“Riga Black Balsam” Industrial recipe according to GOST

This industrial GOST recipe for the Riga Black balsam is the most famous in the post-Soviet area. This balm is both a medicine and an alcoholic beverage. At the same time, this drink is probably the most famous today in Europe…

Riga black is produced in Latvia at the plant of the company “Latvian Balsam”. It is clear that the modern recipe (they say the recipe in production), according to which this product is produced today, is a trade secret.

But, we have the old Soviet GOST recipe . The amount of raw materials and semi-finished products is given per 1000 decaliters of the finished alcoholic product – blend, 1 decaliter = 10 liters).

Industrial recipe for the Black Riga GOST balsam:

• infusion of balm of the 1st plum (semi-finished product, its recipe below) – 400 l;
• raspberry juice of the 1st and 2nd plums – 920 l (raspberries 446 kg);
• blueberry juice of the 1st and 2nd plums – 214 l (dried blueberries 56 kg);
• cognac – 400 l (strength 40-42%);
• balsamic Peruvian oil – 1 kg;
• honey essence – 1 kg;
• sugar syrup (65.8 % total solids) – 345 l;
• color (solution of burnt sugar) – 1300 kg;
• rectified ethyl alcohol of the highest purification + water – to be calculated based on the strength of the finished alcoholic beverage 45.0 %.

Recipe for semi-finished infusion for Riga black Balsam:

• gentian root – 4.0 kg;
• mountain arnica flowers – 1.6 kg;
• leaves and tops of stems of bitter wormwood – 3.0 kg;
• ginger root – 2.4 kg;
• valerian root – 2.0 kg;
• curly mint leaves – 2.5 kg;
• lemon balm leaves – 2.0 kg;
• calamus root – 2.0 kg;
• linden flowers – 1.6 kg;
• winter oak bark – 1.6 kg;
• black pepper – 1.2 kg;
• dried orange peel – 1.2 kg;
• three-leaf watch leaves – 1.0 kg;
• nutmeg – 1.0 kg;
• flowers and leaves of St. John’s wort pierced 1.5 kg.

The strength of the finished Riga Balsam is 45,0 %.