it in a glass jug until condensation beads on the sides. Both are honest.
Chef Tips
- •Buy whole dried rosehips, not dusty powder. Whole hips keep their perfume longer, and crushing them yourself gives a cleaner, brighter drink.
- •The straining is the step that doesn't forgive laziness. Rosehip hairs can scratch the throat, so use muslin, a clean tea towel, or a paper coffee filter if your sieve is coarse.
- •Honey is traditional at my table, but sugar works. Add either after straining, when the drink has cooled a little, so the sweetness stays fragrant instead of flat.
- •For a softer family-table version, add one slice of dried apple or pear with the hips. A bit more modern, maybe, but still the same winter habit.
Advance Preparation
- •The rosehips need an overnight steep for the deepest color and tartness, so start the uzvar the evening before you want it.
- •Strained uzvar keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge in a covered glass jug. Sweeten only what you plan to serve if you like the flavor brighter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 255g)
Calories
50 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
5 mg
Total Carbohydrates
13 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
12 g
Protein
0 g
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