Cure in a bottle

If you go to any village in Serbia and ask an old lady what is Rakia good for, you will probably be surprised by the answer. Everyone knows that this drink can make you chatty at family gatherings and put you in a good mood but throughout the ages Rakia has been put to use in many different ways other than drinking, mostly as a substitute for traditional medicine.

So what can this magical drink be used to cure?

1) Fever

There is a special type of Rakia called Komovica made from grapes that has been used in Serbia as a traditional form of medicine for centuries. There’s a lot of different methods on using it depending on the region but the general idea is soaking a rag with Komovica and wrapping it either around your neck or putting it on your chest just before you go to bed and let it stay there overnight.

Hopefully in the morning the fever has subsided completely and your only concern should be taking a shower as soon as possible.

2) Toothache

Speaking from personal experience this can really help ease the pain if you’re suffering from an intense toothache. It’s not a long-term solution but if your standard medicine fails you and you just can’t take it any longer taking a big sip of Rakia and holding it around the tooth in question will quickly numb the area and pain completely.

Even if it doesn’t last long, this moment of relief is without a doubt priceless.

3) Infection

Rakia and most other hard liquors can be used to disinfect wounds and different surfaces thanks to alcohol’s anti-bacterial properties. This makes your homemade Rakia a good first aid in case you happen to cut yourself or need to treat a wound or an infection.

More commonly though buy brandy in the UK Rakia can be used as an aftershave as it effectively cleans out the pores and will disinfect any cuts you might’ve made while shaving. Just be ready to have to explain to your boss that you’re not actually drunk at work.