STE*PAN’s recipe comes from a 1,000-year-old Eastern European tradition built around one of the region’s most important staples: rye bread.

In kitchens where every grain mattered, stale bread was sliced, dried and steeped in water to extract its flavour. Sugar and yeast were then added, allowing fermentation to transform the mixture into a lightly sparkling drink.

What began as a practical way to use every last crumb became one of Eastern Europe’s most beloved everyday drinks.

This tradition became known as gira.