Klasik

When we were skiing a couple of weeks ago, Dommy and I used to pick up a a fifth of a litre of Klasik Slivka each morning, which would generally last the day as a pick-me-up during the longueurs of chair lift journeys.

Slivka (or Slivovice or Plum brandy) is apparently the most traditional Slovakian drink and I have identified a UK source on Amazon. Fill your boots at https://amzn.to/2TVRKWu.

I have also found - to my delight - that it is referenced in the first chapter of Bram Stoker's Dracula, "The night is chill, mein Herr, and my master the Count bade me take all care of you. There is a flask of slivovitz (the plum brandy of the country) underneath the seat, if you should require it."

That said, when the Wales-Slovakia EUFA EURO qualifier kicks off at two o'clock to today all my Slovakian sympathy will evaporate like slivka spilled in a sauna.