This is compote, or rather, компот. Don’t be afraid of it!

Compote is not a thick fruit desert, but a watery fruity drink with fruit on the bottom. It’s like juice, but lighter. You boil fruit in water with sugar to make it. The fruit on the bottom looks suspicious, but it’s good.

I’ve seen it most often in cafeteria lines. There are usually a few flavors. Cherry, apricot, apple, and plum are the most common. You will see rows of glasses with exactly the same amount of liquid in each one, although some of them may not have fruit. People often make it at home as well.

This is кисель. It’s a warm thickened fruit drink usually made with berries and cornstarch. It’s pretty rare, usually made at home, so it doesn’t look so good as in this picture. There are some companies selling prepared mixes.

This is морс. Морс is a juice made from cranberries (клюквы), prepared similarly to compote. It is very common, sold in the markets, groceries, at restaurants, and made at home. Russian cranberries are typically smaller and softer than American cranberries. At certain times of year, old women will sell them on the street or in markets to supplement their pensions.

The pictures on this page are all suspiciously the same color. That’s how central berries are to the traditional Russian diet!