The ingredient borș consists of water in which wheat or barley bran, sometimes sugar beet or a slice of bread have fermented.

After decanting, the result is a slightly yellowish, sour liquid which can also be drunk as such.

The word borș shares its etymology with the Ukrainian borshch or borscht, but it has a different meaning: the traditional Ukrainian borshch is a beetroot soup, which Romanians generally call borș de sfeclă roșie (red beetroot borscht)".

[citation needed] In the region of Moldavia (nowadays, Western Moldavia, Moldova, and Bukovina), where Romanians lived in closest contact with Ukrainians, the word borș means simply any sour soup.

One ingredient required in all recipes by Romanian tradition is lovage leaves, which has a characteristic flavour and significantly improves the soup's aroma.