You know tsipouro and you know ouzo as Greeks’ favourite drinks. Well, that’s not all that Greece can offer the world in terms of drinks: Please welcome mountovina! Unlike tsipouro and ouzo, mountovina is not produced from grapes but from honey, fermentation of fruits or trahana that is a combination of wheat flour and milk. This unknown to the larger public -even in Greece- drink, is produced in the foothills of Holomontas Mt, in Halkidiki, northern Greece and Arnaia is a small town, popular for honey production and mountovina.

Mountovina is a product of the remnants of bee-waxing, produced after the crushing of bee hives to obtain honey. In the past, beekeepers used to place the crushed bee-waxes in wooden barrels full of water  that boil to high temperatures. As the wax gathered at the top, they collected the must-like, honey-flavoured water. The first stage of fermentation lasted about 20 days and produced 18⁰ to 20⁰ alcohol; at a later stage anise and Chios mastic was added.

The combination of wax, honey, anise and mastic produces a blend of sweet aroma raising the strength of alcohol up to even 60⁰.Recently, mountovina was recognized as a local product of geographical indication, something that is expected to have positive effects for bee-keeping, local tradition and agritourism.

 
Mountovina has also been used by locals as a cure against common cold and other ailments, as well as a digestive.Greek News Agenda: Halkidiki: Land of Treasures