Medovukha (Russian: медову́ха [mʲɪdɐˈvuxə]; Ukrainian: меду́ха, romanized: medukha, IPA: [meˈduxɐ]; Belarusian: мяду́ха, медаву́ха, romanized: miadúha, miedavúha, IPA: [mʲaˈduxa], [mʲɛdaˈvuxa]) is a Slavic honey-based alcoholic beverage.
Produced in Eastern Europe since pagan times, it remained popular well into the 19th century (unlike in Western Europe, where by the Middle Ages mead had already been mostly replaced by wine and beer).
[citation needed] Wild honey farming was one of the first Slavic trades.
Fermentation occurs naturally over 15 to 50 years, originally rendering the product very expensive and only accessible to the nobility.
However, Slavs found that fermentation occurred much faster when the honey mixture was heated, enabling medovukha to become a folk drink in the territory of Rus'.