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Ruth, Georgian "drinking culture" is of different nature.
To begin with - they are the Southerners, so the vines ( red vines mostly) is usually their drink of choice.
Their chacha ( vodka) is close to Italian grappa from what I remember.
Russians live in cold climate, so normally they prefer vodka in winter time and cold beer in summer ( I guess.) Of course they have plenty of other drinks available ( it's all individual preference,) but as a rule I think vodka is the drink of choice; it's of the top quality too.
But back to Georgians. Their drinking is all about "celebrating the life," partying and feasting for hours, honoring guests, the loved ones, the elders, ancestors and so on.
I am sure Russians picked a thing or two from them culturally in this respect, but overall it's still different.
Georgians are more like Meds. (Italians/Spaniards/Portuguese and Greeks come to mind.)
Yes, the bolded is what I was referring to, not the specific choice of spirits. Russians also "celebrate life, partying and feasting for hours, when honoring guests. It's exactly the same scenario. Russians will even say, that this is their tradition, and that it's not so much about alcohol exactly, it's about sharing with guests and being hospitable. You might say, lots of cultures do that, but .... they don't. Not in Western Europe, except maybe the Italians? But nowhere else is it an acknowledged national characteristic, as in Russia and Georgia (or one might say--in the Caucasus generally). It doesn't manifest the same way anywhere else.
Would you say Ivan the terrible was doing this as well? .
I'd say that Ivan the Terrible was the ultimate precursor of things to come, and he was the precursor specifically for Stalin's era.
Only during Ivan the Terrible times it was all about "God and Tzar as God's anointed one," whereas in Stalin's time the reference to god was simply dropped.
The rest remained the same more or less.
Quote:
I am open to the idea since Russia is the only eastern orthodox country to challenge the Roman west for superiority. I am talking about the split of the Roman Empire into its Latin half and its Byzantine half.
Anatolia was conquered by the Islamic Turks, which leaves the Slavic, Greeks, and Muscovites as decedents of the eastern empire.
Where as the Romance countries under the Vatican (Spain, Portugal, England, France, and Germany) went on to build empires the east remained backwards.
Russia is the only one to build an empire that compares
Russia IS the Third Rome.
That's where it moved to, after the "Second Rome" ( i.e. Byzantium) was destroyed by Turks.
That's why Russian princes were fighting long and hard from the day one of accepting Christianity to get the autocephalous church - i.e. independent from Byzantium. If they'd stay part of the Byzantine Patriarchy, remaining under their direct order, then their church would have been destroyed along with Byzantium after its fall.
You can see more here in this Wiki article, although I think not everything is correct there.
It's just a general idea.
However shortly before the downfall of Byzantium, during the Council of Florence the agreement has been achieved that in the face of looming Islamic threat, the Second Rome was going to submit under the First Rome ( i.e. Catholic Church,) at least temporarily.
The Russian Tzar ( Vasily (Basil) the Blind) that was ruling back then, bluntly said "no" to it.
Yes, the bolded is what I was referring to, not the specific choice of spirits. Russians also "celebrate life, partying and feasting for hours, when honoring guests. It's exactly the same scenario. Russians will even say, that this is their tradition, and that it's not so much about alcohol exactly, it's about sharing with guests and being hospitable. You might say, lots of cultures do that, but .... they don't. Not in Western Europe, except maybe the Italians? But nowhere else is it an acknowledged national characteristic, as in Russia and Georgia (or one might say--in the Caucasus generally). It doesn't manifest the same way anywhere else.
Oh, Russians absorbed the cultures and traditions of more ancient people around them - no doubt about it.
Remember I posted this before?
This is coming straight from Caucasus - Russians simply refined and advanced "jigitovka" some more.
Here it is again - this is "hold my beer" taken to the next level.
( That's them having fun while sober, one can only guess how "inventive" they get, when they drink ( according to DKM.)
So when it comes to "zastolye" - I'm sure Russians share this tradition with Caucasians as well (yes, Georgians in this case.)
There are some nuances I think though, because Georgians are simply more ancient culture, so their art of doing this is more specific; it's more ceremonial.
Cold climate and culture are one of the main factors. When it’s freezing outside, drinking helps one cope with the weather. Plus drinking can be a lot of fun.
In what way? It's obvious that you don't know what you're talking about..
I live in Siberia. Today we have -25. How many bottles of vodka do you think I drank today?
In what way? It's obvious that you don't know what you're talking about..
I live in Siberia. Today we have -25. How many bottles of vodka do you think I drank today?
I actually think that people in Siberia drink less.
Much, much less than in European parts of Russia - that's my impression.
May be because the nature there is less forgiving of any mistakes, may be because people are more focused with other activities/more busy there; that I don't know.
But I think that casual "as the day goes by" kind of drinking, the kind I saw in Moscow, is NOT a thing in Siberia.
I heard that the Russian Tsars historically were the owners of the biggest producers of alcoholic beverages throughout their modern history. From Ivan onward if not before. Just like the Opium trade built the American railroads in the mid 1800s and the drug lords of South America use their dollars to build Mc Mansions all over the world for the most part states will take advantage of this flow of money in various ways. In some cases vice is how governments have and do finance themselves.
I think it comes down to another big factor. This is not just Russia either. I can go into just about any convenience store or supermarket and buy alcohol in Wa state. Off hand there is only a few I cannot and if it's interesting to know they are Russian owned stores. Marvel Food and Deli in Auburn Wa is just minutes from my home and they do not sell alcohol. At least when I was last there.
West Seattles Westwood QFC? If you walk up to the Customer service counter they not only have the large bottles of hard alcohol behind the counter but right out in front are the small bottles of all the hard alcohol for just $.99, almost every store sells alcohol.
Ubiquity. Everywhere all at once.
Russians are really little different than anyone else when it comes to drinking. It's really more of a stereotype than anything else. Also one held up when trying to cut down Russians when it comes to propaganda.
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