Bassist of the rock band Faith No More: There is no good rakija without Serbia
Bill Gould, the bassist of the rock band Faith No More, who has been working in the US for two years on the promotion and sale of plum brandy from Mount Goch, tells Tanjug that he decided on this step because he could not find good slivovitz in California.
“I probably came into contact with rakia somewhere around 1992. Faith No More was playing in Budapest at the time, I think we were playing together with Guns N” Roses. Fans from Serbia came to the concert and brought rakia with them. That was the first time I tried it, I had never heard of it before,” said the bassist of the rock band Faith No More.
The famous musician states that since then he has often come to the Balkans and has friends everywhere, in Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Macedonia, and that during his visits he always drank rakia. He admits that he missed rakia when he was at home in California because he couldn't find real plum brandy.
“That’s impossible! Either friends were bringing me rakia, or I had to go to the Balkans to get it. So in 2019, I decided to go to Serbia, find real plum brandy, and introduce it to America, because no one here knows what it is. It was an experiment; I didn't know what would happen. But here I am, I've been doing this for two years and it's really great,” Gould stated.
The rakia with a witty name (Yebiga) is probably the first American rakia produced in Serbia. It is produced at the Tok distillery from Mount Goč.
The debut was the brandy “Yebiga Prva,” a classic Serbian barrel-aged plum brandy. After “Yebiga Prva” broke into the US market, a new brandy was recently introduced: “Yebiga Bela”, a plum brandy with a pure fruit flavor aged in stainless steel.
Due to American standards regarding the amount of methanol in brandy, it is difficult to find natural plum brandy in the US, Guld emphasizes. Plum brandies (double-distilled) average six to eight grams of methanol, while the upper limit for the US market is three grams.
“The rakia I found on Mount Goch is a rakia that I really connected with. There are great rakias all over Serbia. In fact, all over the Balkans, but especially in Serbia. I think that rakia for Serbia, and for me, is what football is for Brazil. You cannot have rakia without Serbia being involved in it somehow, says Guld.
The famous musician says that in the US, rakia is loved by people from the Balkans, but also that Americans are just discovering it and learning about it.
“For now, it's going well. It surprised me that at first they were afraid of rakia, but now they've started to love it, Guld adds.
For her new business, which she has been running for a little over two years, she says it is a bit of a crazy plan.
“I mean, I'm a musician. I love abstract ideas, and the idea of bringing real, authentic rakia to the US is an abstract idea. I didn't think about what would happen in practice, how the alcohol distribution system in the US works. It's a truly huge and complicated machine. It's crazy how much you have to learn about it. But actually, that's okay, because now I'm learning about it,” Gould admits.
The famous musician says he misses Serbia and the Balkans, but also that he feels great as a “legal moonshiner”.
SOURCE: RTV.RS PHOTO: SERBIA.COM
