Nalewka Babuni 2.0: Super Anti-Oxidant Health Booze

“Nalewka Babuni”—”Granny’s Medicine”—is an old Polish tradition of taking something and soaking it in alcohol, thereby extracting its goodness. (It also refers to a brand of fruit and honey wines, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about.) Traditionally fruits and teas are used in nalewka babuni and our recipe is no exception, except that instead of flavor, we’re going for maximum anti-oxidant properties. Our nalewka will be a healthy tincture with which to start each morning.

This isn’t my idea at all; I didn’t even take these pictures. My thanks go to Marc Needham and Andy Hearn for the images and experimentation, as well as John Biggs for his help with the Polish. (And quietly, in a pristine lab secreted in the Canadian Alps, the shy Mr. Science.)

Ingredients:

• Blueberries, 2 lbs, fresh or frozen (Blueberries have a stupid amount of flavonoids and polyphenols; these will form the bulk of our anti-oxidation blast.)
• Green tea leaves, two ounces (Another polyphenol stud.)
• Vodka, some
• Vitamin C tabs

Preparation:

1. Soak green tea leaves in warm water, just enough to get them to loosen up.

2. Strain tea leaves; add leaves to blender. Add fruit and a couple of vitamin C tabs.
3. Blend like whoa.
4. Add enough vodka (or gin, if you must) to the blender fruit and leaves to cover. The stronger the vodka, the better.
5. Let the whole mess stand for 24-48 hours. The ethanol will extract the anti-oxidant goodness from the fruit and tea leaves—even more than you’d get if you were to eat them.
6. Strain fruit and tea pulp out, leaving behind only liquid goodness.
7. Drink! Have a shot each morning to loosen up the heart and the spirit.