Traditionally Starka is made from natural (up to 2 distillations, no rectification) rye spirit and aged in oak barrels with small additions of linden-tree and apple-tree leaves.

Sold in various grades, the most notable difference between them is the length of the aging period, varying from 3 to over 50 years,[1] and the natural colour which is obtained from the reaction between the alcohol and the oak barrel, not from the additives.

Tradition had it that at a child's birth, the father of the house poured large amounts of home-made spirits (approximately 75 proof) into an empty oak barrel, previously used to store wine (usually imported from Hungary at that time and hence called Węgrzyn, or Hungarian).

After World War II when Lithuania was inside the Soviet Union, starka production there was not stopped and was produced in "Vilniaus degtinė" and "Stumbras" (Kaunas) factories.

In Poland, all of the spirit producers were nationalized, but the production of starka continued, mostly as a high-priced export good.