Monday, September 4, 2023

Romanian Drink to try Tuica - Plum brandy, for bubbly cocktails

Photo by Indra S from Facebook. Copyright.

My friend Indra reported from london in the UK:

My Romanian neighbour Michael and his lovely wife Lilly gave me a bottle of tuica.

Apparently you are meant to drink it in one go (a small glass) and drink water afterwards to dilute it.

In Harrow we have a lot of Romanian families. They are generally very family orientated and love the outdoors.

The following is a description of tuica from wikipaedia.

Țuică (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈt͡sujkə]; sometimes spelled tuica, tzuika, tsuika, tsuica, or tzuica) is a traditional Romanian spirit that contains ~ 24–86% [1] alcohol by volume (usually 40–55%), prepared only from plums.[1] Other spirits that are produced from other fruit or from a cereal grain are called "rachiu" or "rachie". Țuică is also the foundational element for creating the traditional romanian cognac from different spirited fruits coffee flavored. In 2013, Romania produced 1.3 million hectolitres (34 million US gallons) of țuică.[2]

Tuica is offered when you arrive at a home as a guest, and is drunk at the Orthodox Easter.

Pictures from Wikipedia.

How do they get a large plum inside the bottle of alchol? It grows there. The grower puts a bottle around a small plum which grows inside the glass. Later pick the plum and add the brandy.

I don't drink spirits, far too strong for me.

From Amazon I found this

Zetea Transilvania - Palinca de Ardeal | Fruit Brandy from Romania | Spirit, Bottle with 500 ml, 50% Vol.

Price:

€37.90 (€75.80 / l)
No doubt cheaper in Romania.

I checked out the prices for buying from overseas for myself and you. I was trying to find a factory tour in Romania. I seem to remember that we visited various wineries. they always ended by asking if we wanted to try their brandy. But my husband was diving so he did not risk trying spirits. In any case we are wine drinkers so that was our priority. However, now that I realise that romania is such a great producer of plums, as well as moonshine, I shall look more favourably on the idea of a small sip of the spirits.

The way to enjoy a strong spirit is to dilute it into a longer drink and decorate it as a cocktail.

You can add champagne and espresso coffee called a Bubbly Sugar Plum Cocktail. Or whole peaches and fruit, red or white wine. Decorate with fruit on a cocktail stick or cocktail umbrella.

Useful Websites

Cocktail Recipes

https://dinewithdrinks.com/best-plum-brandy-cocktails

Tuica wine bottles

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:%C8%9Auic%C4%83

https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/zetea+palinca+transilvania+romania

https://www.wine-searcher.com/merchant/71803-vindor-romania?wine_id_F=10802623

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bran_Castle

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Romania

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Cemetery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Romania

https://dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com/