Pálinka, Hungarian fruit brandy, is a strong alcoholic beverage prized for its potency, flavor, and fragrance. Pálinka can be bought throughout Hungary, tried in restaurants, and ordered online. Some people make their own pálinka, and festivals in Budapest and throughout Hungary celebrate pálinka as one of the country’s favorite drinks.
Although it is easy to get drunk when drinking pálinka, those who make pálinka do not consider it their target. Making pálinka has become an art in Hungary, as has the practice of making Hungarian wine, and many people enjoy pálinka as a civilized way to start or end a meal.
Auténtico Pálinka
True pálinka only comes from Hungary and is made with native fruits harvested from the fertile Carpathian basin region of Europe. The history of the drink dates back hundreds of years, and there is no doubt that the ancestors of today’s Hungarians were plucking sun-ripened fruit from trees to ferment and distill. Pálinka is strong, with an alcohol content between 37% and 86%. Authentic pálinka should allow the fruit to stand on its own without the addition of sugars, flavors, or colors.
The ‘pálinka’ brand is protected by Hungarian and EU law, so producers outside Hungary cannot use the ‘pálinka’ brand for their products, but can produce similar fruit spirits and sell them under different names.
Pálinka is made with sweet orchard fruits such as plums, apricots, and cherries. It is usually served at room temperature because part of the joy of drinking pálinka is its fragrance and flavor, which can be overshadowed if the brandy is served too cold. Brandy, drunk from a small tulip-shaped glass, can be taken before or after a meal, but some suggest enjoying it after a meal as a digestif.
Celebrando Pálinka
Palinka is so integral to Hungarian culture that it is celebrated during festivals and ranked and graded during competitions. Some people even take pálinka evaluation courses to professionally evaluate fruit brandy. Pálinka judges are experts at discerning how brandies in a competition differ from each other and which ones are better than others when comparing flavors and fragrances.
In Budapest, festivals celebrating pálinka include the Pálinka and Sausage Festival in October and the Pálinka Festival in May. These festivals offer an excellent opportunity to sample a variety of brandies from manufacturers from all over Hungary.
Pálinka making process
Pálinka is made from harvested fruits, and in the past, making fruit brandy was a way to consume fruits that were not eaten at the end of the season. The fruit is collected and placed in a container or barrel, then shaken to help the fermentation process begin. Fermentation takes place over the course of several weeks.
The fruit puree then undergoes a distillation process. Although companies that make fruit brandy use large, modern stills, some people make pálinka in their backyard with a fire and a copper cauldron. After the pálinka goes through the initial distillation, it is distilled a second time.
Comprar Brandy
Pálinka is often sold in tall or round bottles, elegantly shaped and decorated to show its clarity or color. Some popular types of fruit brandy sold include apricot (barack) pálinka from Kecskemét, plum (szilva) pálinka from the Körös valley, and apple (alma) pálinka from the Szabolcs region of Hungary. Some pálinka are sold with fruit in the bottle.
