Indulgences

1. světlý ležák

   Pale lager (12° beer)

   Usage

   Under decree 335/1997 Sb. a "ležák" is a beer of 11.00–12.99% original wort extract; colloquially a "dvanáctka" (twelve). The number is not the alcohol content but the dissolved extract of the wort before fermentation — the actual alcohol is around 4–5%

   Grammar Note

   "ležák" is masculine inanimate with an unchanged accusative, from "ležet" (to lie, to lager). "světlý" is a hard adjective

2. výčepní pivo

   10° beer (the lighter Czech class)

   Usage

   The class from 7.00 to 10.99% original wort extract, colloquially a "desítka" (ten). Lighter and cheaper than ležák; when a pub asks "desítku nebo dvanáctku?" this is the choice being offered

   Grammar Note

   "pivo" is neuter with an unchanged accusative: "Jedno výčepní pivo, prosím." "výčepní" is the soft adjective from "výčep" (the tap counter)

3. tmavé pivo

   Dark beer

   Usage

   Beer brewed with dark malt. Pale beer dominates in Czechia, so many pubs stock only one dark option, if any

   Grammar Note

   "tmavé" is the neuter adjective form; with a masculine noun it is "tmavý" and with a feminine noun "tmavá"

4. řezané pivo

   Half-and-half beer (pale mixed with dark)

   Usage

   Pale and dark beer poured together into one glass; some pubs pour it so the two layers stay separate

   Grammar Note

   "řezané" is the passive adjective from "řezat" (to cut), used here in the sense of blending. Note that "ř" is a distinct Czech letter and a distinct sound, not an "r"

5. Becherovka

   Becherovka (Karlovy Vary herbal liqueur)

   Usage

   A herbal liqueur first made by Josef Vitus Becher in Karlovy Vary in 1807, 38% ABV, from over twenty herbs and spices with cinnamon, orange peel and clove to the fore. It is nicknamed the town's "thirteenth spring" after its twelve mineral springs

   Grammar Note

   A brand name treated as feminine; the accusative used when ordering is "Becherovku" — "Becherovku, prosím."

6. slivovice

   Plum brandy

   Usage

   A spirit distilled from plums (švestka and related varieties), at home in the Moravian regions of Slovácko, Haná, Valašsko and Brněnsko. Commercial bottlings are around 40% ABV, home-distilled ones about 52%. In Valašsko most larger villages have a "pálenice" where people bring their own fruit to be distilled

   Grammar Note

   Feminine, accusative "slivovici" — "Slivovici, prosím." From "slíva" (plum) with -ovice, the suffix for fruit spirits (meruňkovice from apricot, hruškovice from pear)

7. medovina

   Mead (honey wine)

   Usage

   An alcoholic drink fermented from honey and water, also called "medové víno". Strengths run from under 10% to as much as 18% ABV, and it is sold warm at Christmas markets (vánoční trhy). Czechia has around fifty producers, said to be the densest concentration of mead makers in the world

   Grammar Note

   Feminine, accusative "medovinu", derived from "med" (honey, masculine)

8. Fernet Stock

   Fernet Stock (bitter herbal liqueur)

   Usage

   A bitter liqueur created by Lionello Stock in Plzeň-Božkov in 1927, 38% ABV, from fourteen herbs — six of them public: gentian root, mugwort, Roman chamomile, cinchona bark, bitter orange peel and blessed thistle. It is genuinely bitter; mixed with tonic water it is called a "bavorák"

   Grammar Note

   "Fernet" is treated as a masculine inanimate noun with an unchanged accusative; "Stock" is the founder's surname and does not decline

9. burčák

   Partially fermented grape must (autumn only)

   Usage

   Grape must caught in the early days of fermentation, 1–7% alcohol. Czech wine law reserves the name for must from that year's domestic grapes and permits sales only from 1 August to 30 November; the EU protects it as a "traditional term" under regulation 1308/2013. It tastes like sweet juice but keeps fermenting, so it keeps getting stronger

   Grammar Note

   Masculine inanimate with an unchanged accusative, from the Moravian verb "burkať" (to bubble, to roil)

10. svařené víno

    Mulled wine

    Usage

    Red wine warmed with cloves, cinnamon, anise, star anise, cardamom or nutmeg plus citrus and sugar or honey — the staple of Advent and Christmas markets. Despite the name ("boiled"), it is heated only to about 80 °C so the alcohol does not evaporate. Colloquially "svařák"

    Grammar Note

    "víno" is neuter with an unchanged accusative; "svařené" is the neuter passive adjective from "svařit" (to boil)

11. Pálava

    Pálava (South Moravian white wine grape)

    Usage

    A Czech-bred white grape, a cross of Tramín červený with Müller Thurgau, begun by Josef Veverka at the Velké Pavlovice breeding station in 1953 and entered in the Czech variety register in 1977. It is named after the Pálava protected landscape area in South Moravia and grown mainly in the Mikulovská and Znojemská sub-regions. Czech wine is barely exported, so this is a bottle to drink locally

    Grammar Note

    Feminine, accusative "Pálavu". The Morava wine region divides into four sub-regions: Mikulovská, Slovácká, Velkopavlovická and Znojemská

12. cigarety

    Cigarettes

    Usage

    Smoking indoors in restaurants and bars has been banned outright since 31 May 2017 under act 65/2017 Sb. on protecting health from addictive substances. The ban covers e-cigarettes too, as well as zoos, sports venues and station platforms, so smoking means the outdoor tables or a designated area

    Grammar Note

    Feminine plural (singular "cigareta"); the accusative is also "cigarety". The verb "to smoke" is "kouřit", as in "Kde se smí kouřit?" (Where is smoking allowed?)

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