Beer, wine and spirits

Wine

If you are wine-drinkers, you`ve come to the right place. Hungary is very proud of its wines, to the extent that we often get into international lawsuits over trademarks. 'cause of course only we can make good wines.
One thing you have to know is that there are two kinds of wines in terms of sugar content: dry (`száraz`) and sweet (`édes`). People who think they know something about wines swear that we can only call dry wines by the word wine, everything else is grape juice. Well, if you ask me, and many other fellow non-wine-experts, we would secretly admit to you that we hate dry wines. In traditional Hungary, men drink dry wines, and it might be forgivable for women to drink semi-sweet or sweet wines - thank the Lord. Another reason why people sometimes shy away from sweet wines is that those were often counterfeited by adding sugar instead of letting the natural sugars ferment, and you can`t fake a good dry wine. But I don`t think you have to worry about that.

Tokaji Aszú

In terms of grapes, we have white, red and rosé wines. Some of the better brands of white wines are Tokaji wines (Tokaji Muskotály, Tokaji Szamorodni etc.), some of the better red wines are Egri wines (Egri Bikavér, Egri Leányka). It's always been hard for me to learn what goes with what, especially at better places with pages long wine lists, so I'd just ask the waiter.

A specialty of Hungary are dessert wines. Ooooh, yes, that`s the good stuff. These are very sweet, very tasty wines, usually served with cheeses and fruits. Some of these are Tokaji Aszú, Tokaji Eszencia, and the ultimate bursting sweet 'jégbor' (literally: ice wine). These are usually pricier, but oh, boy, are they worth their price.

Especially during the summer, Hungarians often go for 'fröccs' or spritzer, which is part carbonated water, part wine. While to dedicated wine-lovers this might sound like the desecration of wine, it is actually a very refreshing summer drink. These come in various proportions, each with their own special name, and serious fröccs-drinkers know these by heart, of course - I never cared enough to learn them, but it's a fun piece of our wine culture, see chart.

Fröccs types

Beers

I think you wanna go for the wines. Don't tell anyone I said this, but Hungarian beers are not particularly interesting or good. I mean, don't get me wrong, they are drinkable. But they are mediocre. However, many places serve Czech or Belgian beers, or even English ones, often on tap, so we always go for those.

Spirits

The special Hungarian spirit is called 'pálinka'. It's usually around 40% alcohol, and is made of fruits. There are many kinds, some made purely out of one fruit, some of mixed fruits, some even served with dried fruits in the bottle - those pieces will kick you hard. One of the better trademarks is Fütyülős.

Fütyülős pálinka