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Hungary has a variety of alcoholic beverages that are made exclusively in the country. For a small country, they sure love their alcohol with plenty of wines, beers, liqueurs and brandies that are unique to the country.
While I was living in Budapest, I had the opportunity to sample all of their specialties. Here are the best and the worse of them (in my opinion).
Get a taste of Hungarian alcohol first hand with one of these tours:
Beer
Do not expect too much in the beer department when in Hungary. The domestically produced beers are average at best, but they are certainly affordable. A can in a grocery store will set you back 180 to 250 HUF normally depending on which one you get and in a bar a half litre (or 0.4 l depending) of beer can range anywhere from 250 to 600 HUF depending on where you go and what you order. In essence, beer is very very cheap.
A variety of Hungarian beers.
There are a couple main domestic beers: Dreher, Arany Ászok, Borsodi, and Soproni. There are also a growing number of microbreweries in and around Budapest. For example, Szimpla Kert sells one called Keserű Méz on tap.
One strange thing I have found is the prevalence of fruit beers. Everything from apple, pear, lemon and sour cherries are mixed into different beers. They have less alcohol content and are slightly sweeter. You can taste the beer in them, as well as the sweetness from the fruit. Very strange.
There is elderflower, sour cherry, lemon, apple and grapefruit in this shot.
And while not Hungarian, if you are a lover of other European beers, you can find many imports from Heineken to Leffe from the Czech Republic to Belgian beers. The great thing is that they’re often inexpensive, especially in the supermarket.
Wine
What Hungary lacks in beer, they make up for in wine. Did you know there are 22 wine regions in Hungary? I had no idea! Before living there, I didn’t know that Hungary was such a wine country.
Enjoying some Tokaji wine in Tokaj!
Its most famous region is Tokaj in the northeast part of the country. Tokaj produces many different varieties of wine, but it is famous for its dessert wines. The one you want to keep an eye out for is Aszú. You’ll recognize it by its amber brown colour and the thickness of the wine. The grapes are affected by botrytis, a type of fungus, also known as noble rot, which concentrates the sugars in the grapes making them extra sweet. I’ve had a small glass of it myself and I can assure you, it is very very sweet.
You will recognize Tokaj wine from its honey colour and their distinctive labeling on the bottles.
You can find wine in most bars and restaurants, but there are a number of wine bars in Budapest. I would recommend visiting DiVino (Szent Istvan ter 3), which is right by St. Stephen’s Basilica in the city centre, and Drop Shop (Balassi Bálint 27) which is by the Margaret bridge.
Experience Hungarian wine country on one of these tours:
Pálinka
Ah, the most famous spirit to come out of Hungary. Essentially, pálinka is a fruit brandy. Only pálinka made from fruits that are native to the Carpathian Basin are considered real pálinka. Popular fruits include apricot, pear, plum, and cherry. You can shoot it, or if you’re enjoying an expensive pálinka, do as the Hungarians do and sip.
Homemade Palinka at my Hungarian friend’s house.
Many Hungarians consider pálinka to be medicine and a digestif. I’ve heard stories of how older generations of Hungarians would wake up with a shot of pálinka to start the morning off right. Before or after meals, a shot of pálinka is often consumed. And the best cure for a hangover according to a Hungarian? A shot of pálinka! One summer, I made plans to visit the summerhouse of a Hungarian friend. The only problem is that I had a friend visiting from out of town and the night before got a bit crazy. I had a terrible hangover the next day. My friend’s father’s solution? Shots of pálinka! I politely declined and drank copious amounts of water instead.
Bottled commercial palinka
A word of warning for those who don’t drink much. This stuff is potent! It has an alcohol content between 37% and 86%. The first time I had a shot of pálinka I was seeing triple by the time I finished my meal. I had quite the adventure that night which involved a freak thunderstorm, garbage bag dresses and a cardboard box so maybe that shot was necessary.
Read more: A Day in the Hungarian Countryside
Unicum
Unicum is another Hungarian spirit which is made from a secret formula of 40 different herbs. It is a herbal digestive liqueur and is similar to Jägermeister so I’m told. Hungarians tell me Jägermeister is Unicum but with sugar. I have never had it as I’m not a fan of herbal kinds of liqueur and I don’t like the taste of liquorice. Depending on your personal preference, it might be worth finding some while you’re in Hungary.
Fröccs
Yum! Raspberry, white wine and soda water.
Fröccs are the perfect solution to warm summer evenings spent in the park with friends. Essentially fröccs are wine spritzers with a Hungarian twist – fröccs is wine mixed with soda water.
Fröccs was invented in 1842 in a happy accident when Hungarian inventor Ányos Jedlik wanted to show off his latest discovery, soda, when visiting his friend, András Fáy, at his winery. Jedlik called it spriccer, but Vörösmarty, a famous Hungarian poet also in attendance, didn’t like the German sounding name, so he suggested fröccs. It isn’t really a word, more onomatopoeia for the splashing sound you hear when you’re mixing the drink.
Based on the different proportions of wine to water, there are different kinds of fröccs. The important ones to note are nagyfröccs (big fröccs) which is a mix of 2 dl (decilitre) of wine to 1 dl of water and házmester (housemaster) which is 3 dl of wine to 2 dl of water.
The way someone explained this magical drink to me was that the water helps keep you hydrated, which helps with tomorrow’s hangover. I don’t know if that is true, but it definitely helped me to drink more! While it is traditionally made from just wine and soda water, I’ve seen versions popping up with different fruit syrups like the one I’m enjoying in the photo above. It has a pump of raspberry syrup mixed into it.
Hungarian Drinking Etiquette
While many online sources will tell you Hungarians don’t clink glasses or say cheers, this is simply not the case. Yes, it was once true that years ago that Hungarians wouldn’t clink their glasses of beer, but palinka and wine were fair game.
Today, the Hungarians that I met have adopted this tradition of toasting, even with beer. Just make sure you make eye contact when your glasses clink! And learn the Hungarian word for cheers: Egészségedre (egg-is-shae-ged-re) which means literally “to your health”. It’s a mouthful, but everyone will be impressed with your knowledge of the Hungarian language and perhaps offer you something more to drink.
Whether you prefer beer or wine, palinka or unicum, or stick with fröccs, Hungary has plenty to offer if you’re looking for a taste of the country. Egészségedre!
Where to Stay
Heading to Budapest and looking for a place to stay? Because I lived there or stayed with friends, I haven’t stayed in these places myself, but I have recommended visiting friends and family these places and no complaints so far. Please consider booking your Budapest accommodations through the included links. There are no additional costs for you and it helps support this website. Here are my top picks for where to stay:
- Wombats City Hostel Budapest (1061 Budapest, Kiraly u. 20., Hungary) – This is a budget friendly option right in the centre of the city. Easy walking distance to a variety of attractions in Pest. I’ve also stayed in their other locations in Vienna and Berlin and enjoyed my time in both. Check out reviews and book your stay at Booking.com or Tripadvisor.com.
- Nova Apartments (Akacfa utca 26, Budapest 1072, Hungary) – I lived across from these apartments for about a year and would get visitors to book here for convenience. Turns out, they all enjoyed the experience and found the location convenient to many sights and attractions. The apartments are spacious and come with a kitchen. Check out reviews and book your stay at Booking.com or Tripadvisor.com.
Do you like tasting the local brews and spirits when traveling? Have you tried any of these drinks? Would you?
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Great guide, Adelina! I remember having a big, cold bottle of Dreher on the train ride from Sopron to Budapest. It was tough dealing with the local beer after several days in Vienna. I’d never heard about fröccs, but it looks like the perfect spritzer for a picnic.
Thanks Dave! Ah, no Soproni from Sopron? Tsk tsk 😛 Frocss are delicious. I can’t wait until summer so I can start enjoying them outside again.
This is such a great list. Hoping to visit Budapest in the not too distant future! I love Tokaji wines! 🙂
Tokaj wines are yummy! If you’re going in the early fall (September, early October), you should see if you can go to Tokaj for a day or two and go winery hopping.
What a fun Post! We lived in the Czech Republic for 2 years and we found these great drinks as well. However, Czech also has great beer! We did see the many fruit beers there too ~ and some great wines! Pálinka, whooo It is called Slivoivce in the Czech but is made the same way and Is So Strong and they think too that is a digestive and everyone had a flask in there pocket! Very interesting how similar the two countries are! Very fun Post! Thank you for sharing!
The Czech Republic definitely has Hungary beat in the beer department. I think a lot of the countries in the area have similar approach to spirits and have something similar to palinka. Too bad good beer didn’t rub off on the Hungarians.
Great post, I’ll make a note of how to say cheers for my upcoming trip in April. I always make a point of trying local drinks and learning how to say cheers in every country I visit so this is really my kind of post!
Thanks Phoebe! That’s a great way to taste the world as you travel 🙂 Enjoy Budapest – you’ll have a blast.
We didn’t have any of the traditional Palinka while in Budapest, we aren’t big drinkers but we like to try occasionally especially the local drinks. It looks like we might have miss out on the Palinka.
All the more reason to come back for a visit!
We aren’t really big drinkers, but we do like to try different drinks while we travel and have the occasional drink while out with friends! I would love to try the Fröccs and the fruit beer looks really interesting to me! I’d also love to drink some Hungarian wine. It all looks really good!
I don’t generally go too crazy when traveling. I just want to taste it just to try it out. Froccs is super delicious and you can make it at home too.
Great post, Adelina! I was all ready to cheer with palinka next time I am in Hungary until you mentioned a 86% of alcohol. I’ll stick to the wine. Also curious, do Hungarians mix only white wine with a soda water or just any wine?
There are some palinkas with less. If you go to a palinka bar, they’ll have the lower percentage ones. The bottle that I have I think is at 40% or so. I think it is similar to the rakija that you have in Croatia. I generally only mix white wine, but you can also mix it with red and rose. Anything goes really.
Palinka and unicum. Tho’ I can’t remember the unicum, it was a very heavy night!
Haha, the two certainly add up quickly!
Oh, I love this! I have tried most of them, though I hadn’t heard of froccs… sounds perfect for summer! I also love bull’s blood wine (I don’t know the Hungarian translation) – it is delicious, despite the scary name.
Thanks Caitlyn! Froccs are so yummy and easy to make at home too. I haven’t had a chance to try bull’s blood wine. A lot of people say its delish, but it just sounds scary to me.
Great post! I can’t say I’ve had any of these drinks or any drink in Hungary haha but I’d love to!
Make it happen on your RTW 🙂 If I’m there, we’ll have a good time.
I’m not sure how I feel about those fruit beers. I mean, I usually like fruity drinks . . . but grapefruit and beer just don’t seem like a great combination. Still, I kinda want to try one!
Yea, it is strange. You taste the sweet and fruit, but you also taste the beer. Some work better than others. The lemon ones are quite nice, but cherry or raspberry is too weird.
Great list and explanations. The drinking “culture” of a place is always pretty interesting – though I’m not so sure about the fruit beers.
I’m not so convinced about those fruit beers either. I’ve tried most of them and while I don’t like them, I don’t hate them either. Its just strange.
Honey, you had me a 68% and homemade. Let’s get this party staaaaaarted! ….. and then watch it end really fast. Great post.
Sounds good. If I’m in your parts I’ll bring you some homemade stuff. Even stronger 😛
I always sitting down at a restaurant and trying to decipher what all the drinks are. Thanks to this, I can figure it out ahead of time. That cross on the Unicum bottle makes it look medicinal. Tokaji wine sounds like the best choice for me.
I think they’re trying to market Unicum as being medicinal. Tricky trick 😛 Tokaj wine is super delish.
Great post and thanks so much for sharing. I didn’t know that Hungary had so many wines or that variety of beer either. I have been to Budapest. Years ago. I remember that I specifically searched out goulash: Hungarian style, but I just can’t remember what I drank…….!
Thanks Victoria! I was so surprised about the wines. So little is known about Hungary. Goulash is a good dish to seek out. I’ll be putting together a list of foods to eat soon too 🙂
Can’t wait to try all these out when I make it to Hungary in a few weeks. Stoked they have fruit beer, I love that stuff.
Yay, have a blast in Budapest! It’s a lot of fun 🙂
Adelina! Great round-up! I’m headed to Budapest in 2 weeks and really looking forward to exploring [and taste testing!]. Before travelling, I like to know how the locals order their coffee as it can vary so much. I’m gathering options will be espresso based but interested in knowing if different varieties are offered. For example, cafe lungo in Italy was my husband’s go-to [espresso with hot water added]. Would you be able to provide any insight?
Happy Travels!
Hey, Meredith! Thanks so much for reading. That’s a fantastic question. One drink that I always ordered when I lived there was the melange which has honey, coffee, and milk. You can spot a photo of it (the first one!) in this post I wrote about the different cafes around Budapest. I hope you have a fabulous time in Budapest. It’s a great city 🙂
One drink you left out, yet popular, is the red wine mixed with Coke…
As a Hungarian myself, I can attest just how popular it is. For those of you cringing, please, just try it.
Unfortunately, I don’t know the exact mix, but, start with 50/50, and go from there. I can promise you will enjoy as the Hungarians do.
Thanks for a fun read!