Palinka - Hungarian culture in liquid form

Posted on | December 16, 2007 |

Palinka - the delicious Hungarian fruit Brandy´s

Palinka is one of the most typical of Hungarian alcoholic spirits. It is a bit of Hungarian culture in liquid form and it tastes terrific. Some call it “the flavor of Hungary”. Historically Palinka used to be an important part of the fat diet (bacon, pic fat, bread, onion) of village people since the high alcohol content of the Palinka made digestion easier.

Palinka is a strong (from 40 - 80 %) brandy, double-distilled from a variety of fruits grown in the orchards on the Great Hungarian Plains. The most traditional sorts of Palinka are:

• barack pálinka (appricots),
• cseresznye pálinka (cherries),
• körte pálinka (pears),
• alma pálinka (apples)
• szilva pálinka (plums)

Other popular Palinka flavors are: apple, honey, paprika, herbs and nut. Honey is one of the most recent and is very popular (2007). There are many Palinka producers in Hungary and the quality varies. Some of the more reliable producers are

• the Kecskeméti barack (apricot) pálinka,
• the Szatmári szilva (plum) pálinka,
• Zwacks Vilmoskörte (William’s pear).

Today people drink Palinka usually either as an aperitif before dinner or like a shot beside the beer. It should be served at room temperature. The Hungarians usually take it bottoms up, but take it easy if your not a hard drinker, its strong! You´ll enjoy it better. Just don’t forget the traditional Hungarian cheers “Egéségedre“! Pronaunced E-gey-segg-edd-re.

Palinka is served at most of the bars, discos and nightclubs of Budapest, like nightclub Alcatraz. A shot (4 cl) costs about 3 Euros.

Read more about Hungarian Palinka:
Palinka festival

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