Egg Liquor's for Girls, Palinka for Men

Had quite an evening Tuesday night with a few colleagues. I visited Cafe Déryné (1st district, Krisztina tér 3) on the Buda side of the river. In addition to an excellent meal I had a chance to try some new varieties of Palinka. The restaurant is trendy eatery located near the tunnel and chain bridge below the castle.

I started off the evening with Torkoly Palinka, which is made with grapes as noted in an earlier post, rather than the more traditional plum and pear varieties. I also learned a lesson in Hungarian drinking etiquette when I was advised to ensure good eye contact when toasting someone. Never a good idea to annoy your hosts, especially after a few rounds of high proof fruit brandies.

After the Torkoly, and after a eating a little food, I tried the Szila Palinka, made with plums. An interesting taste, and entirely in a good way. By the end of the evening and the bottles of wine, there was no room left for dessert. Fortunately, that didn't mean I couldn't try the Barack Palinka, made with peaches. Not bad, but I think the palinka made with grapes was still my favorite.

And what about the egg liquor, you ask? Well, the restaurant provided a small glass of Toja's Likor, which is a bit like Bailey's Irish Creme and, I'm told, made with eggs. One of my Hungarian companion's dismissed the drink without even trying it, commenting that it was a drink for girls. Not wanting to offend my hosts, and being several glasses into my experiments at this point, I downed the Likor. It was creamy, and Bailey's like as expected. Not sure I would say it was a drink for girls, but not really a drink for me either.

Palinka-Shmolinka It's Really Fruit Brandy

"Pálinkás jó reggelt!" Which means, "Good morning with palinka!"

I arrived in Hungary on Sunday and have yet to have my first glass of palinka.

On Monday night I was introduced to a liqueur described as the Hungarian version of Jaeggermeister. I'm not a huge fan of black licorice, which is to say I am not a huge fan of Jaegger. The Hungarian version succeeded in setting a new low.

On my last trip to Hungary I tried the apricot and apple versions of palinka. I enjoyed both, though the apple was best. As it turns out, plum, apricot and pear are the most common varieties of palinka, though your can also find grape, apple, cherry, mulberry and quince. (What the heck is quince, you ask? Apparently a fruit from the Caucus region related to apple and pear.)

Palinka is a fruit brandy made in Hungary and parts of Austria. According to wikipedia, there are several types of palinka:

- Kisüsti (literally "Small pot, cauldron") is a double-distilled pálinka made in a copper pot not exceeding a volume of 1000 litres.
- Érlelt (Aged) is a pálinka aged for at least 6 months in a wooden cask smaller than 1000 litres, or for at least 12 months in a wooden cask of 1000 litres or above.
- Ó (Old) is a pálinka aged for at least 12 months in a wooden cask smaller than 1000 litres, or for at least 24 months in a wooden cask of 1000 litres or above.
- Ágyas ("bedside") is a pálinka aged for at least 3 months together with fruits. The fruits can be of the same sort used to obtain the distillate or of another sort. To 100 liters of pálinka at least 10 kgs of ripe fruits have to be added.
- Törköly (Grape pálinka, also Törkölypálinka) is an alcoholic beverage made from grapes. One of the oldest types of pálinka, it helps digestion, and is usually consumed in small quantities after meals. This is similar to Italian grappa for those familiar with that spirit.

Will provide further updates after some tastings.

What's Hungarian for Hangover?

I will arrive in Hungary Sunday, the first leg of a multi-country trip to Budapest, Brussels and London. I figured finding the perfect spirit in Hungary and the UK would be easy since I am already familar with Palinka from Hungary and everybody knows that the UK is associated with gin.

However, I was having a bit of trouble finding the right spirit for Belgium. The spirit that seemed most appropriate to track down in Brussels was a Belgium-style gin called genever. But what I also learned in my research was that the UK was far from having the best claim to gin.

The only thing to do then is to wait until I arrive and ask some local bartenders for their recommendation for the spirit of Belgium and the UK.

(By the way, the answer to the question about Hungarian for hangover is: másnaposságtól.)

Krupnik - Better than Cough Syrup

I was introduced to Krupnik last year at the home of a Polish farmer about an hour outside Warsaw where we sat around his dining room table pouring shots. This is no doubt the best way to be introduced to any drink. I didn't know at the time that Krupnik was a honey-flavored vodka-based liqueur, traditionally made from honey and herbs. The variety we were drinking was cherry flavored with a spicy aroma. I couldn't tell much about the drink we were having though since it was the farmers homemade stash from an unlabeled bottle. What I did know was that it was sweet with a strong taste of cherries and a sour after taste. After finishing our toasts the farmer, a former member of parliament, handed me a full bottle of the unlabeled cherry flavored krupnik. I have the bottle at home and only take it out on special occasions, sharing it sparingly with friends and family. Of course, I did pour a dram to sip as I write this to create the atmosphere and revive the memories.

There are generally two reactions among my guests to their first taste of the cherry krupnik. Either they love it or they cringe at the taste, which is a little too close to cherry flavored cough syrup for some.

According to wikipedia, krupnik is a Lithuanian name which means that it is not the sole possession of Poland, unlike Becherovka in the Czech Republic or Palinka in Hungary. Nevertheless this is a common drink in Poland and presents a more interesting picture of the country than purchasing a common bottle of vodka. Next time I travel to Poland I will definitely be trying the honey variety without the cherry flavor to taste the true spirit of Polish krupnik (unless I break down and buy a bottle in the U.S. first).

You can pick up a wide selection of krupniks at http://www4.dealtime.com/-krupnik+liquor, which range in price from $15-20.

Becherovka - Russian for Belch or Czech Spirit

I was in Prague last year for work. The first time back in the country since 1991. Things a changed a little. Gone were the fabulous meals in French restaurants for budget travelers. At least the old clock tower, or Prague Orloj, was still there and as impressive as ever. The city was cleaner and the buildings brighter as I walked the streets of old town.

When it was time to go I asked a colleague who lived in Warsaw but visited Prague regulalrly what to buy. He didn't hestitate, "Becherovka." Becher-what?

There wasn't time to debate the issue since we were late to catch a train. I stopped by the nearest liquor store and grabbed two pint bottles of the traditional variety and a 0.75 liter bottle of lemon flavored Becherovka, known as Becherovka Lemond. With bottles clanking I raced for the train.

I knew nothing about this Czech treasure when I bought it, but it only took one taste for me to be hooked.

Becherovka is an herbal bitters flavored with 34 herbs (the exact mix is a 200 year-old trade secret). Despite an alcohol content of 38 percent (76 proof) the drink is smooth and goes down well straight, usually chilled. I've also read that the original can be served with tonic water, a drink known as "beton," though I haven't tried it yet. As much as I enjoyed the original, the Lemond version was even better.

Becherovka, like Prague-itself, seems to get better with time. I look forward to returning to the country and, hopefully, visiting the distillery itself to get an even better taste of the spirit of the Czech Republic.

You can purchase Becherovka online at http://www.melandrose.com/ for $29.99 for a 750 ml bottle. This was the best price I could find and seems to be a bargain.

For those who refuse to take their spirits straight, there are a number of cocktails that can be prepared with Becherovka. For a sampling of the possibilities check out the following link.
http://www.ultimate-brands.co.uk/products/becherovka_cocktails.htm

Wuliangye - China's Most Famous Baijiu

My post yesterday mentioning Wuliangye made me nostaligic for the fiery alcohol and the memories that went with my first taste of the stuff. My wife is from China so after we were married in the U.S. we boarded a plane with ten of my friends for a second wedding celebration in China. After touring the country (Beijing, Xian, Guilin, Shanghai) we ended up in my wife's home town of Wenzhou. Not quite the tourist Mecca of the other destinations, we got our first taste of the real China.

The wedding celebrations in the U.S. and China could not have been more different. We had the Chinese lion dancers and the firecrackers. We also went through rituals of serving all the guests.

The main attraction was not a ceremony though (there wasn't one), it was the dinner. With ten tables of ten guests each, my wife and circled the room doing shots or sipping Wuliangye with her friends and relatives. The status of the guest determined the extent of the drinking.

Bottles of Wuliangye covered the tables along with box after box of Marlboro cirgarettes (it's hard to understand all the traditions). By the end of the evening at least one of my friends, who shall remain nameless, was hurling in his hotel room having hit the alcohol and the disco floor way too hard.

Wuliangye has a distinctive odor, more like white lightning than vodka or other clear, white spirits. The taste burns in the throat which is why most people, including the Chinese, sip it. Only occasionally do you hear shouts of gambei (bottoms up)!

Baijiu, literally white alcohol, is the most popular drink in China and Wuliangye is king. With 45 percent of the market share it dwarfs the competition (Moutai with 30 percent market share), though I may do a taste comparison some day for fun.

The name Wuliangye means five grains (rice, glutinous rice, broomcorn, wheat and corn), which is what goes into making the spirit. The price is not cheap at over 500 RMB, or around $75, a bottle. However, if you only buy one baijiu in China, there really isn't much choice. Wuliangye is the spirit of China.

What to buy when you get there

I like to travel... and I do it a lot. Sometimes more than is good for me, at least according to my would like. But how can I say no. I enjoy the food, the culture, the experiences and the feeling of being in some exotic locale, especially when it's for the first time.

There is nothing quite like sitting at the Long Bar of Raffles Hotel in Singapore and sipping your first true Singapore Sling. The challenge for me is always what to bring back from my adventures abroad to refresh the memory and transport the spirit back to that distant land.

Several years ago I began collecting beer, wine and, especially, spirits from my travels. Over the years I've found that there are limitations to collecting beer and wine (I will return to this in a future post) and I have now focused my attention, and my searches, on spirits.

This blog is devoted to the quest for the perfect spirit to bring back from each of your adventures abroad. What should grab if you only have space for one bottle when traveling to China or Vietnam, for example? The answers, respectively, are Wuliangye and Hanoi Vokda. Why? Well that's another thing I hope to cover in these posts.

I hope that others share a love for travel as well as the occasional shot of a strange new liquor. Whether you love the new spirit it or hate, you will never regret buying it because a bottle of spirits will provide countless stories as you imbibe with friends. It will also provide the opportunity to make some new ones.