In June, 2006, 65438+1October, 65438+September, the East End Brewing Company in Pittsburgh, USA also launched limited edition Kvas, Session Ale #5 and Kvass.
Every nation in the world has its own favorite traditional drinks, such as German beer and Mongolian "koumiss". As far as Russians are concerned, they think that "folk drinks since ancient times" is "Kvas".
This drink is transparent and dark yellow, alternating sweet and sour. After eating sweet and greasy meat, dairy products and snacks, have a cup of "Kvas" and the noisy internal organs will stop immediately; In summer or after sweating, a cup of "Kvas" will instantly refresh you from head to toe. Therefore, Russians are proud of "Kvas" and love this kind of drink that belongs to them.
The earliest basic raw materials for brewing "Kvas" were dry bread, bread crumbs and berries, and some of them also added wild vegetables beside the fields. Dry bread is dried and stored with unfinished oat and barley bread, and berries are planted on the fence at home, which are sour and sweet. It's a pity to throw away the dry bread, but it's a pity that the berries are useless. So, put these "wastes" together for fermentation and it becomes "Kvas". In the Russian countryside, every household brews "Gowasu", and every mother, grandmother and grandmother have their own materials, tricks and stunts for brewing "Gowasu". Therefore, in fact, from the day when "Kvas" appeared, this kind of drink reflected a simple belief of Russians: cherish the fruits of their own labor and cherish a lifestyle that makes life easier and sweeter through their own efforts. As far as culture is concerned, "Kvas", as a concept, shows Russians' satisfaction with real life and their pursuit of a better future.
It is said that there was a "Kvas" in the Russian period in Kiev. In the process of unifying Russian land into a unified country, "Kvas" refreshed the weak fighters and revived the sleeping people. As a result, the good reputation of "Kvas" has been passed down from generation to generation. After vodka entered Russia, "Kvas" was brutally challenged. Warriors abandoned the traditional drink "Kvas" and enthusiastically pursued the stimulation of new drinks. The introduction of vodka into Russia means that the door of Russia has been pried open. When the door of a closed country is pried open, the following phenomenon is that our national tradition will inevitably be impacted like a raging wave. Under this impact, "Kvas" struggled to survive and develop, sometimes like a mighty river, sometimes like an intermittent stream, and sometimes like a spring in a rock, with tears streaming down its face.
Without grain and berries, without farmers, there would be no "Kvas". The problem is precisely when Russia often encounters such a situation. In the years of the Soviet regime, this era appeared repeatedly. In the early years after the establishment of the Soviet regime, in the 1930s and several disasters after the war, the fatal food shortage made the brewing of "Kvas" extremely difficult. Thus, in these years, "Kvas" and drinking "Kvas" became symbols of patriotism and special power. The so-called symbol of patriotism, that is, "Kvas" at this time, has almost become the only drink of the proletariat. For those farmers who supported the Soviet regime, a can of "Kvas" was handed to the soldiers passing by in a way of calling for and hoping for victory. The so-called symbol of special power, that is, in the state of extreme shortage of "kva", the canteen specially provided by state organs and leaders has become a symbol of power.
With the shortage of "Kvas" and its becoming a symbol, the original simple belief and cultural meaning in the concept of "Kvas" began to deform. Kvas gradually evolved from a traditional cultural concept to an element of Soviet culture. In the historical process of the Soviet Union, the native rural "Kvas" was introduced into the city, and the batch production of factories replaced the manual production of rural households. Gowasu, a unique fermented rural area, has disappeared, and the streets and alleys are filled with Gowasu with a unified taste blended with various raw materials. The authorities have also formulated strict regulations: the price is unified into a cup of "three kopecks". Thus, in front of such a car, the salespeople sitting in uniform clothes have become a street view in the city. This has also become a symbol of Soviet culture, a symbol of changing from color to monochrome.
In the history of the Soviet Union, there is also an extremely important factor that distorts the "Kvas" in the sense of Russian traditional culture, that is, social closure has to be opened under the action of external forces. From the early days of its establishment, the Soviet regime was a regime that existed in a closed society, or a regime that viewed the outside world from a "unique" perspective. The Soviet regime advocated its own living standards and norms, and its own patriotism. To sum up, everything in the Soviet Union is world-class. This includes the traditional "Kvas" and the original but later traditional vodka. Wine, only vodka, drinks, must drink "Kvas". Bringing a bottle of foreign wine from abroad is to smuggle and sell foreign wine, to speculate and drink German beer, and to worship foreign things and make life bourgeois. In this state, the Soviets don't know what else exists in the world except "Kvas" and vodka.
However, after the great famine in the 1930s, Soviet society had to open up because it accepted food aid from the western world. After the war, the scope and degree of the Soviet Union's opening to the outside world became wider and deeper. The sudden influx of foreign wine and cigarettes department stores has plunged many people in power into the abyss of worshipping foreign things and accepting bribes, and also made ordinary Soviets more and more clearly see that Soviet society is not as perfect as advertised, and the outside world is not as sunset as encouraged. Traditional drinks and traditions such as "Kvas" are dismissed as "earthy" and "unpretentious", and the culture symbolized by "Kvas" and "vodka" is facing an unprecedented profound crisis.
Judging from "Kvas" as the label of Soviet culture, the disintegration of the Soviet Union is essentially the disintegration of Soviet culture. This disintegration shows that the more closed the society is, the more it wants to be closed, the more it can't resist the impulse of the external society, and the greater the damage to the original moral standards, norms and traditions of the nation will be. As a result, "Kvas", like many traditional Russian things, are not only "dirty things", but also completely discarded as garbage. In the mighty ranks of German beer, British cigarettes, Italian leather jackets, American chocolates and Japanese cars, the tradition and culture symbolized by "Kvas" were buried without a trace. Tradition is the most difficult to destroy, and it cannot be destroyed. Russia's "Kvas" tradition and its colorful culture cannot be eliminated. In rural areas, no matter how the times change and the political power changes, peasant women still brew their own "Gowasu" and still regard "Gowasu" and vodka as inseparable things in life. Sometimes, they will sell this homemade "Gowasu" to the fringe of urban and rural areas. At this time, the city people will buy bottles and cans, buy the site, drink it off, drink enough, and then fill the bottles and cans to go home. When they wiped their lips, bulged their bellies and went home, they were obviously satisfied. At this time, they brought back not only "Kvas", but also Russian tradition represented by "Kvas". They seem to have found something lost in a lost world.
On May 26th, 20001year, a large-scale "Russian traditional beverage festival" was held in a city park in Moscow, and this traditional beverage was "Kvas". The organizer is really ingenious. They sold it at Soviet-era prices-three kopecks and a big kava. People can have a drink by putting three black or even rusty gabions there. You can imagine the grand occasion of selling 1 10,000 liters of "Kvas" in one day. The organizers of the traditional beverage festival are obviously not doing business. Their slogan is: "Restore the good reputation of' Kvas'!" I think the restoration of this good reputation is obviously a challenge to those who distort or forget their national traditions and cultural behaviors. They want to restore not only the good reputation of "Kvas", but also the good reputation of Russian national tradition and culture. This is a kind of return, but it is not a return to the disappeared regime, not a return to the mixed Soviet culture, but a return to the entire humanistic tradition and spirit that has lasted for thousands of years in Russia.
In July, 2005, on the streets of Moscow, there appeared a truck selling "Kvas" in a big can and a shop assistant sitting next to it, waiting neatly for the clothes of the drinker. Feeling fresh and surprised, I went to buy it. The salesman said, "Small cup 15 rubles, large cup 20 rubles!" " "I drank a large glass, and the feeling of coolness was surprisingly good. A feeling of returning to the long-lost tradition and culture came to me. In this sweet and sour coolness, I re-examined the Soviet culture that was once advertised as eternal. Later, I saw this kind of stuffy tank car on many streets in Moscow and suburban towns. According to Moscow newspapers, this summer, there were nearly 600 tanker trucks or stalls selling "Kvas" in Moscow alone, reaching an unprecedented level in recent years. " Kvas contains a variety of vitamins, which is beneficial to the maintenance and treatment of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal tract. However, it also has "harm", which is diuresis. Therefore, reporters in Moscow exclaimed in the face of the crowded oil tanker "Kvas": "Moscow is going to expand toilets! "
"Kvas" was once a label of Soviet culture, and Soviet culture, like "Kvas", endowed national traditions and culture with specific political meanings. However, after all, Soviet culture failed to finally replace Russia's national traditions and culture since ancient times. This is not that Soviet culture is not strong enough, but that Soviet culture does not really contain the essence of Russian national tradition and culture, and even regards this essence as garbage in many aspects, or even eliminates it as a hostile ideology. Perhaps, the tragedy is here.
Perhaps, the experience of "Kvas" can show that the emergence and development of any new tradition and culture cannot be based on eradication. This experience may also show that as long as there are farmers, as long as there is food, as long as there are all kinds of berries in the yard, "Kvas" will continue its life, it will be an inexhaustible drink for Russians, and traditions and cultures such as "Kvas" will never disappear.