Local Drinks

1. Айрян

   Ay-ryan

   Ayryan (salted yoghurt drink)

   Usage

   Кисело мляко thinned with water and salted. It contains no alcohol. Served in a bottle or glass and drunk with spicy food or with скара

   Grammar Note

   Masculine; definite айрянът / айряна. The current spelling is айрян and айран is the older one; shops use both, and they mean the same drink

2. Боза

   Bo-za

   Boza (sweet fermented grain drink)

   Usage

   A thick, pale-brown drink made by boiling a mash of wheat, rye or millet, straining it, then diluting and sweetening. Sold at bakeries for breakfast, paired with баница. Note: it is not an alcoholic drink — it contains only a trace of alcohol from fermentation and is sold as a soft drink

   Grammar Note

   Feminine; definite бозата. A glass of it is counted as една боза

3. Мътеница

   Ma-te-ni-tsa

   Buttermilk / thinned yoghurt

   Usage

   Two senses: кисело мляко thinned with water (much the same as айрян), and the liquid left after butter is churned. Served at dairy farms and mountain inns

   Grammar Note

   Feminine; definite мътеницата. Caution: Мътеница is also the name of a village in Plovdiv Province, so in a place-name context it is not the drink

4. Ошав

   O-shav

   Oshav (dried-fruit compote drink)

   Usage

   Dried apple, pear and prune boiled with sugar or honey; cherries, apricots and raisins are sometimes added. A fixture of the Christmas Eve table

   Grammar Note

   Masculine; definite ошавът / ошава. Also called сушелки

5. Компот

   Kom-pot

   Compote (fruit stewed in syrup)

   Usage

   Fresh, dried or preserved fruit boiled with water and sugar. Served with its syrup, so it counts as both a drink and a dessert. Also bottled at home and opened in winter

   Grammar Note

   Masculine; definite компотът / компота, plural компоти

6. Мурсалски чай

   Mur-sal-ski chay

   Mursalski tea (Rhodope mountain herb tea)

   Usage

   An infusion of dried Sideritis scardica, a mountain plant of the mint family, sold as a Rhodope souvenir. Also called пирински чай or триградски чай. It is on Bulgaria's protected medicinal-plant list, so wild picking is regulated

7. Липов чай

   Li-pov chay

   Linden flower tea

   Usage

   An infusion of dried липа (Tilia, linden) flowers, a standard household remedy for colds. Caffeine-free

8. Шипков чай

   Ship-kov chay

   Rosehip tea

   Usage

   A tart infusion of the red hips of шипка (Rosa canina, dog rose), common in winter. Caffeine-free

9. Билков чай

   Bil-kov chay

   Herbal tea

   Usage

   The general term for an infusion of билка (medicinal herbs). When a menu says only this, the blend is unspecified — worth asking what is in it

10. Турско кафе

    Tur-sko ka-fe

    Turkish coffee (boiled in a small pot)

    Usage

    Finely ground coffee boiled in a кафеник, a small long-handled pot. The grounds settle in the cup, so do not drink to the bottom. Sugar goes in during brewing, so state how sweet you want it when ordering

11. Лимонада

    Li-mo-na-da

    Lemonade (fizzy soft drink)

    Usage

    A soft drink of carbonated water with lemon flavouring and sugar. Note that here it usually means a fizzy bottled drink rather than a fresh-squeezed one; for that ask for прясно изцеден сок

    Grammar Note

    Feminine; definite лимонадата

12. Прясно мляко

    Pryas-no mlya-ko

    Fresh milk (unfermented)

    Usage

    Caution: Bulgarian shops and menus split мляко into прясно (unfermented milk) and кисело (yoghurt). Saying just мляко leaves it ambiguous, so ask for прясно мляко when you want milk

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