Making ALBANIAN RAKI at Turtle Farm Albania - Distilling Grapes in Daias, Albania

On my first full day back in Albania, my boy Erjan took me to his family’s farm in Daias, which we have converted into Turtle Farm Albania, the country’s first tortoise sanctuary! Come along with me as we show you how we make Albanian raki at Turtle Farm Albania!

On my final day in Albania back in the August of 2020, my boy Erjan and I visited his family’s farm in Daias and brainstormed the idea of Turtle Farm Albania, a 2.5-acre sanctuary of sorts that would serve as a safe haven for Albania’s many Hermann’s tortoises.

These beautiful creatures move very slowly and are often hit by cars as they cross roads around the country, and many of them don’t make it. At Turtle Farm Albania, we’ve built a place for them to safely live and thrive, far from dangerous roads.

We’ve also created a unique experience for our visitors that you can’t get anywhere else! You can meet our tortoises, pick grapes, have lunch, go off-roading, try our rakija, and even have a sunset dinner on our property!

My first look at our Turtle Farm Albania experience began with breakfast on the property at 7:30 in the morning. We had eggs, butter, cheese, tomatoes, fig jam, yogurt, and cucumbers, all from the farm and garden! It’s a complete farm-to-table experience!

It was currently raki season, so we were starting to harvest our grapes, which we then ferment and distill.

Our breakfast spot overlooks the entire farm and you can see the capital, Tirana, in the distance. Nearby is the tortoise pen and a terrace where you can enjoy meals! The cheese is incredible, especially with the tomatoes and butter. While we don’t offer breakfast just yet, we have plans to have rooms on the property so we can offer breakfast to guests!

I made a sandwich with the bread, eggs, and vegetables. The cheese was so soft and had some pepper on it. I also loved the fig jam! We also had some pomegranates because it was pomegranate season. The raki was also super smooth! Everything was so tasty and fresh! This was my kind of breakfast!

You can buy a bottle of our raki for 700 lekes. We also produce wine and olive oil, as well as jam!

After breakfast, I went over to the tortoise pen and then toured the property. We have a vineyard, vegetables, an olive tree grove, and a couple of tortoise pens: one for the summer that’s in the shade and one for winter that’s in the sun. There’s also a grassy area we might develop into a park for kids.

Erjan then picked some grapes to show me the raki-making process from start to finish. The grapes were so sweet and delicious! We make dolmas with the grape leaves.

Then, we took the grapes to a machine where they’re crushed and squeezed. From there, they go into barrels, where ferment for 10-14 days. Then, they go into another machine to be distilled. The fermenting grapes have a powerful smell!

I watched Erjan crush the grapes over a barrel. In other barrels, I could see the bubbling from the fermentation! He tests the fermentation level. When it gets to zero, it’s ready to be distilled into raki.

You can put 120 liters into the distillation machine, which makes 30 liters of raki! The entire process was amazing! I had never seen it. After the grapes boil, the steam goes through the pipes and mixes with the cold water, and the raki is produced.

Back at the tortoise pen, we saw some of the tortoises, including some super tiny ones! The tortoises have been mating, so we’d have some tortoise eggs soon!

Then, we toasted with some raki. The key is for it to not contain any sugar. It was super strong!

Where have you been?

Follow Me:

Contact Me:

#Davidsbeenhere #Tirana #Albania #DavidInAlbania

About Me:

My name is David Hoffmann. For the last 12 years, I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food, and history! Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,100 destinations in 77 countries, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube channel, travel blog, and social media sites.

I focus a great deal on food and historical sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning about the local history and culture.

P.S. Thank you for watching my videos and subscribing!

[ladev]

The Balkans is such a beautiful place.

[newday]

Ofcors Albania 🇦🇱 is number one in Europe for everything ❤❤❤ no joke with Albanians because we have very strong and strict tradition thank u for understanding and welcoming to Albania ❤

[umabhattacharya]

Erjan's mom is so cute. Love her. She reminds me of my mom.

[dritanloka]

Ahh my beautiful Albania David enjoy this precious time you’re lucky

[bashkimgashi]

Bravo David und Erjan.. faliminderit per videos🥰

[pinemeadows]

Great enjoable video, all amazing to watch. The food looks amazing and you are having good time, keep it up. Shqiperia e bukur.

[TOPTRAVELVLOG]

Wonderful place. Very beautiful video. Nice creation.

[aleks]

It sounds like David has made an investment in Albania

[caehlers]

Erjan is awesome! SO glad you guys got back together - major things for the future?

[aquafenda]

Congratulations on your new Endeavor ! Hopefully one day I will be a guest there, it Looks Amazing- farm to table, so fresh!

[meshari-sxgg]

Your shqip is getting better and better 💪❤️🖤🦅

[jennylolo]

Omg who would have thought David would invest un my humble beautiful country😍 I am so happy for you. I will for sure visit Turtle farm. Congratulations!

[thewolf]

A most excellent vid, will be visiting when able for Raki and tortoise viewing. 👍🏻🇦🇱 🐢

[benjaminvanadore]

Just came back from my 5th trip to Albania. Been thinking about making my own Raki

[noeldabreo]

Congrats David on your new venture ..all the best

[gerald_]

Some info about the village near daias,
Its called Petrele it has two old castles one was second home of the legendary Scanderbeg and one is an illyrian castle which is thought that is builded from a illyrian king, And also is a very ancient tomb with huge stones size 2m with 1m and its thought its around 2500bc

[SuccumbedRum]

Dang, distilling the Raki on the mash with the stems in there too. Really cool to see. Bet it's great.

[johny]

That is really good of you guys to make a turtle farm.
I think this is amazing what you are doing.welldone

[michaelfelberbaum]

You’ve convinced me to travel to Albania David as soon as our Australian government allows us to travel. We haven’t been able to travel most of 2020... but the benefit I suppose is we are COVID-19 free! Albania looks like a beautiful country

[marsidanajdeni]

I love Tirona people, they are so gentle and warm. Good luck to your farm!