The combination of pepper and honey is very popular and is made by nearly all Eastern European vodka manufacturers. It is popular particularly in Eastern Europe, even though the first who released pepper vodka was Absolut from Sweden. Estonian Liviko has been making pepper schnapps, that traditional stomach medicine, for a long time. Both red and black and also cubeb pepper have been used, all of them have been grounded and extracted in spirits. After filtration, the drink is sweetened with honey. The pale brown color comes from both pepper powder and honey, no additives or dyes have been used. A 50 cl bottle costs about 8€ in Estonia. 

The nose has rather strong honey, in the background there is also some sharp spiciness. The mouthfeel is thick, slightly even a bit liqueur-like. The taste is not so sweet, although it has a bunch of honey sweetness. Pepperiness is not felt in the taste, but in the aftertaste I begin to feel a slight burn on the palate and esophagus. After a while the whole mouth begins to have a small tingle. Honey softens the drink pleasantly and is more easily approached by Liviko’s traditional Pipra Snaps. It was also sweetened a bit with sugar, but not so much and certainly the combination of  honey and pepper works much better. The taste is anyway rather one-sided and straightforward, after a couple of servings the slightly sweet taste of honey starts to irritate. Liviko’s honey-pepper combination is a sweet and decent shot. It is very easy to sip neat and you can also make a tasty drink with hot apple juice for example. 

78/100