07:28 – Poles and their vodka: pile side, front side

In the heart of a Warsaw neighborhood once home to tramps, thieves and drunkards, a former distillery has been transformed into a museum celebrating the long tradition of vodka in that country, with the aim of thwarting some stereotypes about Poles and "educating"

Is vodka the "Polish national drink", part of tradition and national identity and a source of pride in this respect? Or a vast social problem or a national defect mocked even in the foreign saying "drunk as a Pole"?

"Just as it is not possible to imagine the history of France without mentioning cognac or champagne, that of Great Britain without gin or Scottish whiskey or that of Mexico without tequila, one could not talk about the history of Poland without vodka, "says Andrzej Szumowski, the president of the Polska Wodka foundation who sponsors the new museum.

" Saul as a Pole ": the phrase attributed to Napoleon" was at the beginning a meaning opposite to that considered as derogatory today, says Mr. Szumowski, "its author wanted to say to his soldiers: you can drink but be drunk like the Poles who, even drunk, are still in a state of pick up and fight. "

Vodka" is part of our DNA, our history, our heritage and our tradition … it's part of our national identity, "he says. he

– "Republic of Distilleries" –

Arrival in Poland in the 15th century, this boisso Over the centuries, the beer and mead habits of Polish land nobility have been changing, with an ever-increasing share of the wheat harvest being devoted to the production of spirits.

One of the privileges reserved for the noble the exclusive right to import, produce and sell alcohol in his properties, or even to impose on his peasants the purchase of alcohol quotas, a monopoly that disappeared definitively only on the eve of the nineteenth century. [19659002] In times of scarcity, which is frequent in the troubled history of Poland, vodka has often served as a safe bet for foreign exchange.

At the end of the First World War, the state monopoly over vodka ensured to the state 10% of its budget, and even 15% at the end of the Second World War, according to the American magazine Forbes which speaks of "the Republic of distilleries".

Today, with an annual production of nearly 100 million liters of pure alcohol, the P Poland claims one of the top places in the world, alongside the United States, Ukraine and Russia, according to data from the Association of Employers of the Spirits Industry ZPPPS.

– " Very strong in consumption "-

" Alas, we are especially strong in terms of alcohol consumption ", regrets Krzysztof Brzoska, head of the National Agency for the prevention of alcohol problems PARPA:" the almost all of this production goes on the domestic market ", which continues to grow, dominated today by beer.

If the Pole is not the European leader in per capita alcohol consumption – this place being reserved for his Lithuanian neighbor – he is "champion" in terms of the average quantity ingested at one time.

"We drink less often than the French or the Italians but when we start we're going to the end … ", explains Mr. Brzoska.

Result: envi There are 1,500 deaths each year of alcohol overdose in this country where liquor sales and publicity for these drinks are ubiquitous, he says.

For Dariusz Wasilewski, psychiatrist alcoologue, vodka is clearly a scourge . "I can not accept the idea that an alcoholic beverage can be an object of national pride," says the doctor.

Of the 38 million inhabitants in Poland, "between 800,000 and 900,000 are dependent on alcohol, and those who drink in a way detrimental to health are three or four times more numerous."

– At room temperature ? –

The Polish vodka museum and some of the producers do not want to sing the praises of this drink. The ambition of the museum is educational, they say.

"We want to talk about a culture of drink, a tradition, but we want to start to talk about it in an intelligent way", declares 'AFP Tadeusz Dorda, responsible for the promotion of the Chopin vodka brand

For example, it is known that one can drink very fresh vodka or enjoy it at a moderate temperature, he says.

According to some, the good vodka is recognized by the fact that it is appreciated between 6 and 8 degrees Celsius. It is then that one discovers its particular taste and fragrance.

These depend on the product at the base of its manufacture, its origin and the year of manufacture, explains Mr. Dorda.

Potato vodka is heavier and sweeter, he says. That of rye is lighter, more bitter and smells stronger, while wheat gives the most delicate and sweet taste.

As for whether a museum dedicated to vodka is needed, the visitor will judge