Lithuanian Krupnik-Bison Grass and Wildflower Honey

This project consists firstly of the beverage itself, made from Lithuanian wildflower honey sourced from the Kaunas region of Lithuania and bison grass vodka. Bison grass being a grass native to the region and used in both medicinal applications as well as festive occasions, notably containing a blood thinning compound called coumarin for first application, and having a very light, sweet scent when trampled or braided, as applied in the second case. In a step from period, a pre-flavored and FDA approved bison grass vodka was used for the flavor in the project, as using a tincture of the grass in question can contain enough coumarin to be carcinogenic, and I would rather not afflict that on any tasters. 🙂

The second piece of this project is beginning with the alleged origin, which a specific monastery of Benedictine monks attest to. I argue, through careful documentation, that this could not be the case given the historical context of the ingredients and the culture they originated from. The second piece is also a sincere exercise in the difficulties of working without an extant, and how I assessed and managed the complications of intervening history from period to modern day removed most chances of an extant even surviving. The project makes no claim that my chosen recipe is the correct one, but hopefully creates a product made in good faith towards the original, and perhaps describes what shape the extant might have taken.

  1. Katja

    Cas, it’s fascinating how your research into this specific project has grown over the past couple of years! I really enjoyed your detailed exploration of the history of the possible origins, region, and ingredients. And I very much appreciate that you chose to limit the amount of a potentially dangerous ingredient. Thank you for continuing to pursue this.