Pálinka has been part of global human culture for long centuries. In order to grasp this, you have to forget what pálinka means today: spirits bottled and prepared in Hungary by distillation using Hungarian fruit only, with no further additives, as defined by the relevant ministry and the European Union alike.
Years ago it was only a mild overstatement to call kumis, the fermented Mongolian alcoholic beverage of mare’s milk, or any other distilled drinks “foreign” or “different” pálinka. On the other hand, pálinka, for Hungarians, has always been evident to have been made of fruit, and this has been set in stone by now.
Although distilling pálinka became the privilege of landlords, then that of the state, it has been rural distillation and consumption that defined Hungarian public consciousness. This is also responsible for the misbelief that pálinka may and must only be distilled from fallen fruit. Even centuries ago, any aristocratic or royal distillery with a proper self-esteem used only top quality fruit fit for instant consumption to make pálinka of, using distillation only and no additives. Fallen fruit was used to distil pálinka by peasants and unlicensed home stills just for the sake of frugality, after eating all the harvested healthy and ripe produce.
The conditions for quality pálinka distillation were eliminated in the second half of the 20th century, therefore, the lack of demand and quality production capacity took only two generations for rural distillation and consumption to spread as mainstream Hungarian pálinka culture. The wonderful and rich linguistic heritage of that period is undisputed. Just think of terms like peláviz (low alcohol), kukkoló (‘watcher’ – the distilling hut), öregelés (‘ageing’ – the first distillation), sárkány (‘dragon’ – the first distillate with very high alcohol content), votykásfazék (‘vessel’) and butella (‘bottle’) – not to mention boszorkányfing (‘witchfart’ – one of the numerous informal names for pálinka) –, or the charming and romantic tradition of caption poetry (brief, witty rhymes) that flourished on the demijohns.
Another heritage from the peasantry and the Middle Ages is the view of pálinka as medication. The reason of the former is that poor peasant families had no genuine medicine at home, but the treasured and cherished pálinka that also fired up the soul for the early morning chores. The spirit earned and still retains the name ‘aqua vitae’ in European common consciousness due to its undoubted benefits for physiological functions.
Home-made pálinka and home distillation still have their reason for being, however, the requirements for quality distillation have been specified recently. High-end, refined technology has become available, a demanding and solvent set of consumers has emerged who effected a sudden, almost explosive growth in the quality pálinka market, in turn triggering the rapid improvement of product quality.
Pálinka consumption is slowly reaching the standard where the value added during production predestines it, and there is an increasing number of people to switch from good quality whiskey, vodka or cognac, because it gives no less enjoyment than any of the former. The production of 1 litre vodka of 40 % alcohol content requires a raw material input of 1.5-2 kg grain, while 1 litre of Gönc Apricot Pálinka of the same alcohol content requires 8-10 kg fruit, which explains everything.
