Masti o Rasti
Drunkenness and truthfulness: aragh and doogh, the oldest pairing at the Iranian table, as a cold highball.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | ml | oz |
|---|---|---|
| Aragh sagi (Iranian raisin spirit) | 45 ml | 1½ oz |
| Still doogh · homemade, P32 | 90 ml | 3 oz |
| Fresh cucumber juice · homemade, J02 | 15 ml | ½ oz |
| Fresh lime juice · homemade, J01 | 5 ml | 1 tsp |
| Dried mint | a pinch | |
| Plain saline · homemade, P29 | 2 drops |
Ounces are rounded; measure in ml for accuracy. Homemade items link to their own page.
highball
built over cubes
a cucumber ribbon, a pinch of dried mint and a few salted pistachios on the side
The story
Masti o rasti, drunkenness and truthfulness, is the old Persian saying that a drunk man tells the truth, and it is printed on the back of the aragh bottled by an Iranian distiller in Ontario. At the table the saying has a partner: aragh is chased with doogh, the salted yogurt drink, which cools the throat and settles the stomach so the evening can go on. Qazvin, the home of the Meykadeh distillery whose beagle label named the spirit, is also a city of yogurt and of the Alborz foothills’ cucumbers. This drink puts the shot and its chaser in one glass: aragh, still doogh, cucumber and dried mint over ice, savoury, cold and very Iranian.
Method
- Fill a highball with ice.
- Add the aragh, doogh, cucumber juice, lime juice and saline. Stir gently; doogh foams if beaten.
- Rub the dried mint between your fingers over the glass.
- Garnish with a cucumber ribbon on a pick. Serve with salted pistachios.
How it tastes
Cold, salty, tangy and herbal, with the raisin of the spirit in the background and the cucumber keeping it green. Closer to a meal than a cocktail, which is the point.
Persian taste: shoor (salty), torsh (sour), fresh
Pair it with
- Food: Kebab, any kind, with grilled tomato and sumac.
- Sweet: Nothing sweet; a second one.
- Snack: Torshi and salted cucumbers
Variations
Sparkling
Use fizzy doogh (or top still doogh with 30 ml soda) for a lighter, prickly version.
Vodka
Vodka for a cleaner drink without the raisin.
Ab-doogh-khiar
Add 20 ml more cucumber juice, a few chopped walnuts and raisins on top: the cold summer soup in a glass.
Balancing tips
- Still doogh, not the carbonated kind, unless you want it to foam over.
- Dried mint only; fresh mint tastes wrong here.
- Taste for salt; doogh brands vary. The saline is a nudge, not a rule.
Allergens
- Dairy (doogh)
- Contains alcohol. Please drink responsibly.
Development notes
- Status: original recipe draft v0.1, not yet taste-tested.
- Test aragh at 40 and 45 ml; test with and without the lime.
- See the article: Aragh, the Persian raisin spirit.
Watch it mixed
Follow along
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Qazvin and Tehran, imagined
