Chapter 1675 The Terrifying 'Samogon'
Seeing Fabian's expression, Xiao Peng laughed so hard that his liver hurt. "Don't ask me! This wine has nothing to do with me! It's Sadyev's wine. I took a sip just now and almost vomited it out. I thought that happiness is better shared than alone, so I let you try it too. But I didn't expect you to drink it so much."
"Didn't you tell me to drink it?" Fabian complained. "That so-and-so... Sadyev? What the hell is that? What the hell does it taste like?"
Sadyev was delighted when he heard and saw this scene: "This is 'Samogon'!"
Fabian was speechless. "'Samogon'? What a bunch of nonsense!"
Sadyev replied directly: "'Samogon' means 'brew your own wine'."
"Poof!" Fabian spit out another spit. "It really lives up to the name! It smelled sour when I drank it just now. Did someone pee in it?"
Sadyev replied: "Oh, Mr. Cousteau, don't worry about it. No one has ever peed in it. I brew it myself. I'm from Gubkinsky, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. This is the beer I'm used to drinking back home. Wherever I go, I brew some in my washing machine to remind myself of my roots."
"Washing machine?" Fabian scratched his head. "Can you make wine out of that? That's what you drink over there. Where is the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug?"
Xiao Peng answered the question: "In Siberia."
Sadyev laughed and said, "Russia is huge, and the economic gap between the east and the west is huge. The economy in western Russia is indeed very good, but eastern Russia is basically poor. Not everyone can drink vodka. But everyone can afford this 'Samogon', so this is what we mainly drink there."
After hearing this, Xiao Peng asked, "Sadlyev, what did you brew this with? I still have a weird taste in my mouth."
Sadyev explained, "We make this by mixing leftover black tea with naturally fermented rice after two days, adding yeast, sugar, and water, and then fermenting and distilling it in a washing machine. Of course, there are other ingredients in it, too, like applesauce, peach pulp, and a little bit of car antifreeze."
"What else?" Fabian's eyes widened.
"Car antifreeze," Sadyev replied again. "Mr. Cousteau, I know you're a great documentary filmmaker and a billionaire. If you're interested, you can visit my hometown. It's a completely different world from Moscow. I became a top soldier because I didn't want to go back home, and then I joined the FSB because I didn't want to go back home."
"My family used to rely on making samogon to supplement our income, but then the police came to our house and told us we could produce samogon but not sell it. Our quality of life has declined significantly."
Fabian was puzzled after hearing this and asked, "Are there still people buying this stuff to drink?"
Sadyev said, "Of course some people buy this stuff. You can't imagine the demand for alcohol among the poor. Some people drink car antifreeze, some drink shower gel, and even mix it with industrial alcohol! Every year, Russians die from drinking fake alcohol. Most of them are in eastern Russia."
Fabian complained, "If I had to drink this, I'd rather not drink! It tastes so weird! And there's car antifreeze? Isn't that courting death?"
Sadyev said, "I only have a little bit of antifreeze here, just for flavoring. Some people, to create the ultimate 'Samogon,' put even more antifreeze in it, and even add things like chicken droppings, tobacco, and shower gel. Drinking that stuff feels like being shot by the FSB. Bang! You lose consciousness, and when you open your eyes you can already see the next day's sunrise."
Xiao Peng couldn't help but say, "Can this kind of stuff kill people?"
Sadyev sighed, "Every year in my hometown, there are cases of people being poisoned by drinking this 'Samogon'. Looking across Russia, there are even more such poisoning incidents, but almost all of the poisoned people say they were poisoned because they didn't drink enough 'Samogon'."
Xiao Peng and Fabian looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
Sadyev explained, "In 1999, our country raised the price of vodka. The original intention was to reduce alcohol consumption, but this policy also led to the popularity of 'samogon.' Actually, the original 'samogon' was quite delicious. It was simply milk diluted with water, sugar, and yeast, then tumbled in a washing machine for two hours before distilling. Believe me, the original 'samogon' tasted great, but the alcohol content was a bit low, which made it less satisfying. To make 'samogon' stronger and more addictive, they started adding more potent ingredients. Leftover bread, expired kvass, coffee grounds, vegetable leaves, detergent, shaving gel, perfume... basically, they threw anything they could into the washing machine, and that's how authentic 'samogon' was."
His words left Xiao Peng and Fabian stunned. After a while, Fabian said, "Is anyone drinking this?"
Sadyev laughed and said, "Believe me, this is the main drink in our village. Vodka is so expensive that it is only drunk by the rich. The most common scene in our area is that the villagers drink 'Samogon' and talk about postpartum care for sows or how to catch a bear cub as a pet. This is the environment I grew up in."
Fabian sighed after hearing this, "Sadryev, I'm starting to understand why you're trying to intimidate us. If I were you, I'd hate rich people even more! But... I'd rather you intimidate me than give me this crap!"
DeSalvatore laughed and said, "Mr. Cousteau, let me warn you: if you go to a bar and see a drink called 'Kosogrove,' don't buy it. It's 'Samogon,' and it's incredibly expensive, considered a high-end wine. Tsk, tsk, is this black humor?"
Xiao Peng patted Desarev on the shoulder and said, "From now on, your most important mission with me is to keep me away from this damn thing called 'Samogon,' okay? My first reaction after taking that sip just now was to dig a hole in the ground and bury you alive!"
But Desalev said, "Mr. Xiao, I just gave this wine to Mr. Cousteau. You picked it up out of curiosity!"
"I can help Fabian dig a hole and bury you!"
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