In February, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a regulation regarding the use of the name “tincture” and information about the alcohol content in beverages sold in catering establishments. On Monday 19 August The transition period that the ministry gave to adapt to the regulations has passed. From now on, products marked as “tincture” must meet a number of new criteria. However, there may still be “tinctures” on sale that do not meet them, but only if they were introduced to the market before the new regulations came into force, i.e. before August 19.
New regulations for tinctures. What is a tincture?
The European Union regulations, which regulate the labeling of spirits with legal names, do not include the term “tinquer”. This name is specific to our country, and consumers associate it with a specific type of alcoholic beverage. Tinquers are traditional Polish drinks.
In Poland, the term “tincture” refers to a spirit drink made from ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin. An important stage of production is the process of maceration of plant parts, such as herbs, green walnuts, pine shoots, flowers (e.g. dandelion, elderberry, lime) or fruit in ethyl alcohol, thanks to which the spirit drink acquires special aromatic properties.
In order to protect the reputation of the term “tincture” ordinance The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development introduces the following conditions, under which a spirit drink may be additionally marked in this way:
- the regulations exclude the possibility of colouring, flavouring or adding fruit juices, concentrated fruit juices and wine products.
- the regulation specifies the minimum time for this production stage, which takes into account the specificity of individual raw materials.
- the term “tincture” may be supplemented with the name of its dominant flavour derived from the products used in maceration.
Drinks in restaurants and bars must have their actual alcohol content listed
Ministry regulation agriculture It also introduces the obligation to provide the actual alcohol content by volume in beverages with an alcohol content above 1.2 percent by volume offered, e.g. restaurantspubs, bars. Importantly – the obligation to indicate the alcohol content does not apply to alcoholic beverages in the form of drinks or cocktails, prepared at the point of sale at the request of the consumer.