Fructus juniperi (Juniperus communis L.) as raw material for the production of the “Borovička” alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage “Borovička” is produced by the special fermentation of juniper fruits (Fructus juniperi). The juniper raw-material distillate after the special fermentation must be processed using a neutral alcohol and drinking water. Originally juniper berries were used only to cover the not very appetizing taste of alcohol produced from potatoes. “Borovička” reminds a gin by taste; however, the production process is very different. While some part of “Borovička” is a distillate of juniper berries, gin is produced from cereals, which is additionally enhanced by the flavor of juniper fruits, exotic spices and vegetable ingredients. Over time, the production process was perfected and “Borovička” beverage began to be produced in a large amount. The oldest brand “Borovička” was produced by Juniperus Company in Trenčín in West Slovakia, which began its production in 1933. During this first period, this alcoholic drink was exported even to the United States. The fact that it is a typical Slovak alcoholic beverage is also reflected in the Treaty on the Accession of Slovakia to the European Union. During the accession negotiations to the European Union, Slovakia had decided to protect their finest “Borovička” beverages and negotiated registration of protected geographical products for these five trademarks: “Špišská Borovička”, “Slovenská Borovička Juniperus”, “Liptovská Borovička”, “Slovenská Borovička”, and “Inovecká borovička”. Common juniper berries (Juniperus communis L.) is an important raw material in the distilled spirit industry. The Slovak distiller industry declares a need of approximately 500 t of fresh fruits per year. The price kg^-1 of Juniperus communis berries was about 1.6 EUR in 2015. Results presented in the article show differences in the qualitative and quantitative characteristics between juniper raw materials harvested from Slovakia and Albania, which mostly influence the taste of the “Borovička” alcoholic beverage.