Local Drinks

1. Узвар

   Uzvar

   Uzvar (dried fruit drink)

   Usage

   A sweet drink boiled from dried apples, pears, cherries and plums, served cold. It is paired with kutia at winter holidays. A synonym is kompot

2. Компот

   Kompot

   Kompot (fruit drink)

   Usage

   Fresh or dried fruit boiled in water and sweetened. An everyday drink at home and in canteens, often included with a set lunch. Used almost interchangeably with uzvar

3. Квас

   Kvas

   Kvas (fermented rye bread drink)

   Usage

   A lightly alcoholic drink fermented from rye bread or malt, sold by the cup from street tanks in summer. The rye-bread kind is also called syrivets

4. Кисіль

   Kysil

   Kysil (thick starch-set fruit drink)

   Usage

   Fruit juice or milk thickened with starch. Depending on how thick it is you drink it or eat it with a spoon; it comes as a dessert. Its genitive is kyseliu

5. Ряжанка

   Riazhanka

   Riazhanka (fermented baked milk)

   Usage

   Milk baked slowly to a golden colour, then soured with smetana. Pale brown, mildly tart, with a caramelised smell

6. Кефір

   Kefir

   Kefir

   Usage

   A thick cultured milk made by both lactic and alcoholic fermentation. Always present in the dairy aisle

7. Кава

   Kava

   Coffee

   Usage

   A feminine noun, so "one coffee" takes the accusative: odnu kavu. Lviv is known for its coffee culture

8. Чай

   Chai

   Tea

   Usage

   Distinguish chornyi chai (black), zelenyi chai (green) and travianyi chai (herbal). The genitive is chaiu

9. Морс

   Mors

   Mors (berry drink)

   Usage

   Berry or fruit juice let down with water and sugar and served cold. It carries more juice than kompot and is not always boiled

10. Сік

    Sik

    Juice

    Usage

    The genitive changes the vowel to soku, so "a glass of juice" is sklianku soku. Freshly squeezed is svizhovychavlenyi sik

11. Березовий сік

    Berezovyi sik

    Birch sap

    Usage

    The clear, faintly sweet sap that rises in birch trunks. It can only be tapped from mid-March to mid-April, but the bottled version is sold year round

12. Мінеральна вода

    Mineralna voda

    Mineral water

    Usage

    Sparkling is hazovana, still is bez hazu. Strongly mineralised brands taste and smell distinctive, so ask for pytna voda if you just want drinking water

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