Why is a mixture of beer and vodka called a yorsh

A cocktail of beer and vodka that knocked the most staunch connoisseurs of alcohol off their feet. Everyone who was lucky enough to live in the Soviet era has heard of this drink. But why does it have such a strange name? Is it related to the spiny river fish?

The beer and vodka cocktail known as yorsh has a long and complicated history. Popular in the Soviet Union, the drink was so strong and pungent that its name conjured up unpleasant sensations, like swallowing a prickly fish or cleaning out your stomach with a wire brush. But the etymology of the word goes back further.

If you ask its fans about the origin of the name of this explosive mixture, you can hear a variety of answers. Some will say that it scratches the throat, as if you swallow a ruff. Others will explain that the cocktail can turn the stomach inside out, as if cleaning it with a barbed wire ruff. But there is a more interesting and historically based version.

Some experts in the Russian language believe that the mixture of the two drinks was called "yorsh" long before the revolution, back in the Russian Empire. They claim that cheap pubs in the 19th century had special containers where they poured the unfinished remains of vodka and beer. These containers were called "yorsh", and their contents were in demand among visitors who did not have enough money for full-fledged drinks. After the revolution, the pubs disappeared, but the name "Yorsh" remained and migrated to Soviet beer and liquor bars.

There is another version of the origin of the cocktail and its name. They say that mixing beer and vodka was invented by Soviet workers in the 60s and 70s of the last century. After work, they drank, and in order not to mess around for a long time and get a quick, cheap result, they mixed weak alcohol with strong alcohol. This was often done in a pub or buffet, adding vodka secretly brought by the barmaid to glasses with beer diluted by the barmaid. There was even a saying: "Vodka without beer is money down the drain." And the name "yorsh" stuck thanks to the thrill of the experience and traditions.

The effect of a mixture of beer and vodka is literally mind-blowing. But in the morning, a monstrous hangover sets in and a person feels like a fish out of water. But why does ruff make you drunk so quickly and why does it cause such a strong hangover? Scientists have no difficulty explaining these phenomena - everything has long been studied and analyzed.

Beer is a carbonated drink, that is, saturated with carbon dioxide. Because of this, it is absorbed much faster and is very intoxicating. Vodka plays a special role in the cocktail, even if there is very little of it. The liver first of all begins to fight strong ethanol, as the most dangerous toxin. And alcohol from beer is almost not processed and causes intoxication of the body. That is why the morning after a ruff is almost never good.

Despite all its shortcomings and harsh hangover, "yorsh" remains a popular cocktail, especially among those nostalgic for Soviet times. Its history and peculiarity is that it combines traditions and culture of different eras, making it an integral part of Russian alcohol history. Today, "yorsh" is not just a drink, but a cultural phenomenon, symbolizing a unique mixture of simplicity and strength.